Springtime Udon Bowl

Springtime in Arizona feels a little different than the rest of the country because the temperature change involves the 70s, 80s, and 90s which are not typically numbers associated with this particular equinox. However, the blossoms, smells and flavors help remind us of the lovely transformation going on everywhere else. On my morning runs, I’ve been almost overwhelmed by the smell of citrus blossoms and almost injured by the rogue oranges covering the sidewalk. Spring is light, lovely, and inspirational. Most importantly it’s a sign of abundant produce starting to clutter tables at farmers markets. Time to grease up those elbows and fight your fellow hippies for that last bunch of pea tendrils!

Stir fry is a terrific way to catch seasonal flavors. It’s versatile, delicious, fast and easy to prepare. Having been out of town all weekend and unable to cook, I was itching for a stove session. I hadn’t even looked inside my produce drawer in 4 days so I had no idea what was in stock. This of course made the plane ride that much longer, because I couldn’t distract myself with dinner details… what to prepare first, how long it might take, spices I haven’t used in a while, etc. I seldom travel without concocting a recipe at some point out of boredom.

I did know one thing though: despite my eagerness to cook, my arrival time plus the transit home put me in my kitchen at about 8:45 pm and I did not want an elaborate or difficult dish. The source of this recipe was one from which most of my best meals originate and one regular readers will be familiar with – kitchen cleansing. Getting rid of the last cup of beans, the last leaves of spinach or that last handful of pasta. Taking an oddball combination and slapping a good dose of garlic on it.

Most people feel lucky to find a $5 bill in their jeans pocket, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of local chard in my refrigerator that I had totally forgotten was purchased on impulse last week. Not a typical ingredient in Asian cuisine, I thought chard would stand in nicely for bok choy. The other ingredients here could be replaced with any number of veggies typically found in stir fry: snow peas, red pepper, mushrooms, etc. But the combination I used produced such a fresh, springtime taste that I highly recommend taking some seasonal picks that wouldn’t normally end up in a stir fry and seeing how they mesh with standard stir fry flavors: garlic, ginger, soy sauce with a little sweet ‘n spicy touch. You could use rice here as well, but udon noodles are more fun to eat.

Springtime Udon Bowl
Makes: 1 serving
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredient

1-2 tsp. Sriracha
½ tsp. cornstarch
½ T. brown sugar, agave, or raw sugar
½ - ¾ T. soy sauce or tamari
¼ c. water

1 tsp. coconut oil
2 T. shallots, sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 medium celery stalk, chopped
½ c. green beans, chopped
4-5 swiss chard leaves, chopped, stems and leaves & divided
½ c. purple cabbage, chopped
Fresh cilantro

2 oz. udon noodles (about ½ ” thick stack of dry noodles)

Directions

To make the sauce, whisk first 5 ingredients together in a small bowl and make sure cornstarch is well dissolved. Set aside.

Heat a wok or skillet over medium high heat and melt coconut oil when pan is hot. Reduce heat to medium and add shallots, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry for about 30 seconds or until fragrant and add celery, green beans and chard stems. Cook for 3-4 minutes until vegetables become translucent, adding 2 tablespoons of water (or sake or mirin if you have it) at a time if pan becomes too dry. Increase heat back to medium high and add chard leaves and cabbage and cook until chard begins to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Finally add stir fry sauce and cook until thickened, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the stir fry is cooking, bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Cook noodles 5 minutes or until tender. Drain and mix in with vegetables when done. Top with fresh cilantro.

Brussel Sprout Spaghetti with Marinated Tomatoes

Long ago when I had first starting seeing this cute boy whom I referred to as "marathon man" and whose cooking capacity at the time spanned from grilled cheese to nachos, a most promising opportunity for the underdog of cruciferous vegetables arose. At a very early stage in our acquaintance, his eagerness to ensure my every happiness was quite obvious and I seized that enthusiasm in a cunning ploy to save a batch of brussel sprouts and engage him in a vegetable venture.

I was preparing for an out-of-town trip and noticed a bag of brussels in the fridge - dear me, they could not go to waste! The green spheres of goodness were still edible and no chances could be afforded in my absence of their rotting away in the crisper. When I presented them to my Knight in Shining Asics and asked if he could pleeeease make them for dinner while I was away (emphasizing my distress should they be doomed to the trash), he replied, "If you tell me what to do with them, sure!" Ahh the days where romance was still new and "no" was an impossible concept.

