Wednesday, April 1, 2009

No-soy, No-nut, Gluten-Free, Vegan Macaroni & "Cheese"

Impossible, I hear you say.

How do you make vegan macaroni and cheese without soy or nuts of some sort?

I wondered the same thing, but because of our new no soy, no nuts (with the exception of almonds and seeds are okay) policy due to allergies in our family, I created this recipe.

I've made several variations of vegan macaroni and cheese before which all included soy and/or cashews so at first I was at a loss. But then I thought about using white beans. They are creamy and rich when blended. Not only that, but it's a great way to "sneak" more beans into your child's diet without them knowing.

The sauce ended up tasting more like nacho cheese, because I used a roasted red pepper (from a jar) instead of a fresh red pepper. My kids loved it and I felt great because it was a cinch to make.

I used Tinkyada's Brown Rice Bunny Shapes. I love this brand, because it doesn't taste whole-grainy (ie. heavy), yet has a lot of fiber and is gluten-free. It also cooks well, and if I didn't know any better, would say it tastes like regular white pasta.

Asher's Macaroni & Cheese

SF (soy-free), GF (Gluten-free), LF (low-fat), NF (nut free)
Serves 4-6

1 15 oz. can great northern beans (or 2 c. cooked great northern beans)
1/2 c. plain rice milk
1/4 c. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp. celtic sea salt (or to taste)
1 TBS. fresh lemon juice
1/2 red bell pepper (fresh or from a jar)
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 tsp. tumeric

Rinse beans.

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and process until very smooth and creamy (I had to do 3 cycles of the dips/dressings option on my Blend-tec).

Mix the sauce in with cooked noodles on low heat until the sauce is warm. This makes enough sauce to cover about 3 cups cooked noodles.
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8 comments:

  1. Michelle OlsonApril 1, 2009 at 6:08 PM

    Made it tonight, sooooo easy, quick, and Stephen and the kids gobbled it all up! Thanks for the recipe!

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  2. DejaApril 1, 2009 at 6:12 PM

    Brilliant, just brilliant.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 30, 2009 at 2:11 PM

    FABULOUS!!!!! The family LOVED it!! Plan on making it a staple with a side of broccoli!!!

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  4. AnonymousApril 23, 2011 at 3:15 PM

    My husband and I tried this today and liked it(although my picky two year old, who is the reason we have to have vegan, soy free foods, didn't try it. Go figure!). Other than the fact that we really need to get a better blender (it was slightly grainy because our blender and food processor are both wimpy!), we really enjoyed this as a "different" kind of mac and cheese. But, there was a faint bitter aftertaste - since this was our first experience with nutritional yeast, we were wondering if that's what it was, and if so, if you have any ideas for countering it. Or maybe I just didn't cook the beans long enough?

    Thanks so much for sharing this recipe and for your website. My daughter is allergic to cow dairy (ok with goat but doesn't like goat cheese), eggs, and soy. I found your website when looking for vegan, soy free recipes to tempt her!

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  5. AnonymousApril 25, 2012 at 1:04 PM

    When you say 1/2 red pepper. Do you mean cayenne pepper, bell pepper or something else? Please let me know, I am looking to make it tonight!

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  6. Janae @ Bring-JoyApril 25, 2012 at 2:16 PM

    Bell pepper. It can be fresh or from a jar.

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  7. Melissa DeLeonMay 1, 2012 at 11:11 AM

    Finally made this sauce last night. I have wanted to mix it for a while but was always missing an ingredient (first nutritional yeast, which I finally found in bulk at Winco - yay!) and then the milk.
    I used the sauce to cover potato gnocchi. Husband wasn't impressed (with gnocchi or sauce), but he didn't say he hated it.
    I'm going to have to try it again with a little variation, and try it on pasta instead. Also, I'm not sure I got it smooth enough (either that, or I didn't heat it up enough) as it was slightly grainy. (It looked smooth...)

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  8. Janae @ Bring-JoyMay 1, 2012 at 2:34 PM

    Melissa: Glad you tried it out. Good for you!

    Here's the thing with this recipe. It's not my fave, but then again, I've never been a mac & cheese kinda gal. Also, it's low-fat & I made it especially for people with allergies.

    Personally, I like the sauce with the addition of cashews b/c it adds fat (& therefore makes it more appealing), but this recipe is great for people with nut/soy/gluten allergies. So there you go.

    I'm sure Monico would like a sauce with cashews (I think Engine 2 Diet has a good one). There are plenty of variations on this sauce, this is just a very allergy-friendly, low fat, vegan version :).

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