Cheese please!

Photo by pwisenberg

Hello everyone!

As I write this I am sitting in the library avoiding the endless pages of reading that await me... Such is my new life as a law student. School, however, has been great so far! I've met tons of awesome people and my teachers all seem engaging and approachable. Needless to say, I've been super busy these past few weeks and haven't had much time to come up with new recipes, let alone blog about them.

I actually made this meal a while back for a going-away dinner that Paul and I hosted during our last weekend in Toronto. I love mac n' cheese as much as the next person and was so excited when I saw this incredibly simple recipe for vegan cheese sauce on Angela's fabulous site. I wanted more texture than your traditional creamy dish so I added cauliflower florets in with the noodles, topped the whole thing with breadcrumbs and Daiya (duh!) and baked it until the crust was golden and crispy And, let's be honest, serving things in individual-sized ramekins instantly makes a meal cuter!

Everyone (even my carnivorous friends) loved this dish and Paul is constantly urging me to make it again!

Vegan mac n' cheese
Serves 4
(double the recipe to serve a larger group or to have leftovers)

1 package whole wheat macaroni
1/4 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
1 tsp Earth Balance
1/2 pacakge Daiya vegan cheese shreds (cheddar or mozzarella)
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
sprinkling of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
this easy cheese sauce recipe

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until still quite firm. Drain and rinse under cold water to prevent from cooking further. Transfer macaroni to a large bowl and stir in the raw cauliflower florets. Meanwhile, in a small pot, prepare your simple cheese sauce, transfer to bowl of pasta and cauliflower, and toss it all together. Grease your baking sheet (or ramekins) with the Earth Balance. Add the pasta mixture to the baking sheet and top with Daiya, bread crumbs, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Finally, sprinkle everything with paprika and bake for 20-30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown.

xo Robin