mac n' not quite cheese

being macrobiotic/vegan for the last hmm, 4 months now, has been a lot easier than i expected! there are so many recipes out there and ways to get creative in the kitchen to make this an enjoyable and tasty way of life. living in LA and having access to tons of different vegan/macro friendly restaurants has made it fun as well....annnd the fact that Joey has been a willing participant has made it easy to cook for the both of us. many people fear that they will feel deprived (of meat and dairy) if on a vegan/macro diet. true, if you are a hardcore cheesy addict, you may have some cravings in the beginning, but there are so many substitutes and yummy things to eat, that i don't think you'll miss it enough to face plant in the butter dish.

one of the yummy substitutes is this Vegan Mac N' Cheese recipe. it is made with Nutritional Yeast, which is really good for you and chock FULL of B12 vitamins, which is arguably the only hard vitamin to come by in copious amounts if you're on a vegan diet (because of the over-sterilization of our modern soil...basically we don't eat as much poop on our veggies as we used to). i made this recipe the other day and paired it with a raddichio and sugar snap pea salad with vegan thousand island dressing (Follow Your Heart)...mmmmm!!! i've tried other recipes for vegan mac n' cheese, and this is by far the best....

Ingredients For Vegan Mac N' Cheese 4 tablespoons Earth Balance spread 1/4 cup flour 3 cups vegetable broth 1/8 cup soy sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 tablespoon paprika 1 tablespoon turmeric Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup nutritional yeast 1 pound cooked macaroni pasta (i used brown rice pasta) For the topping: 2 tablespoons Earth Balance spread 1 cup **breadcrumbs** **How i made homemade healthy breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs from a box actually have a lot of unwanted ingredients. For your own easy, homemade, breadcrumbs, you will need: 2 slices of sprouted grain bread (i used sprouted barley from Trader Joes) Dried herbs like oregano and basil Garlic powder Toast the slices of bread in the toaster until brown and crisp. Then break into smaller squares and put them in a food processor with a few sprinkles of oregano, basil and garlic powder. Chop and grind until the bread is crumbed to perfection. Then sprinkle on anything!! Directions For Vegan Mac N' Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium size dutch oven, over low-medium heat, melt the Earth Balance spread. Add flour and vegetable broth. Whisk into a smooth paste.
3. Stir in soy sauce, garlic powder, paprika, turmeric, salt and pepper.
4. Add nutritional yeast and mix until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
5. Add cooked macaroni to the sauce and stir until all the pasta is coated evenly.
6. In a small saucepan, melt the Earth Balance spread and toss the breadcrumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the breadcrumbs.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest for five minutes before serving.

Makes 4-6 servings.

recipe from FitSugar