The Mac N Trees is a staple item on the menu at the Riverwest Co-op Cafe and Grocery. The cafe is entirely meat-free and most, if not all, of the vegetarian items can be made vegan. They have really delicious brunch on the weekends with giant pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and a variety of yummy breakfast plates. My favorite co-op sandwiches are the Tempeh Reuben and the Phamous Philly, which is the greatest Philly I’ve had outside of Philadelphia (I’ve actually never eaten a Philly in Philly). Both are fantastic served with a side of Mac N Trees, a sweet and garlicky nooch-based mac that’s mixed up with broccoli florets. You can also buy it out of the deli case by the pound, so keep that in mind for mac n cheese cravings in Milwaukee!

The recipe is the Who Cares Vegan Mac n’ Cheese, one of my all time favorites! It won 2nd place at SF Food Wars Mac Battle Royale with Cheese in 2009. The recipe is super decadent and time consuming, so I only make it for special occasion, but it is well worth the effort!

And for dessert we had double layer pumpkin cheesecake!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Now onward to Christmas!

Comet Cafe Mac n' Cheese

Comet Cafe has more to offer the vegan crowd than free bacon Sundays and the hamburger-encased grilled cheese sandwich made infamous by Guy Fieri (this was a real thing, I swear! Look up the Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives episode and ignore the bacon propaganda)! Despite all the meatiness, Comet is a go-to restaurant for any vegan in Milwaukee. Their menu has an abundance of vegan diner-style sandwiches, brunch, and entrees such as the Vegan Deep fried ribs, Open-Faced Meatloaf Sandwich, Kelly’s Vegan Breakfast Scramble (I wish I could say that was named after me!), and some really fantastic french fries. Their Mac n Cheese made vegan is a somewhat recent addition to the menu. It’s your basic nooch sauce mac n cheese with a nutty flavor, baked with breadcrumbs. While the flavor is mellow and not too out of the ordinary, it really shines as straight-up home cooked comfort food. I bet it would be fantastic with a side of chili.

Want to share with the world the wonderful noochy and noodl-y offerings in your town? Write a guest post!

The recipe is straightforward enough. Noodles + cashews + nooch + flour+ cornstarch + spices = mac n’ cheese! I expected the recipe to be good, but about on par with every other vegan mac n’ cheese recipe out there these days.

Well, I was wrong because this recipe is straight amazing. A new all time favorite! My mac n’ cheese hating boyfriend even went back for seconds! It actually reminded me quite a bit of a combination of The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook recipe and the Vegan Table recipe, and since those are two of my favorites magic was bound to happen. The smoked paprika adds a vital and delicious flavoring component without being overwhelming, and that extra tablespoon of nooch added towards the end rounds out this perfectly cheesy dish.

One thing that must be commented on is the incredible creaminess! I’ve never tried a mac n’ cheese that was so smooth and thick before. It’s one of those things I didn’t realize was missing from my life until I discovered it.  If other recipes just don’t quite cut it for you in the texture department, then you absolutely must try this one! Apparently combining  flour and cornstarch is the way to go if you want an over the top decadent dish.

As an aside, the buns I used for my burger are from Ozery, a company that makes all sorts of bread-y type products that have been popping up at my local Whole Foods. The buns are thin pita-style sandwich rounds that don’t fall apart when handled. Personally, I like enjoying my burger and all the veggies I load on, not a mouthful of bread, so I think these are fantastic. Careful though, because only one of the 3 types of buns offered are vegan.

And nothing happened.

July 1st came and went and I was very disappointed. I waited a few more weeks  before finally catching a glimpse of the mac n’ cheese and ravioli nestled at the bottom of the freezer case. I was sad that they didn’t have the stir fry or seitan picatta. Despite the sticker shock, I purchased both immediately. These little frozen meals are are $7 each!

When I got home it occurred to me to have  a look at the ingredient list. I was not happy to discover that it was basically pasta, Daiya, water and tomato paste. Really? Really. That’s your ‘A’ game Candle Cafe? I still maintained some hope that it might somehow be delicious, so I threw it in the microwave.

As you can see the Daiya is just sort of hanging out on top there. I had to stir and microwave, stir and microwave like crazy to get all the cheese melted and evenly coating the noodles. That’s a lot of work for a frozen convenience meal! I probably could have whipped up an easy nooch sauce in the same amount of time.

When it was finally ready I was pleased to discover I liked it much better than the Amy’s frozen mac n’ cheese. I think that the tomato paste and added water help with the texture and flavor quite a bit. It wasn’t too slimy or sticky, and I was able to eat my entire meal without grimacing! Good job Candle Cafe! You’ve cracked the code to mass producing mac n’ cheese with Daiya.

