Crazy Awesome Vegan Mac and Cheese

"What?!", you ask. "Isn't cheese inherently non-vegan?" Yes. Yes, it is. But there are some fabulous substitutes out there (like the ones I use in the recipe below). Now, I have had many vegan mac and cheeses, but none of them have ever included any of these awesome substitutes and I'm not entirely sure why that is.

Note: This is not one of my super quick recipes. It is also rather messy to make. However, clean up is still super fast and it will feed you for a LONG time. :)

Crazy Awesome Vegan Mac and Cheese
(makes a LOT. I mean, enough to feed five people for several days.)

18 cups of water
32 oz elbow macaroni (I use Tinkyada Pasta Joy Brown Rice Elbow Pasta with Bran)
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tbsp honey dijon mustard
3 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 cup onion, diced
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp arrowroot
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups shredded vegan cheese (I use 3/4 cup soy kaas mild cheddar and a .41 lb block of Daiyo cheese), plus more for topping (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 can sweet peas
6 oz extra firm tofu, cut into 1" cubes

This is what your shredded Daiyo and Soy Kaas will look like. See. Nothing to be scared of. :)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Boil 18 cups of water in a giant pot. Pour 32 oz of pasta in and cook on medium high for 3 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile...

In a big sauce pan, warm olive oil, almond milk, mustard, and flour over medium low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring until there are no lumps.

Add garlic and onions and 1 tbsp arrowroot. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.

Add shredded cheese and stir for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add salt and pepper. Stir some more. I let it sit for a few minutes after this and came back and stirred and then repeated until the consistency was nice and cheesy and goopy (took about 15 minutes including the time I left it to sit while I strained my cooked pasta, etc).

By now, your pasta should be done cooking, so remove it from heat, strain it through a colander, rinse with cold water, and replace in the big pot you cooked it in. Add the peas and tofu and stir to combine well. Pour in the yummy cheese sauce and use a big spoon to really stir it all together.

Next, pour the whole pot full into your big casserole dish and sprinkle with more shredded vegan cheese or breadcrumbs or almond meal or flaxseed meal or... really anything you like. :) Bake in the oven for ~30 minutes. Remove, let cool for about 5-10 minutes, and then serve. Or put in your fridge and serve the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. :)

Go on! Have a peace!