So since becoming vegan I have gradually come to love nutritional yeast, particularly nutritional yeasty variants of macaroni and cheeze. One of my early forays into the world of vegan macaroni and cheese was a generously-modified version of this recipe. However, that early modification, while quite delicious, still left a lot to be desired when the issue of calories was examined... So in my most recent stab at vegan mac 'n' cheeze greatness, I've further modified the recipe aiming for healthiness. The above is the photographic results of this experiement. And below is the healthified recipe:
Lower-Fat Vegan Macaroni and Cheeze
1 box quinoa pasta, macaroni shapes
3/4 cup plain soymilk
1/2 cup water
1/6 cup tamari or soy sauce
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tbsp. paprika
1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
8 oz. firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. spicy brown mustard (or to taste)
plain salted bread crumbs (optional)
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Cook quinoa pasta according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, place all other ingredients, except bread crumbs (if using) in blender and blend until smooth.
3. When pasta is cooked, drain and return to cooking pot. Pour 3/4 sauce over macaroni and mix. Pour into 8 x 8 inch pan, then pour remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top, if desired. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes until bubbly and crispy on top.
For 4 servings, the sauce alone is 308 calories per serving, 19 g fat, and 21 g protein. I would include the breakdown with the pasta, but I don't have the box with me to look at right now. I'm going to experiment in the future with using low-fat tofu, and even less oil. However, this version is my favorite attempt at vegan mac so far, and its a pretty big improvement (even when the pasta is factored in) from the original recipe, which someone posted in the comments as having 706 (!) calories, 32 g fat, and 28 g protein per serving (I'm not sure how the original version ends up having more protein, since my version halves the original recipe, but still uses more tofu...).
Anyway, that's it for now. I've cooked/been cooking loads of other things--of recent note some lovely Mother's Day food--since I last posted, but haven't had too much time to get them off my camera and update. I plan on starting the Master Cleanse tomorrow, so we'll see--hopefully not cooking will afford me time to get through my backlog of photos and update more!
5 comments:
This recipe looks wonderful! I stumbled across your blog while on the "Fat Free Vegan Kitchen" blog. So my question is...can I leave out the nutritional yeast for this recipe?
Thanks,
Danielle
what is the purpose of nutritional yeast in this recipe. I am not a vegan but try to eat some vegan meals.
thanks, busyyarn
The nutritional yeast is what gives the mac n cheese its cheese flavor. It is commonly used in many vegan recipes. Try it sprinkled on popcorn with salt (use oil to make it stick), use on pasta in place of parmesian, add to salad dressings, and mock cheese sauces. I reccommend Red Starr nutritional yeast. I think it tastes the best, and it is garenteed to be Candida Albicans free. It is also high in B vitamins and contains naturally occuring B12. Look for it at Whole Foods and other Natural Food Stores in the bulk department. For more info and recipes check out The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak.
I missed these comments and have no idea when they were made, so its perhaps a moot point now. But--no! Don't leave out the nutritional yeast. It's what makes it cheesy (using the word very loosely). Plus it is also a natural thickener.
Cruciferous1...you sound so much like a radio announcer! "And now tuning back in to B101.9....Soft Rock for a Hard World"
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