Don't Con me

I love mac and cheese, but as a vegan, cheese is out and I'll have to admit my entire being is so much better without it. But alas, the processed vegan mac and cheese is somewhat lacking in the flavor department plus it's processed meaning it has ingredients in it I don't really want to eat.

Daiya Cheesy Mac ingredients: Brown rice pasta (whole grain brown rice, rice bran, water), filtered water, tapioca starch, non-GMO expeller pressed: canola and/or safflower oil, coconut oil, sea salt, vegan natural flavours, pea protein isolate, tricalcium phosphate, cane sugar, lactic acid (vegan), xanthan gum, yeast extract, titanium dioxide (naturally occurring mineral), annatto (colour), onion

So, I Googled vegan mac and cheese and found a wealth of recipes most of which use nutritional yeast. I don't know what vegan genius thought nutritional yeast could be passed off as cheese, but I beg to differ. Gross is too kind.

Today I tested a recipe - but I knew in my heart it'd be a bust - but I had to try. Both Tom and I tasted it and had to make the decision to pitch it (ARG!!! Wasted food!!) or doctor it up to something more edible. We opted for the doctoring.

Again, not liking the processed vegan cheese due to some of their ingredients, I did opt to heat up some almond milk, I added some vegan smoked gouda (our favorite, if I had to pick one), and some cashew cream. Hmmm ... a bit of onion powder, more salt, a dash of pepper ... tasting it gave me a wee bit of hope. I stirred the nearly trashed mac and cheese and added some diced tomatoes and topped it with homemade bread crumbs. 

I don't have an end result for you ... yet. It's in the garage frig. Now, two things will happen next ... 1.) I'll actually remember it's out there and have it for lunch tomorrow or 2.) I'll remember it's out there when it turns into an science experiment.

Only time will tell. 

If you have a tried and true vegan mac and cheese without using processed foods (well, except pasta - I know, I know ... it's processed), please leave me a comment ... and recipe, if you'd like.

​UPDATE: While this was edible, Tom's comment was that it was all right. When I mentioned it was mac and cheese, he laughed ... apparently, it was a good thing I told him or he might have wondered what it was he ate.