Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese

Hello again! Mac and cheese is a new love for me. As a Puertorican, it's not a dish that is part of my culture. But the 10th anniversary of me living in Georgia is fast approaching I figured I would start adopting some southern things into my life.

This recipe has gone through some trials and tribulations. Vegan mac and cheese is kind of an oxymoron and non-vegans will be quick to remind you of that. But trust me when I say, this is delicious.

Like all recipes in the internet-verse adjust to your taste or the level of ooooey goooeyness of your desire. When I'm cooking I try to loosely follow recipes but if I think that it's lacking on the seasoning department or an ingredient doesn't look correct, I just adjust to my liking.

Ingredients

For the cheese sauce:

• 1/2 cup of raw cashews

• 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut milk (or your fave dairy free milk)

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp whole grain mustard

• 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast

• 5 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

• salt & pepper, to taste

For the pasta:

• one package or 16 oz of elbow macaroni or shells

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. While the water is boiling, add the cashews onto a pan over medium heat, stir until fragrant and a little toasty. Once golden, tra

3. Once golden & toasty, transfer the cashews to the blender and add the coconut milk. Blend until creamy.

4. Lets start the cheese sauce! Add half the olive oil to a pan (medium heat), add chopped onion, onion powder, garlic, turmeric, mustard and salt/pepper to taste. Cook until the onions are fragrant and translucent (🗣️try not to burn them!). Add the tamari and nutritional yeast. Remove from heat.

5. In a blender, blend the cashew mix, the onion mixture and add the rest of the olive oil. Thats your cheese sauce baby!)

6. By now the water should be boiling, add the pasta and follow the instructions on the package for cook time.

7. Once your pasta is ready, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.

8. Return cooked pasta to the pot, stir in cheese sauce and add the cooked pasta water (this will make it very gooey).

9. Season with salt & pepper to taste, add more nutritional yeast if desired.

   Serve & Enjoy!