Comfort Food on the Brain

Since everyone at my house has a runny nose and itchy eyes this week, I've been making comfort food too. I made a vegan mac and cheeze (recipe from the Veganomicon)- the cheese was a nutritional yeast sauce. I made the sauce once before to try as a dip/spread and didn't care for it. But, it scored a pass in this dish. Not quite as comforty as traditional mac and cheese but a good start.

Cheezy sauce (from Veganomicon)
4 cups veg broth
1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 pinches of thyme
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast flakes
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp prepared yellow mustard

Combine the broth and flour ina measuring cup and whisk until dissolved. Preheat a saucepan over medium heat. Gently cook oil and garlic for about 2 minutes, careful not to burn garlic. Add thyme, salt, and pepper and cook for about 15 seconds. Add broth, turmeric, and nutritional yeast and raise the heat a little. Use a whisk to stir constantly. It should start bubbling (mine didn't) and thickening (mine did) after about 3 minutes. If not, raise the heat a little.

Once the mixture is bubbling and/or thickening, stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Add lemon juice and mustard (don't overdo it on the mustard -my problem the 1st time I think). It should resemble a thick melty cheese. Taste the mixture - you may need to add more salt. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep it warm.

Mac and Cheese
3/4 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked according to package
1 lb extra firm tofu
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsps fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325F.

Crumble tofu into 11 x 13 glass or ceramic baking dish. Mash it with your hands until it resembles ricotta cheese. Add salt, olive oil,and lemon juice - then stir.

Add 1/2 c. cheesy sauce to the tofu and stir. Add the macaroni to the tofu along with 3 cups of sauce and stir again. Smooth and press down the mixture. Pour remaining sauce on top - smooth again.

Bake for 30 minutes, the top should be slightly browned. (Took mine about 40 minutes). Let it cool before serving so it can firm up.