Vegan mac "beef and cheese"

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my annual physical. My current doctor is vegan and big on nutrition. He was practically giddy that not only was I now vegetarian but I was also a "practical vegan." (My own term - trademark pending...lol...)

• MY DEFINITION: A practical vegan is one who attempts to eat vegan at home, but may occasionally eat a nonvegan item - like a dairy based pasta dish - if nothing else edible is available to eat when out and about! 

UPDATE 08-26-2016: Since realizing that dairy - aka liquid meat - and meat products in general are bad for my health, I went FULL ON VEGAN. I realized that their is nothing practical about eating things that make me sick...However patience my gentle readers as you look at this post. Remember life is a journey, even the simple matters like eating...

​Apparently all my vitals were fantastic, plus I was feeling better than I had been in years allowing for a return to a more active lifestyle. As I result, I have been steadily losing weight...without actually trying! After all the kudos and back slapping were done, my doc pointed out that my protein and iron levels were fine, and encouraged me to continue learning to cook more delicious vegan recipes. So Dr. Sid...this one is for you! 

Tonight's meal takes its inspiration from several sources:

• Last week the SigO cooked himself a deliciously smelling mac, beef, tomato sauce, and cheese dish that had me drooling. Noticing my sad puppy dog, won't you give me a bone look, he assured me that he would help me come up with a similarly fabulous vegan equivalent. 

• Fast forward to this weekend, and I had not forgotten the richly tasting (judging by the SigO's lipsmacks as he ate, I didn't have any) recipe, the SigO and I got to talking. What about subbing out tofu? I vetoed that one despite my love of the stuff as I was using it in a different recipe later this week. We continued to flip through some cookbooks from the library and suddenly inspiration two hit: Jerk Sloppy Joes from the Isa Does It cookbook. Definitely check out her recipe in the link from the previous sentence. I made some modifications which I'll let you know about in a minute.

• Final inspiration: adding some "cheesy" goodness. I don't miss meat, but occasionally I miss having a lovely tasting cheese. Thank goodness for Daiya cheeses which allow me the melt gooey indulgence of having some type of cheese once in a blue moon. (NOTE: New vegans or those who are learning to forego the dairy, just a reminder that these delicious cheese replacement items are meant to be a once in a while treat as they are a processed food and have 66% of their calories from fat!)

Tonight's Vegan Mac "beef and cheese" recipe:

1) My modified version of  Isa's Jerk Sloppy Joes recipe

• I used a fungi base instead of seitan. It is put out by this company called Quorn, and I found it to be similar to ground beef in texture. My local Whole Foods had it in the frozen section. (see pic below)
• I eliminated the salt added in the recipe as some of the processed elements already had sodium.
• I only used 1 large clove of garlic
• Being a big fresh ginger lover, I doubled the ginger to 2 tablespoons
• I used twice as much cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon), and red pepper flakes (more than a teaspoon) as the recipe called for
• I LOVE lime, so I juiced an entire one into the mix instead of a tablespoon
• As I was "saucing" up some pasta, I dumped a whole 28 can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes into the mix instead of a 14 oz can

2) I ended up shredding about half a block of the Daiya cheddar, which was probably a bit more than necessary, but I was craving comfort foods this week. (NOTE: I meant to use the Daiya shredded mozzarella leftover in my fridge, but it had a not great looking growth resulting from a crappy fridge and some high humid days!)

• 3) 1 16oz box of organic whole wheat elbow pasta - Make sure you check the ingredients in the boxes to see that it actually is made with "whole wheat" and no other unwanted added items!

Instructions:

Basically you follow the instructions given to you by the Jerk Sloppy Joes recipe. Being a bit of a novice cook, I misread the instructions and ending up cooking the onions, garlic, and ginger together instead of separating out the steps more. (It still turned out fine, and I saved myself some time.) Then I added the Quorn grounds, crushed tomatoes, and spices. I left everything on a simmer to allow the spices to merge. (However, Isa lays things out in a lovely step-by-step explanation so I urge you to look at her recipe!)

In the meantime, I cooked the pasta and prepped the cheese by shredding it. By the time the pasta was cooked, the Jerk Sloppy Joes recipe was ready! I drained the pasta then poured it back into the same pot, dumped the delicious Isa concoction over it, and stirred in the Daiya cheddar...Voila! 

This meal makes plenty for dinner tonight PLUS it will provide most of my work lunches for the week! It is a perfect vegan comfort food meal for those times when you crave something gooey, tomatoey, carb-loaded goodness! Let me know if you try the recipe, or have other great comfort food vegan dishes.

In the meantime, I am off to dinner...

With smiles...