Vegan Macaroni & Cheese

Yep. You heard me. This is my vegan mac & cheese recipe. I took an old recipe of mine and made it vegan and it worked! Yummy! No animal was harmed in the making of this comfort wonder.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 box of whole grain elbow macaroni
- lots of salt

- 2 cups of water
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- pinch of dried thyme
- pinch of salt
- couple pinches of ground black pepper
- pinch of tumeric
- 3/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of prepared yellow mustard

- 1 796mL can of stewed tomatoes
- 1 package of Yves Veggie Cuisine Original Veggie Ground Round
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 small-to-medium onions, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring stock pot of water up to boil. When boiling, add generous amounts of salt to the water (the water should taste like sea water). Add the pasta and cook until tender.

While pasta is cooking, prepare the 'cheese' sauce. In a small saucepan, add 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil. Add the vegetable bouillon cube and stir to dissolve. Slowly whisk in the whole wheat flour to the saucepan. If it is a little lumpy, that is okay. Heat a separate small saucepan on low-medium and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 3 cloves of minced garlic and gently saute for a minute (making sure the garlic doesn't burn). Add in the pinches of thyme, salt and pepper. Pour the broth from the other saucepan in and add the turmeric and nutritional yeast flakes. Turn the heat up to medium and bring the sauce up to a gentle boil while constantly stirring/whisking. Once bubbling, cover the pan and turn off the heat. Your 'cheese' sauce is finished.

In a large skillet on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add in all the onions and saute for few minutes until the onions are tender. If the onions begin to stick to the bottom of the skillet, add a little water. Once tender, add in the 3 cloves of minced garlic. After a few minutes sauteing, add in the package of veggie ground round. Once the mixture is warm, add in the entire can of stewed tomatoes. Turn the heat to low-medium and let gently bubble.

When the pasta is ready, drain it off in the sink and return it to the stock pot. Add in the 'cheese' sauce and the ground round mixture. Stir everything together and enjoy!

Notes:

- I was able to find nutritional yeast flakes at Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaws) in the organic foods isle. You can also find it at an organic health/wholistic food store. What is it? It is a strain of inactivated yeast that has been grown on molasses. It has a mild cheese-like nutty flavour and is rich in protein and fiber.