Vegan Mac Cheese With Poblano Recipes

EASY VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Fill a medium saucepan a little more than halfway full with water, add a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add pasta and cook according to package instructions until just al dente (ours took 9 minutes). Be careful not to overcook because the shells will cook a bit longer with the cheese sauce after draining.
• Drain pasta (we avoided using a colander by using our saucepan lid, which has a draining feature - if yours doesn't, drain in a colander as needed, then add back to saucepan).
• Immediately add the vegan cheddar cheese, almond milk (starting with lesser amount), salt, and nutritional yeast. Stir and cook over low heat, stirring frequently until the sauce melts, becomes gooey, and coats the shells. If the cheddar isn't melting, cover to encourage it along.
• Remove from heat and serve immediately. Option to garnish with vegan parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.
• Store cooled leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days (not freezer friendly). Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium-low heat until hot, adding more dairy-free milk as needed to thin.

VEGAN POBLANO MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Add the cashews to a small bowl and cover with hot tap water to soak for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, combine the potatoes and carrot in a medium pot with 4 cups water, salt liberally, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until the vegetables are fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Reserve 1½ cups of the cooking liquid, then drain.
• While the potatoes and carrots cook, bring 8 cups water in a medium pot to a boil over high. Salt liberally, add the elbow pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot.
• While the potatoes and pasta cook, char the chiles: Place the poblano chiles and jalapeño, if using, directly on the grate of a gas burner and turn the heat to high. Cook, using heatproof tongs to turn the chiles so they blister and blacken on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Remove the stems and seeds and discard, then slice the chiles and set aside a few for garnish.
• Working in batches if necessary, blend the potatoes, carrot, cashews, chiles, nutritional yeast and the reserved potato cooking water until smooth. Taste and season with salt. Add the sauce to the pasta and stir to coat. Turn the heat to low and let sit for about 5 minutes so the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. Serve hot, garnished with the reserved chiles.

CREAMY POBLANO MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
• Add the tomato and garlic to the saucepan and cook and stir for 1 minute. Season with the salt and black pepper.
• Stir in the soup and milk and heat to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Stir in the macaroni. Sprinkle with the cilantro.

THE BEST VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
• Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Peel and finely chop potatoes when cool enough to handle.
• Combine potatoes, onion, carrot, and garlic in a small pot over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons water and cook until soft enough to blend and water is mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer sauce to a blender. Add 3/4 cup water, cashews, soy milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, paprika, and cayenne. Cover the blender and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend until smooth.
• Heat 2 tablespoons water in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add broccoli and cook until soft but still a little crunchy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl. Pour sauce in and mix until thoroughly coated.

VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Meanwhile, add the cashews to a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium, stirring frequently, until fragrant, toasty and slightly golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer cashews to a blender and add the almond milk. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.
• Add the oil to the skillet and heat over medium. Add the onion, garlic, onion powder, ground turmeric and mustard powder, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until onions are very tender, 8 to 10 minutes, lowering the heat as necessary to avoid scorching. Remove from the heat, stir in 1/2 cup nutritional yeast and the tamari, then transfer to the blender.
• Blend the cashew mixture on high until thick and creamy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. (This works best with a high-power blender, but any blender will work - just keep blending the mixture 1 to 2 more minutes after the mixture looks creamy; it will emulsify further.) You should have about 1 1/2 cups.
• Cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta, then return cooked pasta to the pot. Stir in the cashew cream, then add the pasta cooking water 1/4 cup at a time until you achieve desired sauciness. Season to taste with salt, pepper and additional nutritional yeast, if desired. Serve immediately. (The sauce thickens significantly as it sits. If it starts to coagulate, or if you have any leftover macaroni and cheese, stir in a splash of the remaining pasta cooking water to loosen.)
• If you'd like a little crunch on top, prepare the optional panko topping: Heat the broiler. In a small bowl, add the panko, olive oil and 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast. Pinch the mixture together gently to combine thoroughly; season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the prepared macaroni to a lightly oiled 9-by-13-inch baking dish, arrange in an even layer and sprinkle the panko mixture on top, if using. Transfer to the oven on the shelf nearest to the broiler and broil until just golden on top, about 2 minutes. (The panko toasts quickly, so you'll want to keep an eye on it.) Serve immediately.