Over the weekend Ryan and I attended a mac & cheese and wine pairing event at our friends’ home. So, in case you haven’t already figured it out, each guest was asked to bring a homemade macaroni and cheese dish and pair it with a bottle of wine. Sounds like a fun party theme to me! And it was! Everyone got really into it and came up with some very creative dishes.
I brought 2 different dishes – not because I was trying to show off – but I know my body and that it does not like dairy, so I brought a dairy dish and a dairy-free (and gluten free) dish. Both got good reviews. I haven’t had this childhood classic in years so I was happy to come up with a dish that I could eat without suffering and still be able to participate. This just goes to show you that no matter what your dietary restrictions might be, you are really only limited if you let yourself be. As you’ll see in the vegan recipe below -
Despite how different these two dishes are, they have one thing in common. Both are made with whole foods and high quality ingredients. The quality of the ingredient is very important, especially if it’s coming from an animal. Yes, it’s might be expensive, but that’s just another reason not to eat a lot of animal protein (that means anything that comes from an animal – cheese, milk, meat). And when you do, balance it out with some dark leafy greens. Think of animal protein as a side dish, not the main course.
Nutritional yeast is great if you don’t eat a lot of meat. It’s a great source of B-vitamins, which are essential nutrients that you can only really get from animal proteins. I love it for this reason as well as it’s flavor and the texture it gives to food – like its role in making “cheese”. I wouldn’t recommend the soy cheeses out there. Use real ingredients instead. Those “fake cheeses” are just food-like-substances filled with artificial ingredients.
Spicy Mac and Cheese (adapted from this recipe)
Ingredients:
4 cups Whole Grain or Whole Wheat pasta
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup red pepper, finely chopped
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
6½ tablespoons. organic butter
4 tablespoons almond flour
2½ cups organic milk
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon. ground black pepper
8 ounces organic colby jack cheese, shredded
4 ounces organic pepper jack cheese, shredded
4 ounces organic sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces whole wheat bread shredded
Directions:
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.
Melt ½ tablespoon of organic butter in a small skillet and add onion, red pepper and jalapeno. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of organic butter. Whisk in almond flour. Add milk until well blended. Whisk and stir frequently until the mixture bubbles and thickens, about 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat and add the spices. Mix well. Add cheese and mix well. Remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease casserole dish.
Pour drained pasta into large pot. Add cooked vegetables and cheese sauce. Mix well.
Pour pasta mixture into casserole dish.
Use food processor to pulse bread into coarse crumbs. Transfer crumbs to small sauce pan. Melt remaining butter and mix with bread crumbs. Sprinkle mixture over the pasta in the casserole dish.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until bread crumbs are beginning to turn brown.
Vegan Mac & Cheese (adapted from this recipe)
Ingredients:
16 ounces brown rice pasta
Cheese Sauce:
¾ cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup nutritional yeast
½ cup organic canola oil
½ cup tamari
12 ounce firm tofu
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons mustard
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook pasta according to directions on package.
Add cheese sauce ingredients to blender and process until smooth.
Mix the pasta and sauce in large pot and pour into casserole dish.
Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly brown and crispy – approximately 15 minutes.