Baked Vegan and Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

There's nothing more comforting than a big pile of mac & cheese when you're needing comfort food,  but the boxed stuff just really doesn't do it for me and while a giant pan of homemade, 'old-fashioned' mac & cheese makes me drool at the mere thought, dairy is on my 'eat very scarcely' list for a number of reasons I won't get into here.   In an attempt to appease my son, who is always begging for mac & cheese, I've happened upon several vegan versions - some are good, some are great, but this one that I found is AMAZING!!  I've modified it a bit (I have a bit of a problem with following directions) - here is my version adapted from The Detoxinista:

Baked Vegan and Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1.5-2 Boxes Gluten-Free Pasta (12 oz boxes)
2 Cups Raw Cashews (soaked for at least an hour)
1.5 Cups Water
2 teaspoons Himalayan Salt
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes
2 Teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/8th Teaspoon Cayenne Powder (Optional - or use just a dash or two if you think it might be too spicy)
3 Teaspoons Turmeric Powder (I like to use a lot of this because it makes it really yellow, which tricks my kids into thinking that it's 'Kraft' PLUS Turmeric is an amazing spice that has all sorts of health benefits so pile it on!

3-4 C Chopped Broccoli Heads
3-4 C Chopped Kale Leaves

2 Cups Brown Rice Cracker Crumbs - I used the Salt & Pepper Brown Rice Triscuits - NOTE THAT THIS PARTICULAR BRAND IS NOT 100% GLUTEN-FREE.  (Crumb crust is Optional)

Directions:

1. Soak your cashews for at least an hour.  I usually pop mine into some water in the morning and then they're good to go by the time dinner rolls around.
2. Prep your veggies - try to get the broccoli heads uniform in size and chop the kale leaves into tiny pieces.
3. When your cashews are done soaking, boil your water and start cooking your pasta.  You want to undercook the pasta by several minutes - about 4-5 minutes LESS than recommended.  During the last minute or so of cooking, toss in the broccoli to parboil.  
4. Drain the pasta and broccoli and empty into an oven-safe dish, preferably one with a cover.   Add the kale and toss.
5. Drain the cashews and pop them into a high-powered blender or a food processor.  Add in the water, salt, lemon juice, yeast, mustard, garlic and spices and blend the living daylights out of the mixture, adding a little extra water if necessary to facilitate the blending process.  You want a nice, thick, smooth sauce.
6. Pour the sauce over the pasta mix and toss to coat evenly.  Cover and bake for about 10-15 minutes until the pasta is tender and evenly heated.  
7. For a nice crispy crust, sprinkle the cracker crumbs over the top and pop under the broiler on high for a few minutes to brown. 

IMPORTANT Note:  While this is a much healthier and cleaner version of old school baked mac & cheese, it is still NOT a low calorie dish and trust me when I say, you are going to want to eat the whole pan of this....  Cashews have fat - they're a much healthier fat than dairy fat - but it's still fat.  So make sure you're being reasonable with your portions and serve with a nice big pile of veggies or a salad.

Serves about 10-12 generously if you use both boxes of pasta.  If you like a saucier pasta, use only 1.5 boxes.

Approximate values per serving (at 10 servings per recipe using BOTH boxes WITH the cracker crust):  413 cal, 9.7 g Fat, 10.7 g Protein, 74 carbs, 1 g Sugar.  If you leave the crumbs off, it's only got 335 cal, 7 g Fat, 9 g Protein, 62 carbs, 1 g sugar.

View original recipe here:  http://detoxinista.com/2011/01/move-over-kraft/