Ultimate Spicy Vegan Mac n' Cheese

Sunday was Devon’s (my hubby) birthday! He was away on a stag so we didn’t get to really celebrate, so we decided to do something on Monday night instead! I asked him what he wanted for supper and he wasn’t really that enthused about deciding, so I just let him mull it over for the morning. On lunch I was talking to him on the phone and saw a recipe for Mac and Cheese... well that’s a great idea!

He was down for the idea of an ultimate mac n’ cheese and I was up for the challenge. The challenge of making him something that I am unable to taste and also the challenge of making an ultimate vegan version! I can’t vouch for his version but he said it was awesome (he did go back for seconds!) but I can tell you that mine was the ULTAMITE VEGAN DISH EVER! I am pretty sure I yelled I LOVE THIS about ten times throughout the meal.

What I really love about this dish is that it is half of the calories and fat of what my husband’s was!!  Why yes I did say half! Can you believe that this whole dish is only around 700 calories and 15g of fat? As opposed to 1500 calories and 75g of fat, that Devon’s dish contained. So when you break it down and share this with someone (well, maybe share) your portion is only 450 calories and 7g of fat. I really hope you were sitting down for that one! It was a huge shocker to me too.

What is the secret you ask? Well I guess I can share that timbit of information with you, seeing as I really want you to try this....it’s a sweet potato! Crazy as it sounds it is a really great addition to this tradition dish. It has a creamy texture, rich taste, and a bright orange color that really adds a fun twist. Also substituting out the pasta for zucchini noodles definitely helps in reducing in unnecessary calories plus zucchini is much easier for your body to digest!

The dish really came together, especially with its kick of spice right at the end that literally had me going back for more (I had thirds, I won’t lie).  If you are not a huge fan of spicy food then just cut back on the jalapeno and Franks, or omit the Franks all together. 

Ultimate Spicy Vegan Mac n' Cheese

Severs 2 people (or one person if you are like me and eat the whole thing in one sitting!)

1 large sweet potato

½ cup rice milk

¼ cup nutritional yeast

½ cup Mozzarella Daiya

½ jalapeno, diced
½ tsp garlic salt

1 tbsp Franks Buffalo Sauce

1 medium zucchini

-Bake the sweet potato in the oven at 400 degrees until fork tender (around 45 mins).

-Peel the skin off the potato and dice into chunks (watch out its fricken hot!) and place into a medium bowl, add milk and mash until smooth.

-Stir in nutritional yeast, jalapeno, Franks Buffalo Sauce and Daiya until well combined.

-Using a vegetable mandolin, vegetable peeler or spiralizer make zucchini noodles.

-In a casserole dish combine the cheesy sauce and noodles, top with nutritional yeast and a little more Daiya!

-Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

-Serve and devour! 

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

Vegan Buffalo Pizza

Well its time for another pizza recipe! Yup another amazing vegan pizza recipe for you pizza loving people out there!

One of the best things I have learned recently was that Franks Red Hot Sauce is vegan! Even the Buffalo Flavour, which I thought would have had milk ingredients in it, but thankfully it does not (horay!) I remember before, when I was silly and didn’t read the ingredients, I would just smell the hot sauce and imagine all the wonderful things I could put it on. Like broccoli, potatoes, and cauliflower.

So when I found out that I could eat it I went crazy and started putting it on everything, such as my all time fav - Steamed Cauliflower with Daiya Cheese and Hot Sauce, super creamy and really satisfying. But my newest creation had me blown away! It was spicy, flavorful, surprisingly light, and a total flavour explosion. My Buffalo Pizza!

If love experimenting with different types of pizza, I highly recommend you try this one out. And what nice about it is you can control how spicy it is. Don’t like spice – omit the jalapeno sauce. Love the spice – add jalapenos on top of the pizza too! The world is your oyster!....mmm whats a vegan equivalent to oyster…. Olive? They are salty right?.... I like it!

Okay the world is your olive! Go on and try my awesome pizza! 

 

Pizza Dough

1½ cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp ground flax
2 ¼ tsp quick-rising yeast
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup very warm water
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp. date syrup *recipe below

In a medium bowl, combine flour, flax, yeast and salt. Mix well.
Measure warm water in measuring cup, then stir in olive oil and honey. 

Pour mix over dry ingredients and mix using wooden spoon to form a ball. 

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 2 mins. 

Grease inside of another bowl with olive oil and place dough inside. 

Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until double in size (about 20mins).

While the dough is rising I cut up the vegetables to have ready.

Roll out dough over lightly floured surface into a circle. 

Pinch the outer edges up into a crust.

Put on toppings and bake at 425 for 15-20 mins.

Date Syrup - makes 1 cup

10 dates

1/2 cup water

Blend in high speed blender until smooth, store the rest in the fridge!

Buffalo Pizza - Personal Sized Pizza – ¼ of pizza dough batch

¼ pizza dough

1 cup of sliced cremini mushrooms

1 orange pepper, diced

½ yellow onion, diced

¼ cup Franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

¼ cup Daiya Mozzarella

Cashew Cheese

1 cup of soaked cashews

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 lemon juiced

1 clove garlic

Pulse in high speed blender or food processor until smooth. If you have time spread out mixture in a metal bowl or on cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes to reduce some of the moisture. Scrape once or twice to avoid possible burning.

Jalapeño Sauce

1 jalapeno

1 green onion

Small handful of parsley, de stemmed

3 dates, or 3 tbsp of date syrup

Enough water to process

Set to high in a high speed blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Make your pizza dough and place in the oven on low to rise.

While its rising sauté your vegetables in the hot sauce for 5-10 minutes until they are almost cooked.

Remove dough from oven and divide into quarters.  Take ¼ of the dough and roll it out thinly.

Spread the cashew cheese on the bottom. Then the vegetables and Daiya.

Place in the a 400 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Top with Jalapeno sauce and for added pizza flavor, dip in pizza sauce! Enjoy!!!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N