Though I wasn't able to hand over a decent recipe before skipping town, I did received a text message the following evening: "I just made the most delicious brussel sprouts!" He had caramelized them and served over spaghetti with parmesan. Victory for all parties involved! 1) I was flattered that a man would cook, eat and enjoy brussel sprouts for the sole purpose of making me happy and was therefore convinced that he was a keeper; 2) he gained a new skill in the kitchen and discovered the wonder of all (edible) things green and; 3) the sprouts fulfilled their true destiny of providing a rich supply of folate, Vitamin C and cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Ever since then, I think brussel sprouts have been a safety net in his cooking spectrum, and I'm ok with that.

Fast forward to present. After a week of holiday gorging, getting a vengeful stomach bug, eating copious amounts of white toast, and going a bit stir-crazy, we finally arrived to the end of our holiday break. My companion offered to make me dinner and I said "Yes! As long as we can blog it." So he fell back on the good ole brussel sprouts and pasta with a tomato twist thrown in the mix. I helped with a few ideas such as marinating the tomatoes and stirring up a light alfredo sauce to tie it together. We both enjoyed our time in the kitchen and the end result was not only a delicious, light and healthy meal but also a sense of togetherness that makes a good start to 2011.

Brussel Sprout Spaghetti with Marinated Tomatoes
Makes: 2-3 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the pasta
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 T. white balsamic vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1/4 tsp agave or sugar
Dash of rosemary, thyme, oregano, and crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper

6 oz. gluten free or whole wheat spaghetti

2 T. olive oil
1 small shallot, sliced
15-20 brussel sprouts, cut in half (stem discarded)
Salt and pepper

For the sauce
2 c. almond or soy milk
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
1 scant T. Potato or whole wheat flour
1 T. Earth Balance
Dash of nutmeg and white pepper

Directions

Place chopped tomatoes in a small mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over tomatoes, stirring to coat well. Set aside and marinate while you prepare the pasta.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on package. Drain and set aside. (Tip: Make brussel sprouts while water is coming to a boil and sauce while pasta cooks).

In a large skillet (preferrable cast iron), heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add brussel sprouts, shallots, and a generous dash of salt and pepper. Cook on higher heat until sprouts start to brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and finish cooking until dark golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small sauce pan combine the almond milk, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Heat over medium until it comes to a slow boil. Whisk in potato flour and cook until sauce is thickened. If sauce becomes too thick, turn off heat and add more almond milk. When you've reached the desired consistency, add a dash of nutmet and white pepper.

To assemble, combine pasta, sauce and brussel sprouts in a large bowl. Top each serving with marinated tomatoes.

Raw Noodles with Misoshrooms, Rawcotta and Marinara

Detox 2: it’s time again for a hard reset. I dabbled with a detox last fall to try and cleanse my body and restart my energy. I followed the rules but ultimately felt like I was in a world of restriction. Don’t eat this, don’t eat that. This left me with very basic options. Of all people, I rave about the benefits of simple foods and think we unnecessarily try to mask the real flavor of food more often than not. However, my previous attempt at a detox felt too simple… um ok boring. Though I felt the need to reboot, I really didn’t want to be eating dreary dishes that only involve some chopping and a sprinkle of lemon juice. So I have turned to raw cuisine to rejuvenate my excitement around new foods and unfamiliar cooking techniques. A true venture.

Why detox? There are two very central elements to the person I have become: food and exercise. These are not the only components of my identity of course but they are huge and the core contributors to my health and when they fall off track, I’m in the shizzle. A combination of factors - starting a new job, traveling every weekend, living a busy life – impacted my sense of “comfort.” I turned to food to fulfill that sense of mental or spiritual satiety that was lost somewhere along the road. Not just any kind of food: snack food, candy, bread, wine, etc… (This is not an original story nor is this misdirected path uncommon.) My mind was telling my belly I had enough “room” to gorge on sweets, so my need for some sort of balance is what pulled my exercise out of whack. Exercise became a matter of offsetting indulgence rather than a boosting energy. I ran to run off the chocolate, I hiked to burn off a bread binge. Not a good cycle. So finally, after thinking about a detox, rather dreading it, it was time to reboot.

