Mum's "Meatless Monday" Mac and Cheese

This recipe is for tomorrow's Meatless Monday. I'll eat the leftovers of what I made today tomorrow for my lunch.

When I was growing up, Mum made an amazing mac and cheese using bacon, wine, and tons of Velveeta cheese on top of ravioli or tortellini. It was creamy heavenly artery-clogging goodness. I made it quite often for guests and some requested it when they were going to come over for a meal.

That recipe obviously does not lend itself well to a vegan lifestyle but today I made a cheese sauce that is almost identical. Still not good for us but oh-so-tasty!

Mum's Mac and Cheese

1 pkg (340g) uncooked rice (or not) macaroni
1tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
1/4 cup white wine or sherry
3 cups grated "cheese" (I used vegan cheddar and monteray jack)
1 "chicken" stock cube
1/2 tsp cajun spice or chili powder or paprika
a few drops liquid smoke (Corey also suggested trying small cubes of smoked tofu to be like bacon)
pinch of crushed chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste

You can do this two ways:
1. Cook the macaroni. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in the heated olive oil in a large saucepan. When they are fragrant, add all the other sauce ingredients and bring to a very light boil. Turn down the heat and leave to simmer while the pasta cooks. The sauce will thicken. Add more smoke, salt, pepper,chili flakes to taste as needed. Pour onto the cooked macaroni.

OR

2. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil in a large saucepan. Add all the other ingredients including the raw macaroni. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook 20 minutes, stir, cover, cook 20 minutes, stir, cover, etc until the macaroni is cooked. It will take about 1.5 hours depending on your pasta. Don't have it too high or else the sauce will burn. Adjust the seasonings as above.

Cheese-Free Mexican

While we were in San Diego we enjoyed many Mexican meals but each meal is laden with cheese. One soup I did not find that I have eaten in Mexico is tortilla soup. It is one of my favourites! So tonight I made a cheese-free tortilla soup. I'm not sure if it usually has cheese as some recipes had cheese and others didn't but this one has the flavour that I was looking for. Corey says it's a bit cilantro-y for him so reduce the amount if you don't like a strong cilantro flavour. I love it! There is another recipe that used nutritional yeast to make a cheesy tortilla soup. I'll let you know what that one is like.

Tortilla Soup

4 cups veggie broth
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 green onions,sliced
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes (don't use canned tomatoes - use frozen or fresh ones)
1/4 - 1/2 bunch cilantro
1 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp cumin (fresh ground from Abby's - remember?)
3-4 handfuls of tortilla chips
1 tsp salt or more to taste
1/2 cup frozen corn
1.5 cups cooked black beans (one can or the ones you have cooked and in the freezer)
juice of 1 lime (or about 1tbsp of lime juice)
1 avocado, sliced

Bring the stock, garlic and onion to a boil. Turn down heat and add tomatoes. Allow to simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro, chili powder, cumin and tortilla chips. The chips will soften (duh) and when they do, blend the soup with an immersion blender. Add salt and adjust seasoning to taste. Return to heat, add corn and beans and bring up to almost a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer until you are ready to eat the soup. Crumble tortillas into the soup and add slices of avocado on top.