Serves: 6 people
Preparation time: 1hr 20 min
Food for the soul, this animal free and healthy version of chicken mac’n cheese takes me straight back
to childhood, and rainy days spent cosily indoors. This makes a truly delicious meal, and
I was so pleased with how the TVP ‘chick'n’ turned out as I hadn’t tried it
before. My man and I both agreed that if people didn’t know us and came for
dinner they would never have guessed this dish was vegetarian, let alone
vegan, making it a great option for when you have meat-eating guests over or a
bunch of hungry kids.
Photographic failure alert: While the food may have turned out scrumptious, I'm afraid the lack of natural lighting, and no doubt my own lack of photographic genius, resulted in the photos not doing this dish justice! Please take my word for it, it's much yummier than it looks on this post. Better photos next time, I promise.
Photographic failure alert: While the food may have turned out scrumptious, I'm afraid the lack of natural lighting, and no doubt my own lack of photographic genius, resulted in the photos not doing this dish justice! Please take my word for it, it's much yummier than it looks on this post. Better photos next time, I promise.
Ingredients
3 T vegan margarine + a little extra for
greasing the baking dish
450gr of elbow macaroni pasta
150 gr of large TVP granules (the bite size
kind)
2 cups of prepared non-dairy cheese flavour
sauce mix (see Note*)
1 t olive oil
300ml of vegetable broth (water will do
fine if you don’t have any broth)
2 sticks of celery, finely sliced
1 small onion, finely sliced
½ cup of hot sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 T of nutritional yeast (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
*Note: I made the cheese sauce the lazy way, because that’s part of the
whole idea of comfort food, with a ready-to-use non-dairy cheese sauce mix by
Free & Easy, made with rice milk instead of water to make it creamier and
adding a little nutritional yeast for extra cheesiness, salt and freshly ground
pepper. If you’re feeling up for it then you could easily make your own by
following this simple 5 ingredient recipe from Ohsheglows.
 |
| Ready for the oven! |
Preparation
Soak the TVP granules in the broth or water
with a teaspoon of olive oil for about 30 minutes, or until soft. Once they
have soaked, squeeze them out with a cheese cloth, getting rid of as much
moisture as possible. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and lightly
grease a 9-by-13 inch baking dish (I only had a small round one to hand which
wasn’t ideal).
Bring a large pot of salted water to the
boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and leave aside.
Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons of non-dairy
butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for
about 5 minutes, until soft. Now stir in the prepared TVP granules and garlic
and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the hot sauce and simmer for a few
more minutes. Season as desired with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.
Prepare your non-dairy cheese sauce (see
Note* above).
Spread out half of the macaroni pasta in
the baking dish, then top with the TVP 'chick'n' mixture and remaining macaroni. Now
pour the cheese sauce evenly on top. Sprinkle a tablespoon of nutritional yeast
over the top and some freshly ground pepper.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until bubbly and
there you have it, creamy, delicious mac’n’cheese that everyyone will enjoy. Serve
with a side of greens for added healthy bonus points.
 |
| Half devoured in no time |
No comments:
Post a Comment