It’s getting cold here in Germany! European summer time (or daylight savings time for you American folk) ended last night and to christen the even earlier sunset here, it seems as though some German cities have gotten snow. Not Berlin, which makes me slightly jealous, but at least we had some lovely blue skies today. Still, the bone-chilling cold is returning, and alongside that, I have some mad cravings for comfort food.
The macaroni and cheese my mother made us as kids is still one of my favourite dishes, and even though I am vegan, I crave it at least a few times a year. Back in the states, I would buy Amy’s to satisfy my cravings, not only because it is made in Petaluma, but also because it uses Daiya, which is undoubtedly the best vegan cheese on the market. However, here I am left with very few options, and all the fake cheese versions I’ve tried in the past just haven’t cut it.
That’s until I came across the Detoxinista’s recipe for sweet potato mac n’ cheeze. I had my doubts, but it totally delivered. More importantly? It was a hit with M. as well. I thought he would shy away from it, but the sweet potato base gave it an exceptional flavour.
There weren’t many modifications, although I used an orange sweet potato as opposed to a white one. I also used garlic powder since I didn’t have any onion powder, and plain soy milk as opposed to almond milk. The rest I followed directly. In the end, it resulted in a Velveeta-like texture, which was amazing, because it tasted a bit like processed cheese (in a good way) but we knew the ingredients were all pretty healthy. As for the pasta, we used penne, since there was a slight miscommunication when I asked M. to get macaroni. It still tasted good.
It’s also worth noting that we ended up putting the noodles and the sauce in the fridge overnight, and then mixing them the following day and reheating them in a frying pan. This gave a slight edge of bite to the food, and it tasted better, because day-old pasta always does.
Directions:
-Cut 1 medium sweet potato into chunks and steam until tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, begin cooking your pasta as directed.
-Mash the cooked potato with a fork, and measure it out into 1 cup. If you pick a potato just the right size (as we did), it will equal 1 cup, plus a few bites that you can eat… you know, to test that it’s right.
-Mix the potato with 1 cup soy milk, 1/4 nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon onion powder or garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, using a food processor or hand mixer to combine well.
-Pour over your cooked pasta and enjoy, or…
-Fry pasta and sauce in a frying pan until slightly crispy.
