The Comfort Food Series...Part 1

Comfort Food (noun): food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal  ~Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

I love comfort food. (I know, I know…who doesn’t, right?)

When it’s cold and snowy; rainy and wet or I’m just having a really bad day, comfort food is like a hug for my stomach and my soul, warming me up from the inside out.  One of the biggest challenges in becoming vegan was figuring out how to replicate some of my favorite comfort dishes to match our new lifestyle.  Eating a plant-based diet is great, but when you need a bowl of Mac & Cheese, you need a bowl of Mac & Cheese – not a heaping pile of kale and chickpeas. 

When people hear we are vegan, often their first reaction (okay, their second…the first is ALWAYS “how do you get your protein?” but that’s a different post entirely) is, OMG…but you can’t eat {insert their favorite comfort dish!}

Well, yes, actually we can. It just takes a little creativity in the kitchen…and the help of a few vegan tricks. 

 

I have a three-year old. And like most kids her age, she’s unsure about veggies; but she sure knows and loves a heaping plate of baked macaroni and cheese. And so do we.  So this became my mission: create the best-tasting, most authentic {vegan} mac and cheese known on the planet.  After many different experiments (some successful, some not-so-much), I struck gold.  A dish that has become known in my circle of friends as “Audrey’s Mac and Cheese”; partially because it’s the dish I always bring for her at family and friend gatherings where food is being served, and partially because it is my secret parenting weapon. I’m not kidding. I can pretty much get her to do anything if I promise to serve it to her for dinner.  And anyone who has raised (or is raising) a pre-schooler knows that is pretty powerful stuff. 

So, weary vegan parents of the world (and those craving a big bowl of comfort), I present the first item in my ‘Comfort Food’ series: “Audrey’s Mac & Cheese”.

Enjoy!

Audrey’s Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 x 375g box of pasta (penne rigate, fusili or rotini work best)

½ an onion roughly cut into big chunks
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and “smashed” but left whole
2 tablespoons of mustard powder
Pepper to taste (about 6 or 7 turns usually)
2 cups unsweetened plain almond  milk

 (if you can’t get unsweetened just use regular plain – but stay away from any of the flavored ones. If nuts allergies are an issue, then use plain soy milk)
 

1 8oz package of Daiya shredded vegan cheddar

(this is what makes the difference. I’ve tried EVERY type of vegan cheese in this recipe and Daiya is the closest to that real cheddar taste)
 

2 tablespoons vegan butter (earth balance or becel vegan)
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Optional toppings:

Grated soy Parmesan

Nutritional yeast flakes (adds additional cheesy flavour and a bit of texture)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions; drain, return to pot and set aside.
3. While pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, combine almond milk, onion, garlic, mustard powder and pepper. Heat on medium until milk is steaming (do not let it boil). Remove from heat; cover with a tight-fitting lid and let steep for 10 minutes; strain and set aside.
4. In another large pot, on medium high heat, melt butter. Before butter gets completely melted, add flour;  stir constantly with a wooden spoon to incorporate all flour and create a golden roux. Do not let it brown or bubble away too hard. Switch to a metal or silicone whisk and very slowly add milk in small additions, whisking as you pour. Continue to whisk until liquid thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
5. Remove milk from heat and whisk in Daiya cheddar shreds, stirring until most of the cheese is incorporated, about 5 minutes. (Daiya doesn’t melt 100% when stirred into liquid so it’s okay if there are a few strands of cheese still in the sauce; they will melt when baked).
6. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and mix until completely coated. Transfer to a 9x9 glass baking dish (or any large casserole dish) and add topping (if using). Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until mac and cheese is bubbling and top is golden.

{Quiche} Me...

I’ll admit: I still love eggs. I don’t eat them, but I love them.  I wasn’t crazy about meat, so that was easy to give up; and thanks to Daiya and Sheese, my lifelong love affair with “cheese” hasn’t skipped a beat.  But eggs were a tough one to replicate.  Yes, there’s tofu for the texture and protein, but how do I make them exude that rich decadence that only an egg yolk can provide?  

