Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese

...Or the politically correct name: Mac 'n' CHEEZE (tm). This is the best recipe so far, and pretty versatile. You can use other veggies to make different creamy pasta sauces, like zuchinni & spinach- just make sure you have the potato for the consistency and try to match colors so you don't end up with some weird brown sauce. This combination is surprisingly cheesy, even without nutritional yeast (which you'll find in most vegan cheese recipes).

Serves 4-6 (I usually double it and have leftovers, hopefully!)

Ingredients:
8 oz. macaroni
1/2 C. carrots, chopped
1/2 C. onions, chopped
1/2 C. potatoes, chopped
1/2 C. red bell peppers, chopped
1 T. fresh garlic
1/2 C. raw cashews
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
3 T. vegan margarine
1 tsp. salt

Spinz:

Start cooking pasta as directed. Throw chopped veggies (except garlic) in a sauce pan and add water to just cover. Cover with lid and boil until tender. In a food processor, add remaining ingredients and 1/2 C. of broth from the veggies. Process until very smooth, adding a bit more water if it's too stiff and starts to ball up (should resemble the consistency of creamy peanut butter). Add veggies by scooping them out with a hand-held strainer, and process until smooth, adding more salt if needed, or more broth if it needs to be thinned (should look like a thick gravy). Pour mixture into a medium sized casserole dish, and dump in cooked pasta. Mix evenly to coat.

Tipz

If your mac 'n' cheez is too thick and starchy, just add a little hot water and stir.
Top with French-fried onions if you wanna have extreme "itis"- by slicing an onion, separating the pieces, and rolling in some flour before deep frying... yum!

Nutrition Info: 191 calories/ 11g total fat/ 2.8g sat. fat/ 470mg sodium/ 305mg potassium/ 20g total carbs/ 2.2g fiber/ 2g sugar/ 4g protein