Baked Pasta Shells and Broccoli (but with macaroni)

I'm always up for trying new pasta and "cheese" recipes so I decided to make Baked Pasta Shells and Broccoli (page 224) but with macaroni. The recipe uses the Mornay-Style Cheeze Sauce (page 552) that Gymmie also made previously.

The Mornay sauce came together easily and is also low fat as it uses cornstarch to thicken instead of a roux. I think though that this would have been better with more fat since it is baked (more on that below). What I liked about the Mornay sauce is that it used vegetable stock instead of plain water. It added a fuller flavour to the sauce, but of course it depends on how good your stock is. I like to use Bryanna's broth powder or the Seitenbacher brand powder.

The entire dish was nice and super creamy before it went into the oven but after it came out, not so much. The pasta absorbed almost all the sauce as you can probably tell from the pic. Now, I do make mac & "cheese" a lot and I know that there is some absorption after baking or in the fridge but this was a huge amount of absorption. The only difference really between my usual sauce and this one is the fat. I make a full fat roux (margarine and oil) for my own. Maybe someone can enlighten me on whether fat content in a sauce would affect absorption?

Regardless, the dish was still tasty, just a little drier than I would like. If making this, I would suggest coating the cooked macaroni with a bit of oil or margarine before adding the sauce, or using some fat in the sauce, or baking for less time, uncovered (to crisp up the breadcrumbs), or skip the baking entirely, or make an extra batch of sauce to serve on top, which is what I did today with the leftovers.

— Ms. Veganorama

Baked Mac and Cheeze - Guest Post by Kristin

I've had a favorite vegan macaroni and 'cheese' recipe for years (New Farm Cookbook recipe) and have been quite dedicated to it. I see new recipes for macaroni and 'cheese' all the time and have not been able to bring myself to try another. I sometimes even buy ingredients to try another recipe and wind up making the old standby. Well I finally did it. I made a different recipe.

I tried the Baked Mac and Cheeze {page 222} and you know, I loved it. I still like my old recipe too, but I cannot decide which one I like more. This recipe is less creamy (and probably a lot healthier) but it tastes great. It has a little onion in it which gives it a nice flavor and also has a healthy dose of cayenne for a big kick. I think I might use just a tad less cayenne next time, but otherwise, I would not change a thing. This recipe will probably now be the go-to macaroni and 'cheese' recipe for a while. It was time for a change. The Divine Miss V also posted about this recipe for Mac and Cheeze, so go read her review too!

I used whole wheat breadcrumbs for the topping and served it with broccoli.



-- Kristin
Beans and Greens

Cheesy Tomato Macaroni

Being a Blue Box lover growing up I've tried various Mac and Cheeze recipes since going Vegan. Most have been the simple stove top varieties but do like a baked dish as well.

The Cheezy Tomato Macaroni on page 225 fit the bill!

There are several steps to this recipe. If you already have Parmesan on hand that'll save you a step otherwise there is a quickie recipe for Parmasio on page 193.



You will also make the Mornay-Style Cheeze Sauce on page 552 to mix with the noodles.



The dish comes together very nicely! It's definitely a will make again dish.



--Gymmie

My Kinda Meat Loaf with Baked Mac and Cheeze and Winter Salad Saute

I realize this is on the longish side, but there are three recipes to cover. Stick with me!

Like most vegans, I'm always on the lookout for the next great mac and cheese or chz or cheeze or however-you-prefer-to-spell-it recipe, so I'm somewhat surprised I was the first of my fellow bloggers to try the Baked Mac and Cheeze (p222). First of all, I want to let you know that the extreme yellow color you're seeing is primarily due to the fact that I used quinoa pasta, which is very bright yellow once it's cooked. This is one of the faster mac and cheese recipes I've tried. While the pasta is boiling you can easily put the sauce together, and with nutritional yeast, yellow mustard, paprika, and turmeric combined with the other ingredients, you get a rich-colored and deep-flavored sauce. Mix it all in a casserole dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and it's ready for the oven. It gets nice and bubbly, and if you're anything like me, you get a little bubbly with excitement upon pulling it out of the oven. But I have to say it's not my most favorite I've had, but neither is it my least favorite. It's a solid, nice and creamy baked mac and cheese. I may have overdone it on the mustard a tad, as I was tasting a bit too much for my liking (and I LOVE mustard of any kind). Also keep in mind I'm more of a stovetop/creamy, less baked and bread-crumbed mac and cheese lover. Much like music, mac and cheese among vegans is truly a personal taste thing, so I would suggest trying this one for yourself and seeing how you like it. I do plan to make it again as it's extremely easy and made from pantry staples, but probably with just a few personal tweaks.

So what's the brown lumpy thing on the plate you ask? Well it's My Kinda Meat Loaf (p294) of course. I didn't grow up eating meat loaf very often, in fact, I don't really remember eating it all as a kid, but I do know it's the much-maligned "joke dish" from the 50s. However, I do love a good vegan meat loaf and similar to the mac and cheese quest, I have tried a number of recipes. In my experience, it is ALWAYS better the next day, so with that in mind I made this a day ahead and reheated prior to serving. This is another easy, pantry-staple recipe. The foundation is tofu, vital wheat gluten, and oatmeal. There's also a bit of tahini in this one. One thing that I loved about it is that it's not a "ketchup-y" meat loaf. There's ketchup in the mix, but there's none of this "slather it all over the top before and after you bake it" business, which I appreciate. I'm not a big fan of ketchup anyway, but I prefer my meat loaf to be less sweet more savory, and that requires a good gravy. Several posts have mentioned the Mushroom Sauce (p546), and this was a repeat for me as well. Again, I used baby bellas as I find all other mushrooms to be vile, and this is a wonderful gravy with a multitude of uses, including the perfect topping for meat loaf. That said, the meat loaf was good. Not mind-blowing, but good. Here again I have to say it's not my favorite, but not my least. I will note possible user error here and admit that I likely overmixed it, which Robin warns about in the instructions. So like you were told in school, follow directions!

Finally, and so I didn't feel entirely guilty about the contents of this meal, I added the Winter Salad Saute (p381). I was skeptical at first because the idea of warm lettuce and cucumbers isn't immediately appealing to me. But during the summer I hosted a pizza party at which a friend included cucumbers on a falafel pizza, which quickly got rid of my skepticism about warm cukes. This salad is marked with an F for fast, and it is. Make sure you've got all your veggies washed, chopped, and ready to go as thing move quickly and you do not want overcooked lettuce and cucumbers. I liked this salad, but I can't say I loved it. The addition of fresh parsley really perks it up, but I think I'd like to taste some other herbs or spices in there as well. Perhaps basil or cilantro. I may play around with this one again. It's especially handy if you've got some salad veggies that are a bit past their time for eating raw but you don't want to waste them.

While I may seem a bit not-in-love with this meal as a whole, I should note that both Mr. V and Grandma V were big fans. Perhaps it's a factor of the cook being critical of her own cooking, so I suggest you try these recipes and not fear making them your own. You're also welcome to invite me over and I'll be happy to taste test for comparative purposes.

--The Divine Miss V