Best Vegan Mac and Cheese!!

Let me start by saying I love vegan cheese cough*Daiya*coughcough as much as the next gal, but I am working on eating healthier and a bunch of solidified oil isn't always the best way to do that. I got to thinking of other ingredients that could give the same richness and creamyness that dairy lends to mac and cheese, and I started thinking about one of my favorite foods of all time - Kabocha Risotto. If you haven't tried this yet WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?! In reality risotto works wonderfully with just about any squash you can get your hands on (well maybe not spaghetti but that's a different post all together!). The reason why Kabocha works so well is that when it is cooked it gets this dreamily creamy consistency. It's the same reason that it's one of my favorite soup ingredients. This breakdown happens with all squashes but I think it just happens faster with Kabocha making it oh-so easy and delicious! For those of you who are thinking "I have never heard of Kabocha squash in my life" it's also referred to as buttercup squash (I don't believe there's a definite difference between the two).

Anyways the result? HUGE SUCCESS!! However I don't plan on stopping here with Kabocha, as my brain is reeling with all the various uses for it - creamy salad dressings, oil-free hummus, reduced fat guacamole, the possibilities are endless! And using it can replace a good chunk of fat with a naturally healthy vegetable, meaning why not give it a shot!

In case you need any further proof that it is in fact as amazing as I am claiming it to be, here's a picture.

Ahhhh I have your attention now don't I? :-)

So I made this sauce yesterday and just tweaked it a bunch today and threw it on some brown rice pasta. I don't remember all the specifics but I suspect if you're reading this you're up to experimenting with it and playing around with the ingredients! A quick confession though - I did use about a Tbs of Earth Balance in this recipe although I don't think it was in any way shape or form necessary. Unfortunately it was one of the first ingredients I put in there and I don't think it added very much to the end product. If you'd like to add it I'd suggest adding it last so you can see if/how much you need!

Kabocha Cheeze Sauce

1 Kabocha Squash (roasted in 400 F oven until flesh was soft)

1.5 Tbs Tahini

1.5 Tbs White Miso

1 tsp Adobo Sauce (from the little cans of Chipolte Peppers in Adobo Sauce... save the chili's for later and just use the super flavorful sauce for this!)

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

1.5 tsp Garlic Powder (one clove of the good stuff if you have it on hand... we were out :-( ).

Dot of Earth Balance as needed (less than 1 Tbs)

Water to desired consistancey

Place roasted squash flesh into a food processor and pulse a few times. Add about 1/4 cup water to get things processing better. Here's the point where you start trying it to see how thick you want it. Cheese sauce? You'll probably need at least another 1/2 cup. Dip or spread? Start with another 1/4 cup and go from there. This part is really up to you, add slowly though as it'll be a pain if you get it too thin (ie you'll probably have to reduce it on the stove a bit or something). Add in the rest of the ingredients and process until silky smooth. Add any additional flavorings you'd like and enjoy!

A few notes:

Today I added a few drops of toasted sesame oil to this and let me tell you the flavor from those few drops of oil carried through the entire sauce! If you're looking for something to pack a ton of sesame flavor without a lot of oil give this a shot!

I REALLY REALLY REALLY liked adding sunflower seeds to mine today! This worked especially good with the pasta but I also added some to the rest of the sauce and enjoyed with carrots. The nuttiness works really well with the flavors. You could probably just add in a dot more tahini but I love the added crunch.

I also threw in way more adobo sauce today when I had it with veggies as I wanted it to have a little more of a kick!

Long story short - if you're looking to healthy alternatives to higher fat cheese alternatives give squash a try! You might end up as hooked as I am!