Meet nutritional yeast. Cheesy, nutty, creamy and rich, yet it contains absolutely no animal by-products and no dairy.  Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast
(which means that it is no longer living and will not produce the effects of “active” yeast), and is a complete protein.   Add a tablespoon or two mixed with water in a food processor, blitz for 30 seconds, and you have an egg yolk. Seriously. I’m not kidding. 

I’ve used nutritional yeast as a cheese substitute when cooking but never thought to try it as an “egg” until recently, thanks to Daddy Vegan’s discovery of a product called Vegg. It’s basically fortified nutritional yeast with black pepper, beta carotene and a bit of salt.  And it has changed my life (and my breakfast menu).

I love quiche.  It’s rich, satisfying and always a crowd-pleasure. Most importantly, I can hide all kinds of vegetables in it and Little Miss Vegan is none the wiser as she gobbles it down. 

I had recently posted a picture on Facebook of a vegan caramelized onion, roasted potato and cheddar “quiche” I made.  The most asked question I got was, “it looks like it has egg in it. How did you do that?” followed by, “can I please have that recipe?”

Well, now you know how I did it. Here’s how you can too. 

Enjoy!

Caramelized onion, roasted potato and cheddar “quiche”

The building blocks of this recipe are the crust and the “egg” mixture. The toppings are optional and totally up to whatever suits your taste. If you’re looking to add a “meaty” addition, I recommend Field Roast brand vegan sausages, removed from the casings, chopped and mixed in with the cooked onions.)

This recipe is adapted from an original recipe for a creamy leek and cashew quiche that can be found at: http://mouthwateringvegan.com/2011/03/23/creamy-cashew-leek-cheezy-quiche/

Ingredients:

Crust

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup unbleached all purpose flour

¼ cup vegan butter (Becel Vegan or Earth Balance. I find Becel Vegan blends into dough better)

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

Cold water

 

Filling

2 large Vidalia or sweet onions, cut in half and sliced into half circles

Vegetable broth for sautéing

1 cup soy cream

½ cup soy milk

2 teaspoons: Vegg and ½ cup water blended in a food processor (if you don’t have Vegg, just use the same amount of nutritional yeast and a few turns of black pepper)

2 – 3 yukon gold potatoes (skins on), cut in small cubes

1 cup shredded Daiya cheddar cheese

½ cup roasted, unsalted cashews (totally optional – this is just a topping)

1 teaspoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.       In a large bowl, mix both whole wheat and all purpose flour. Measure out butter into a measuring cup.  Put flour and butter and pastry cutter (or two forks) in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.

2.       Preheat oven to 425F. Toss potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and combine. Spread evenly onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 25 minutes.

3.       In a large non-stick sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable broth on medium high heat (6), add onions and sauté for approx 15-20 minutes, until onions are soft and golden. Stir often to ensure onions do not stick to the pan and add more vegetable broth (a tablespoon at a time) throughout the cooking process to keep onions from drying out/burning. Remove from heat when done and combine with potatoes. Set aside to cool.

4.       Remove flour and butter from freezer. Cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse ‘corn meal’ type texture.  Add cold water, 2-3 tablespoons at a time, and combine with fork until a dough is formed. Add more water a tablespoon at a time until dough comes together. Place dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll out until it covers the bottom and sides of a quiche , tart or baking pan. I use a silicone round baking pan. 

5.       In a medium size bowl, combine egg replacer (Vegg or nutritional yeast) with soy milk, soy cream and salt. Whisk until combined.

6.       Add onion/potato mixture to the pan, and spread out to evenly coat the bottom of the pan.  Pour the egg/soy mixture over the filling and tilt pan/spread with spatula until liquid covers all filling. Top with shredded cheddar and cashews if using.

7.       Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400F for 40 minutes, until cashews are browned, cheese is melted and mixture is bubbling. Remove from oven and let it sit at least 20 minutes to firm up before serving.