My mom never made macaroni and cheese when I was growing up. My fond memories of mac and cheese come from our next door neighbor’s house. I used to babysit for the girls all the time. As one of the many perks, I got homemade mac and cheese. Rebecca (the mom) never made her mac and cheese from the powdered stuff. She actually made it from real cheese. (It was American cheese, but I think that still counts as cheese.)
I’ve seen a lot of recipes that use nutritional yeast. I bought some when I was in the US because it just seemed like one of those things that vegans put in their food. But I can’t stand the stuff, and it’s rarely necessary. Every so often I take it out and try to use it again, but it just has such a weird taste. It’s not for me.
In addition (or subtraction) to not having nutritional yeast, this recipe is also soy-free. No soy plants were harmed in the making of this recipe. It’s not that I’m against harming soys, it’s just that it was not needed.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
Mac and Cheese
The potatoes and nuts make this a really creamy sauce, without using any real or fake cheese. The carrots give it a nice orange color.
Ingredients
- macaroni noodles - 1 package
- potatotes - 3, chopped
- carrot - 1 large, chopped
- onion - 1 large, chopped
- garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- water - 3 cups
- cashews - 1/3 cup
- macadamia nuts - 1/2 cup
- oil - 2/3 cup
- salt - 2 1/2 teaspoons
- dried mustard - 1/2 teaspoon
- lemon juice - 2 tablespoon
- bread crumbs - 1/4 cup
Instructions
- Boil up macaroni according to the directions on the package
- Chop up vegetables and boil in water until soft
- Put nuts and oil in a blender and blend
- Add the rest of the ingredients, including the veggies and the water they were boiled in, except for the bread crumbs
- Process until smooth
- Mix macaroni with cheese sauce and put in a baking pan
- Sprinkle with bread crumbs
- Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees
- Serve hot
5 stars - based on 1 review(s)
I haven’t seen Rebecca, Barry, Simmie or Dina in years. The kids that I used to babysit are all grown up, with kids of their own. I will always remember the fun times we had. Especially when I eat mac and cheese.
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Haven’t visited the blogs for a while lately so missed this one. Am wondering about how much macaroni you used. I see various size packages – a little 6 ounce pack, 12 ounces, a pound? We are in agreement on the nutritional yeast thing although I occasionally use a little here and there. I also dislike most vegan cheeses. Leaves me out of the loop, so I am looking forward to trying this.
Hi Marlene,
I use 500 grams, which is about 12oz.
I keep nutritional yeast in the house. To me it has a really weird taste. It’s not an ingredient that you can get in Israel, so I won’t use it on the blog – you are safe to use all the recipes that you see here ;-).
Enjoy!
Rena
Everyone one I know loves this recipe. Maybe soaking the nuts in boiling water would give it an even smoother consistency.