RECIPE - Vegan - dairy, nut & gluten free Mac'n'Cheese!
- Mr T
- Apr 6, 2020
- 3 min read
Okay, full disclosure, I don't think this 'cheese' is going to win any 'Pepsi Challenges' against real cheese. To be honest, I didn't find it to be that close to cheese, but I did find it interesting, not 'unpleasant' and strangely satisfying in its own unique way - in both flavour and texture. The main flavour profile is achieved using nutritional yeast, which gives this dish its 'umami' (I want to refrain from saying 'cheesy') flavour, as well as its significant B-complex vitamin content. The stretchy texture is achieved using mochi.
This is a super quick and easy recipe that I will probably attempt to make again and try adjusting different elements. As with all my recipes, you don't need to stick to them rigidly and I encourage you to make them your own!
Shopping list (makes approx 8 meals):
White potato x2 medium size
Carrot x1
Nutritional yeast 1/4 cup
Mochi block 50-100g
Lemon 1tbsp of juice
Garlic clove x1
Turmeric 1/2tsp
Onion powder 1/2tsp
Salt 1tsp
Olive oil 1tbsp
Water 1/4 cup
Gluten free (made from rice) macaroni 450g
The nutritional yeast flakes were around 900yen for 10oz (ordered from iHerb) and I obviously didn't use it all, I used a very small fraction of it. All the fresh items listed above cost me around 800yen from 'Niku no Hanamasa' in Temikesanno, the gluten free macaroni came from Yamaya in Akasaka and were around 200yen per 150g pack, so 600yen for the three. All of this will feed me (lunch and dinner), with some additional veg on the side, for most of the working-week (8 meals). That's less than 200yen per tasty, nutrient dense, hearty, filling, vegan meal!
Method
Wash, peel and chop into chunks the potatoes and carrot. Put into a pot of water and boil for around 20mins until cooked and tender.
Mince your garlic clove.
After 20mins, drain the potatoes and carrot and add all the ingredients, apart from the mochi, to the pot. Use a hand blender to blend everything together until very smooth.
Chop your mochi block(s) into small pieces.
Put your mixture in the pot back on a low-medium heat and slowly add your mochi pieces, continually stirring until they are all added and have all disappeared.
Keep adding mochi, until you are happy with the 'stretchiness' of the mixture.
Add more salt to taste, while adding more nutritional yeast/onion powder/lemon juice will also adjust the 'umami'/'cheesy bite' to the flavour.
Boil your gluten free macaroni as you would normal pasta but less time (as per packet's instructions - 6mins).
Drain macaroni, pour cheesy mixture over (add as much / little as desired) and stir to combine.
Serving your Mac'n'Cheese:
As always, it is completely up to you how you serve this/what you serve it with. For my meals this week I am serving this with steamed broccoli, daikon & more carrots. I had some 'cheese' leftover, so on my cheat days I added it to some bread, threw it under the toaster and made cheese on toast / mini pizza breads!
When you are finished cooking / serving, it may look something like this:
Doesn't it just MAKESENSE to reduce your dairy & gluten intake where possible? Both dairy and gluten are gut irritants (whether you have an actual 'allergy' to them, or not) and offer very little nutritional value. So it just MAKESENSE to give your gut a rest and put vegetables (potatoes & carrots), B-complex vitamin rich nutritional yeast as well as healthy lemon, garlic and turmeric all on a bed of rice into your body, at least once in a while, rather than gluten-full flour and dairy-full cheese.
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