Meat Free Menu:BlackBean & Corn Sliders

In my never ending quest to find food that is tasty and good for you. I continue to try and find meals that are meat free and not only taste good, but keep you feeling full. So I search through multiple vegan cookbooks and try to find things that I think will fill my needs. In my search I fell upon a cookbook called "Spork-fed" written by two vegan sister whose names escape me, but look like delightful vegans from Los Angeles, where all vegans come from. I may have messed around with the recipe, but probably not, and call me what you will, I didn't track down vegan worchestershire sauce. I figure a little anchovy juice doesn't hurt when you have replaced the rest of the burger with beany goodness. I omitted the corn my first time out, but have since added it and tastes just as good. I really like the fact that I get to put in oats. I think it gives it a chewy texture that helps me not miss the meat.

Mac n' Cheese Without the Cheese?

When it comes to cooking I believe in the truth, real ingredients for real food. No lo-fat alternative made of artificial substances, no pre-made time saver. Hell, I won't even use pre-made sausages in a dish because I consider that cheating. So when someone suggested to me that there is a non-dairy cheese alternative that was not processed beyond recognition. but actually an all natural product, I was skeptical, and when I found out it was yeast, I was a little grossed out.

But this is no ordinary yeast, it is Nutritional Yeast Flakes. and unlike Active dry yeast, it is dead, or rather, deactivated, having been grown on molasses and sugarcane, then laid to rest. and in passing has a nutty cheese-like flavour.
Kudos on the first soul to try a spoonful of this stuff.

So I was intrigued, ever on the hunt for a different take on something familiar, more to prove that there is no replacing the original than anything else. I picked up a tub of flakes and tracked down a recipe for the cheesiest of all cheesy dishes. The classic homemade Mac n' Cheese. I tracked down a couple of recipes online, amalgamating them, and to my surprise, not only was it easy to make but damn tasty. Now, I'm not going to say it's as tasty as the real deal, but I will say that Vegan mac n' cheese is to homemade MnC what what homemade Mac is to Kraft dinner. Maybe not as flavourful but probably a lot better for you. And as a former KD junkie, I have come a long way.

The recipe is similar to the classic, Start by making your pasta and straining it when done.

Then to the sauce starting with a roux of equal parts non-hydrogenated margarine and spelt flour.

Next, add water with flavour enhancement of salt, mustard, tumeric and hot sauce,

tasting it at this point you get a savoury yet empty taste but once the yeast is added,

the whole sauce become this rich full flavoured magic that has me thinking of how many other ways I can use this magical sauce.

Mix half the sauce with macaroni, then pour the rest on top.

I used brown rice mac just to go completely wheat free as well and you won't believe how utterly edible this faux comfort food can be.





I have just made my third batch of the stuff and just ran out of yeast. but believe me, I will add it to my shopping list from now on.


So as a fan of real food where would I place this? There is not an artificial flavour in this dish, nothing pre-made or highly processed. So yes, it is real by my standards. The only thing unreal about it is to call it mac n' cheese but the alternative Mac n' Yeast isn't as appealing. So I'll stick with MnC for now, until I come up with a word that defines the amazing flavour of the sauce better. Maybe Mac n Crazy Good?