Rod Rotondi 's Raw Food for Real People is sort of an intro to raw cuisine. It gives the basics on sprouting, making raw cheeses and dehydrating. I’ll admit: this is a time consuming activity if you take soaking and dehydrating into consideration. But actual food prep is pretty quick. I have read a lot about raw foods, but this is the first that I have actually sucked it up, gone out and bought the basic necessities and plunged onward down the raw, raw road. No, I’m not “going raw” – but this is so much fun! I made almond cheese and stuffed cabbage leaves for lunch yesterday, yum! I’ve felt so energized after a few raw meals, now I don’t want to look at a piece of bread or peanut-butter filled pretzel (so I’m telling myself).

Here I combined and altered a few of Rod’s recipes – I couldn't strictly follow them of course. This is a very basic starter recipe that takes well to improvisation. Word of caution: if you don't plan ahead and soak the nuts, you're doomed! Just kidding, just boil some water and pour it over the nuts and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Of course the nuts will not be raw then because they are exposed to temperatures over 100 F, but the raw roodies don't know what happens in your kitchen. I have to admit though, once you start soaking nuts, there is no turning back. You’ll be wanting rawcotta for breakfast.

Raw Noodles with Misoshrooms, Rawcotta and Marinara
Makes: 2-3 servings
Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the noodles
2 medium summer squash, yellow and/or green
1 butternut squash (optional)
Salt
Lemon juice

For the Misoshrooms
1 ½ cup brown mushrooms, chopped
1 ½ T. red or dark miso
1 ½ T. lemon juice
1 garlic clove
¼ - ½ c. pine nuts (soaked 2 hours and drained)

For the Rawcotta
½ lemon, peeled and quartered
1-2 garlic cloves
1 T. chopped fresh basil (optional)
1 T. olive oil
¼ c. cashews (soaked 2 hours and drained)
¼ c. pine nuts (soaked 2 hours and drained)
¼ c. water, more or less
½ tsp salt

For the Marinara
¼ c. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3 T. chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp mixed dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
¼ c. water, more or less
½ c. sundried tomatoes (soaked for 1 hour if not soft)
½ tsp salt

Directions

For the noodles: Cut the ends off and peel summer squash with a potato peeler or vegetable slicer. Place in a strainer and set aside. Cut the top end off the butternut squash and cut the squash at the base of the neck so that the straight part is separate from the bottom. Reserve the bottom for another use. Peel the squash and slice the neck with potato peeler or vegetable slicer in to thin strips. Place in strainer with summer squash. Sprinkle squash with salt and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Let sit while you prepare the toppings.

For the misoshrooms: Combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until the mixture is very well chopped and in very small pieces. Transfer to small bowl and stir to make sure completely blended. Store the shrooms in refrigerator while you prepare the other goodies.

For the rawcotta: Combine the first 4 ingredients in food processor and process until well chopped into tiny pieces. Add cashews, pine nuts and 2 tablespoons of water. Process until mixture is almost creamy, adding water as necessary to reach a slightly chunky texture. Stir in salt and refrigerate while you prepare the sauce.

For the marinara: Combine first 4 ingredients in food processor and process until well chopped into tiny pieces. Add fresh tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of water and puree until mixture is smooth. Add sun dried tomatoes and pulse until desired chunkiness is reached or puree until smooth if that’s your thing. Add water as necessary and season with salt to taste.

To assemble: Squeeze moisture and juices out of noodles or pat them dry. Pile on 2 or 3 plates. Top noodles with a layer of shrooms, a scoop of sauce and a dollops of rawcotta. Garnish with fresh herbs for a real kick.

Lemon Caper Alfredo with Asparagus and Leeks

July and August came quickly and whizzed by without leaving much of a trace. Starting a new job, albeit with the same company, that is much more demanding than roles of my past meant reallocating resources and benching hobbies for a short time. Hardly a memorable meal or truly ingenious recipe, barely enough time to muster over what to make, and small energy reserves for adventurous kitchen experiments. I’ve been a lame mock duck this summer. I can hardly crack out a batch of mac n’ cheez these days. So many hummus wraps and Whole Foods salad bar Wednesdays ($2 off!). Eating out, however health I try to be, has not encouraged or stimulated my creative cooking juices. By now it’s the end of August and prior to this delightful dish, I had yet to make something to write home about.

