Day 12

Pretty mellow day....taught an afternoon yoga class, took care of some business, read more from my beloved Jivamukti book and pondered dinner earlier this morning- we looked through some cookbooks; Candle Cafe, Kripalu, Angelica's Kitchen, and The Kind Diet and Claudine opened up the page (instantly) to Baked Macaroni and Cheese in the Kripalu cookbook. The recipe is NOT vegan but again, recipe wiggling is what I LIVE for- the challenge of creating something totally animal free without losing any of it's taste. So bring it on.

The original recipe is pretty basic:

• 12oz pasta
• 1 1/2c broccoli florets
• 1 1/2c mushrooms
• 5 T butter
• 1 1/2 c milk
• 2 T unbleached flour
• 1 t salt
• 1/4t nutmeg
• 1 1/2t stone ground mustard
• 1/2 t white pepper
• 1 3/4 c sharp chedder
• 1 c whole grain bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 T parmesean cheese

SO.......What I did instead was:

• 12oz pasta- brown rice ziti
• 1 1/2c broccoli florets
• 1 1/2c mushrooms- I omitted the mushrooms and added 1 small minced red onion
• 5 T butter- vegan organic earth balance
• 1c rice/soy milk and 1/2c Silk creamer
• 2 T unbleached flour
• 1 t salt
• 1/4t nutmeg
• 1 1/2t stone ground mustard
• 1 tsp ume vinegar
• 1/2 t hot chili pepper
• 1 3/4 c vegan chedder- I used Follow Your Heart Monterey Chedder
• 1 c whole grain bread crumbs- I made these from eziekial whole grain sesame bread
• 1 1/2 T parmesan cheese- vegan

Cook the pasta and in the last few minutes of cooking, throw in the broccoli to green it up, then drain and set aside.

Prepare the breadcrumbs (toast the bread, let cool, and buzz in a blender or food processor).

In a heavy pot, heat up the butter and add the minced onion and heat through until golden. Add the flour- this is the *ROUX, the base for the "cheese" sauce. When it smells nutty, add the soy/rice milk/cream and whisk it well- 1-2 minutes. Add the "cheese", mustard, chili and salt. Whisk all ingredients together until heated through.

In a bowl, (I used the same pot I cooked the pasta in and returned it to the pot after I drained it) pour the "cheese" mixture over the pasta and broccoli and toss until well coated.

Transfer the mixture into a baking dish and cover with more shredded "cheese", then with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle more vegan parmesan
cheese and about a tablespoon of olive oil over the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes......

THIS CAME OUT DELICIOUS!!!!!

*(Roux ("roo") is used to thicken sauces and soups. Pre-cooking flour allows the starch granules to swell and absorb moisture, and lets you thicken a sauce base without the flour clumping or forming lumps. Rouxs are also used to deepen the flavor of a sauce: browning the flour gives it a nutty, toasted flavor.)
http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/making-roux/Detail.aspx