Creamy Mac ‘n’ Cheeze for One

It’s cold and rainy out there. You come in, shake the rain off your clothes, and go and stare bleakly at the refrigerator. The last thing you want is reheated leftovers or a cold salad. Ta-da! Here’s a quick and easy way to warm up those cold toes! It’s (one of many variations of) Mac ‘n’ Cheese! Yay!

2 TBLSP raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes in water (you could also use sunflower seeds)

2/3 cup dried macaroni

¼ cup peeled celeriac –celery root (use potato if you can’t find it)

1 TBLSP diced carrots

1 ½ TBLSP chopped yellow onion

3 TBLSP water (use from the boiled veggies for extra flavor)

1 TBLSP almond milk (or the non-dairy milk of your choice)

1 ½ teaspoons nutritional yeast

A squirt of fresh lemon juice

A shake of salt (or to taste)

A shake of garlic powder (or to taste)

A shake of turmeric (optional)

A dash of grated nutmeg for the top

1. Cook macaroni in a large pot of boiling water, al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Bring a cup and a half or so of water to boil in a small pot, and put the celeriac, carrots, and onion in there. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until veggies are soft and tender. The smaller you chop ‘em, the faster they’ll cook.
3. Drain (saving the water for later) and blend the veggies in a food processor or blender. Add a slosh of the cooking water or tap water along with the cashews, milk, yeast, juice, salt, and garlic powder, and keep blending away until it’s super smooth.
4. Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss some nutmeg at it to garnish.

Variation:

• Put the sauced and stirred macaroni in a baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden brown.
• Mix in chunks of Tofurkey Beer Brats or other faux meat of your choosing.
• Decorate with avocado, parsley, sliced olives.
• Amend with a blop of faux sour cream