Now that I’m settled in my new department and have adjusted to my responsibilities, I’ve found it easier to bring back the aimless recipe wandering, thorough audience-preference analysis, and food analogue objective that inevitably lead to the crazy concoctions featured here. Another daily life feature lost in the buss was the intimate nightly dinner with my dearest recipe reviewer. It seems so long ago that we used to wine and dine chez nous a better part of the week, testing my edible innovations and having chatting about everything under the sun and moon. With both of our careers pressing us like a fine French roast, we lost that table time. Finally, as I’ve found a way to adjust my career time with home time, I’m rectifying all sorts of situations.

To reignite our dinner ritual and satisfy my gourmet thirst for challenge, I set out to make something my token Omni would thoroughly enjoy. He has a surprising love for capers –though he is a salt fiend, I am hard pressed to find something brined that he actually likes. No pickles, no Kalamata olives, negative on artichokes. Capers for some reason are the exception. And for someone who has had an even busier summer than I’ve had at work, he deserved something deliciously invented for him. I gathered all the ingredients of his kind of meal: bread and tomatoes (we started with bruschetta), pasta, a hearty sauce, and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Arguably, neither lemon cream sauce nor lemon caper sauce is original. But the mild lemon flavor in this thick, “creamy” sauce combine with a salty pinch and fresh asparagus gave this dish exquisite character.

The leeks could probably be optional, but they were from a 2 week old produce share from the farm and had to go. They were a nice touch with a texture that coincides with asparagus beautifully - but not necessary. The lemon level and caper capacity are of course totally up to you. For you non-veg heads that read the blog: please not that by using silken tofu instead of cream, you cut the fat (and subsequent guilt + next day laziness) by about 85%. Using cooking spray as I did of course reduces the fat content even further, though you could use traditional olive oil instead.

Lemon Caper Alfredo with Asparagus and Leeks
Makes: 2 servings
Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the Sauce
1 tsp. Olive oil
½ Small onion, chopped
2 tsp. Garlic, chopped
1-2 T. Dried mushrooms
1 ¾ c. Vegetable broth, from bouillon, divided
½ pkg. Silken tofu (6-7 oz)
½ c. Almond milk
¼ c. Capers, drained
1 T. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Lemon zest, divided
White pepper & nutmeg

For the Pasta
4-5 oz Gluten free spaghetti
Cooking spray
½ c. Leeks, white & green parts chopped
12-15 Asparagus spears, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a sauce pan. Cook onions until golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 additional minute. Add mushrooms and 1 ½ c. vegetable. Bring to a boil and reduce liquid to ½ cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. In a food processor combine onion broth with tofu and almond milk. Blend until completely smooth (about 2-3 minutes), scraping down sides periodically. Return sauce to pan and cook over a steady low heat. Stir in lemon juice, ½ tsp lemon zest, and capers. When ready to serve, stir in a tiny pinch of white pepper and nutmeg.

While the sauce is heating on low, bring a pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to directions on package. Strain and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add leeks and cook 3-4 minutes until starting to brown. Add asparagus, remaining lemon zest and use broth to deglaze pan when vegetables start to dry. Cook until asparagus is al dente, about 3-4 minutes.

To assemble: Combine pasta with asparagus/leek mixture. Pour sauce over top and mix. Garnish with parsley, lemon slices and freshly ground black pepper.

Arugula Tomato Pesto

There really isn’t a whole lot of story behind this recipe other than it being the first time I’ve successfully made something delicious out of this highly regarded leaf. Each time I have made a classic or creative attempt at cooking with arugula, I’ve always ended up with a puckered face from the pungent and peppery flavor that is signature to arugula. This is perhaps because my arugula comes from a farm that waits to harvest until its vegetables are fully developed…meaning I’m workin’ with some real, busty, adult arugula, not the mild baby kind you get from a nice fluffy bag at Whole Foods. The sturdy, mature lettuce is much more robust, if not abrasive, than it’s younger self. Aren’t we all.

Last year when arugula appeared in my produce bag from the farm, no lingering memories came to surface on my taste buds. I had certainly eaten it before, but my only prominent thought of arugula was, “Ah yes, that high class green that jeopardized Obama’s election.” This is the benefit of getting a weekly bag of surprise produce – you get the chance to not only cook with but become familiar with items knocked my Fox News. Cooking with new items I’ve only heard of is a true thrill and pleasure. Yet…sauce after sauce, salad after salad, and sauté after sauté….blatt! I could not get this crap to taste good! How does it have such an elite reputation? Bitter from the first to last bite and a spicy bitter at that. I like bitter and I like spicy, but they hardly appear together in my cuisine.

