Spicy Baked Mexican Mac and Cheese

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

-Albert Einstein

Hey guys!

So in keeping with my earlier “Cinco de Mayo” post (https://natureissexy.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/cinco-de-mayo-vegan-nachos/),  I thought I would stay on the same theme for my dinner tonight.

I wanted to attempt this recipe after trying a couple different methods of making vegan “cheese” sauces and after seeing a recipe from the “Forks Over Knives Cookbook” (‘Southwestern Mac and Cheese’). I just adapted the recipe slightly. I love the FOK cookbook, so there wasn’t much to alter 😀

Ingredients for the ‘cheese’ sauce:

• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 3 tbls raw cashews, soaked for 30 mins in water
• 2 green chilies, seeds removed
• 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth

Rest of the ingredients:

• 250g of dry pasta noodles, boiled and prepared according to box directions
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 cups of corn kernels
• 1 can low-sodium black beans, liquid drained
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder

Toppings:

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tbls black olives, sliced
• 3 tbls fresh chopped cilantro
• splash hot sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put all of the ingredients listed under the “Cheese Sauce” in the blender and blend until smooth.
3. In a pan, put a couple tablespoons of vegetable broth. Add the onions and cook for 8 mins. Add the bell pepper and cook for another 2 mins.
4. Add the corn, cumin, chili powder. Cook for 1 min.
5. Remove from heat. Stir in the beans, cooked pasta and cheese sauce.
6. Scoop the pasta into a glass baking dish and bake for 25-30 mins.
7. Take out of the oven and allow to cool for 5 mins. Top with cilantro, sliced black olives, cayenne pepper and a bit of hot sauce if you like.

And that is it! Prep time and cooking time combined is about 1 hour. Very simple and delicious. Even my non-vegan boyfriend had 2 servings for dinner 🙂 Enjoy!