Vegan Mac and Cheese with Tofu
AmericanMainshigh proteinhigh fibercreamycomfort food
46g protein
The sauce is potatoes and cashews, boiled together in the same pot and then blended with plant milk, shallot, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, vinegar and smoked paprika. Potato is what makes it stretchy and glossy rather than grainy; cashews make it rich; the turmeric is purely for colour. It's a well-worn trick and it works.
You can swap a third to half of the potato for carrot or sweet potato if you want more beta-carotene, but be aware the sauce gets noticeably sweeter — worth knowing before you commit the whole pot.
Marinated tofu, asparagus and rocket go in at the end, which is what takes this from a side dish to dinner. Four servings, 46 g of protein each, thirty minutes.
Ingredients
sauce
- 150 g waxy potatoes (or part sweet potato/carrot)
- 150 g cashews
main
- 400 g pasta
sauce
- 250 ml soy milk
- 20 g shallot, minced
- 70 g nutritional yeast
- 40 g lemon juice
- 15 g olive oil
- 10 ml apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp ground dried garlic
- 1/2 tsp ground dried onion
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1 pinch turmeric
main
- 1 tbsp oil for cooking
- 400 g marinated tofu
- 200 g asparagus or broccoli
garnish
- sunflower sprouts
- rocket
Contains: gluten, nuts, soy
How to make it
- In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces. For extra beta-carotene, you can replace one-third or half of the potatoes with carrots or sweet potatoes, though the sauce will taste sweeter. Add the potatoes along with the cashews to the water and cook until both the potatoes and cashews are tender.
- Once the potatoes and cashews are cooked, drain them and transfer to a blender. Bring well-salted water to a boil in a larger pot for the pasta while you finish the sauce.
- Pour the plant milk into the blender. Add the shallot, nutritional yeast (an excellent source of protein), lemon juice, oil, vinegar, dried onion and garlic, salt, smoked paprika, chili, and turmeric for color.
- Blend everything together until smooth. Thin the sauce with more milk if needed and add salt to taste.
- When the water boils, cook the penne according to the package instructions.
- Meanwhile, sauté the marinated tofu in a pan with a little oil (cut it into small cubes so you don't have to slice it later) along with asparagus or broccoli. Chop the remaining vegetables.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss with the sauce. Serve the pasta topped with the sautéed tofu and vegetables.
Nutrition
885Calories
46 gProtein
101 gCarbs
36 gFat
11 gFiber
per serving