As expected, when my first bag of arugula surfaced this season, I fell into a sad little salad slump. So many enticing recipes – pear and arugula salad with walnut and pomegranate seeds, arugula orange salad with rose water dressing, blah blah blah. That’s for the baby stuff. I had to figure out a way to tone this bad boy down…tomatoes worked perfectly. After whipping it up with some garlic, tomatoes, and a generous pinch of NY the magic really happened when I added that drizzle of walnut oil. Instead of adding pine nuts as I would in a traditional pesto (mainly because I didn’t have any), I used a nut oil to replace olive oil. Holy walnut yum yum, this was fabulous. If you haven’t invested in a good bottle of walnut oil, you should seriously consider splurging the $10. That way when you have to explain to carnivores how you get your Omega-3s if you don’t eat fish, you have a suitable answer.

Arugula Tomato Pesto

Makes about 1 ½ cups
Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

3 c. Arugula
1 c. Yellow and/or red tomatoes, chopped
2 T. Nutritional yeast
½ T. Garlic, chopped
1 tsp. Walnut oil
½ tsp. Salt

Directions

Puree all ingredients in a food processor and adjust salt to taste. Serve over pasta or toasted baguette.

Pasta Puttanesca with Seasoned Ground Tempeh

Some nights you just need something quick and easy – everyone has a favorite go-to pasta with tomato sauce dish, right? Maybe the sauce comes from a jar; maybe it’s not even a sauce but just some chopped tomatoes with basil. Most of us refer to pasta when the hour is too late for a grand feast or when there is not enough time to prepare one. In our case last night, it was much to late for anything complicated and we were much to hungry for just chips and salsa.

In my younger omnivore years, we usually pulled out the Ragu and some ground beef to throw on top of spaghetti. I remember coming home from soccer practice really not wanting to wait for food and even waiting for the meat to cook was too time consuming. This was very much the sentiment when we got home last night from the first official volleyball match of spring followed by a beer to welcome the season (I’m in the fan club though I prefer the unofficial coach title). With only rutabaga and beets for exciting vegetables in the fridge, even I wasn’t really feeling the bulbous vibe at 9:30pm. I wanted to save those for a more intentional, playful meal. Referring to my sweaty, sandy, and hungry volley baller, he echoed my exact memories of coming home from games….how about some pasta? Sounds good. I had an open can of diced tomatoes to use up and a fresh package of tempeh.

When I think of traditional red pasta sauce, Bolognese comes to mind. This version is what we all typically think of when we see a red sauce with ground meat. When I think of a less traditional sauce but that can be made in a flash with tons of flavor, I think Puttanesca. Less familiar in the American crowd, it is devilishly delicious and takes hardly any time to prepare. Puttanesca is derived from the Italian word for whore (I’m not making this up) and is suspected of being name so for its enticing aroma – sounds like a G rated version of some saucy story, but who knows. Core ingredients in the classic recipe include onions, garlic, olives, capers and anchovies. With just a few herbs to top it off, this is a salty and sinful treat. Of course I unapologetically skip the anchovies, which doesn’t seem to harm its flavor. Instead of choosing, I decided on a Puttanesca flavor base with ground tempeh to get the feel of one and flavor of the other.

Just a quick note about cooking tempeh: when you buy tempeh raw from the store, it needs to be steamed or boiled to loosen it up before cooking. This will allow it to absorb flavor well and will keep it from becoming too tough when pan fried. I combine the loosening and flavoring in one step rather than steaming it first like most recipes suggest. The texture and flavor of the tempeh held remarkably well after browning it for a while. It gave just the right amount of herbal flare to the sauce which could even stand for some fresh parsley or oregano to top it off, though I didn’t have any at the time. I’m sure adding a dash of red wine vinegar would be positively wonderful as well.

Pasta Puttanesca with Seasoned Ground Tempeh
Makes 2-3 servings
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

5-6 oz. Whole wheat or gluten-free spaghetti

For the Tempeh
2 c. Water
1 tsp Basil, dried
¾ tsp Garlic powder
½ tsp Fennel seed
½ tsp Thyme, dried
½ tsp Onion powder
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Crushed red pepper
½ package plain Tempeh, cubed
1 T Olive or canola oil

For the Sauce
½ T Olive oil, divided
¼ Medium onion, chopped
1 Medium celery stalk, chopped
1 Large clove garlic (½ T)
4 Kalamata olives, chopped
1 T Capers
1/8 tsp. Crushed red pepper
1 ½ c. Diced tomatoes, canned in juice
Fresh parsley or oregano, chopped

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Set aside.

