I awoke today with two warring notions in my head: first, I was determined to get back on the vegan train after a week in town (a week that may have involved a few eggs, a bit of cheese, and a LOT of oil); second, my week in town was rather stressful and I felt the need to stuff my piehole with some kind of cheesy, creamy comfort food.
I decided I could accommodate my duelling desires with a sumptuous vegan mac and cheese that’s also surprisingly healthy.
This recipe is for one big 11 x 17 casserole or for two nine-inch casseroles. I made two nine-inch pans because James doesn’t like vegetables in his mac and cheese and I love ’em–the more the better!
Vegan Mac and Cheez to Die for!
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Set some water boiling for one pound of brown rice rotini. I like the Tinkyada brand.
3. Whip up a batch of Smoky Vegan Cheddar Sauce. If you like it extra saucy, mix up a double batch.
4. Next, whip up a batch of Chewy Vegan Bacon Bits.
5. Air-fry for seven minutes….
- 1.5 cups cauliflower
- 1.5 cups Brussels sprouts
6. Run under lukewarm water….
- 1 cup frozen peas
7. Panfry….
- 1 chopped white onion
- add to the pan 1/2 cup whole wheat panko crumbs once the onion has browned
8. Now assemble it! Mix the cheese sauce with the rotini, add in the vegetables, and pour the mixture into the casserole dish(es). Drizzle a bit more of the cheez sauce over the top and then cover the top with chewy vegan bacon bits. Follow this with the fried onion and panko crumb mixture.
9. Bake at 350 for thirty minutes and…you’re done!
Top with some freshly ground pepper and stuff your piehole!!
And the song of the day is The Beatles song, “You Never Give me your Money” because I couldn’t get it out of my head all last week while I was visiting my parents in Vancouver.
Sadly, when I sang the song to my mum, a woman who once knew every lyric to every song by The Beatles, she couldn’t remember it. Even after Em found the song on her phone and played the original, my mum could not remember the song. She remains as charming as ever, dementia notwithstanding.
And occasionally the rather caustic version of the old Kate shows up again. For example, I took her to get her hair done and, after a kind administrator at her residential care home showed us the way to the in-house salon, my mother said in the loudest, clearest voice, “Well….SHE could certainly do with a makeover!!”
So here’s the song she once knew by heart, and here’s a picture of the old girl after her visit to the beauty parlour!
Sideways Cottage... 