For the Tempeh
Combine all tempeh ingredients and bring to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Slight reduce heat to medium high and maintain rigorous boil until half of liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Drain tempeh reserving liquid and transfer to food processor. Pulse a few times until tempeh is coarsely ground. Heat olive oil over medium high heat and add tempeh. Cook until brown, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking to pan. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the Sauce
Heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onions and celery until translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic, olives, capers and red pepper. Cook an additional minute or until garlic becomes very fragrant. Stir in tomatoes and remaining cooking liquid from tempeh. Lower heat and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Taste the sauce and add additional pepper to your liking. While simmering, remove 1 cup of sauce and transfer to food processor. Puree until completely smooth and return mixture to sauce. Stir in tempeh and adjust salt and/or pepper if necessary. Ladle sauce over noodles and enjoy!

Comfort Food: Mac N' Cheese!

Oh the Lord of Comfort Food, the Make Everything Better Dish, the Sick of Cooking Entrée, the Nostalgia for Childhood Course, the Dorm Room Gourmet Cuisine, the Cream of the Crop Casserole….Macaroni and Cheese. There is nothing like a bowl of Mac n’ Cheese to take you back to a vast number of fond memories that usually involve some kind of synthetic, plastic cheese hanging on to those little bleached elbows.

I love comfort foods and I like them even better when they're vegan. If I can get a little gluten free edge in there too, I'm in heaven. Regular noodles are fine, whole wheat noodles are ok, but I do favor quinoa elbows. This time around, I only had some gluten free fusili, or spirals, on hand, but they turned out famously. One of these days my grocery store will sell a whole wheat or gluten free version of the pin wheels. Those were by FAR my favorite shape growing up. And of course, as a kid, I swore they tasted better.

I don't typically use a recipe when I make Mac n’ Cheese, but this was claimed to be the best batch yet. My habit, much like most recipe research I engage in, is to read through other vegan chefs’ techniques and ingredient lists to muster up some ideas. Then I usually end up dumping various, inconsistent amounts of herbs or spices to jazz up my version. Here are the basics: Nutritional yeast is the "cheese" of most vegan cheese sauces. It can also be used as a parmasan sprinkle to top off pastas and is the main ingredient in any store-bought vegan parmesan substitues. Flour is the key thickener, and pretty much any standard non-dairy milk can be used as the milk base - I've used both soy and almond milk with great results. From there, some vegan flavoring staples like garlic and onion powder are essential to giving the sauce some pizzazz and some sharper flavors are crucial to mimicking the powerful cheesy essence that makes this so addicting. The sharper ingredients are usually mustard and/or soy sauce. But I turned to the lovely miso in this case with very good results.

The sauce will always take some tasting and tweaking before it becomes just they way you'd like it, but I found that this recipe captures the right silky-but-edgy cheesiness of that Mac n’ Cheese from days gone by.  The touch of miso really gave it a certain je ne sais quoi… or call it that enzymatic flare that is characteristic of real cheese (you know, the mysterious stuff in cheese that recent research is claiming keeps us addicted and incapable of restricting its consumption for some speculative reason). There is just something that it does to take this up a very important cheesy notch. Bon Appetit!


Mac N’ Cheese
Serves 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

8 oz. Elbow macaroni, rotini, or fusili (gluten free or whole wheat)

2 T. Earth or Smart Balance
¼ c. All purpose flour
½ heaping cup Nutritional yeast
2 c. Almond or Soy Milk
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Onion powder
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Turmeric
2 tsp Mustard
2 tsp Miso
2-4 T. Water
Pinch of white pepper
Pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain, set aside and mix with a bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt margarine and add flour. Stir until well blended and add nutritional yeast. Whisk in almond milk, stirring constantly until smooth. Add garlic and onion powder and mustard, continuing to whisk mixture. Let sauce come to a slow bubble and keep whisking to prevent clumps from forming. Let simmer until sauce thickens, 3-4 minutes.

In a small bowl whisk miso with 2 T of water and add to sauce. Add more water if sauce is too thick Add a pinch of both white pepper and nutmeg at the very end.

Pour cheese sauce over noodles and stir to coat completely.