While the Candle Cafe mac n’ cheese appears to have far fewer calories than the Amy’s mac n’ cheese (500+) it also seemed to me to be a much smaller portion size. I think it has to do with the density of the pasta. Amy’s uses macaroni so you can squeeze more noodles into the same size carton than you can with fancy-fancy spiral-y pasta. It certainly didn’t fill me up at all, and for seven bucks a pop, I better be able to get real full and have leftovers.

While I actually kind of, sort of enjoyed this mac n’ cheese I would be pretty hard pressed to want to buy it again due to the price and portion size. For seven bucks and about the same amount of calories I can get a gigantic Gardein Asada burrito at the Whole Foods burrito bar, so I’ll just go with that.

Anyway, I am of the humble opinion that Austin is the greatest city earth. There’s something so special about it and I swear you can feel it as you step off the plane. Can you tell I miss it terribly? A lot has changed since I moved to San Francisco from Austin almost 4 years ago. I feel like the number of vegan offerings has tripled since I”ve been away and now I can’t even keep up when I go to visit. Luckily, I did manage to make it to Iggi’s Texatarian, an all vegan food cart. I met up with Chris and Crystal the folks behind the amazing queso from Food For Lovers, plus Chris’ adorable mom,Stephanie from Lazy Smurf’s Guide to Life, and Molly from The Lone Star Plate. We sat around talking and I indulged in some great food!

The menu looked so good, I had a really hard time choosing. I wanted to order everything. I finally settled on the side of mac n’ cheese and a chili dog. The mac n’ cheese was just outstanding. It was a potato based sauce, so it had that creamy and startchy texture that I love. Is there Daiya mixed in? I think there is, but it’s really not much at all. The flavor was mild but quite tasty. I could have easily eaten another 3 servings, and I’m still kicking myself for not ordering more.

And the chili cheese dog? Well just look at it!

Mac n’ cheese lovers be sure and swing by Iggi’s if you’re ever in the Austin area!

The menu describes the mac n’ cheese as “Truffle Macaroni & Cheese w/ four cheese, truffle oil topped with agave bread crumbs”. However, there is a vegan and non-vegan version so I’m not sure if this version actually has four cheeses. It seems like it might only be three, but I don’t really care because it’s fantastic as is! It doesn’t mention it in the description, but there is a lot of garlic happening in this dish. A whole lot. It’s good, but you’ve been warned.  I love this mac n’ cheese because there are actually quite a few flavors and textures going on in such a traditionally simple dish. Since it’s so rich and such a large portion it’s not the type of mac n’ cheese I could eat all the time, but damn is it good! Bonus points for being served with a small baguette. Who doesn’t love a good carb fest?

Source is such a quirky place. You pay at the counter and then receive full table service, everything is ionized, filtered or purified within an inch of it’s life, faux meats on the menu are named after the sound that the analagous animal makes, and all the food comes on silly little trays, but you know what? It’s awesome! I’ve tried several other dishes now, including the Avocado Oink Bits Mozzerella Burger, Baked Vegan Spinach Artichoke Fondue, the Cluck and Artichoke Hearts, plus several of the desserts and have been awfully impressed with everything. Mark this place on your “must eat” list folks!

Sweet, sweet mac and cheese.  When I saw that the Noochy Noodle was taking guest posts I knew I needed to write about one of my favorite places to get it.

Rosetta’s Kitchen in downtown Asheville, NC, is an all vegetarian and vegan restaurant that serves up comfort food with the best of them.  They stay open til 3 am on the weekends so you can get your fill of mashed potatoes, corn fritters and BBQ tempeh in the wee hours.  Their mac and cheese can be ordered as a side dish, cup for $2.50, bowl for $4.

This is mac and cheese prepared the way I like it best, elbow noodles with a cheesy sauce (I think nooch based) and a bit of breadcrumbs baked on top.  There is also a sprinkling of greens and tomatoes added, although I have been when they have it sans tomato or greens.  It satisfies by being creamy without being too heavily sauced.  I like to have a bit of bite to the noodle and I’ve found too much sauce makes the dish too mushy for my tastes.  There isn’t anything revolutionary about the mac at Rosetta’s and I think that is why I am so fond of it.  It is just good solid comfort food when I need it.

The results!

So what went into this recipe? I started with the cashew cheese from my Jalapeno Popper Dip because I wanted a thick sauce that wouldn’t run and make the crust soggy. I went with Julie Hasson’s Smoky Curls from Vegan Diner for the meaty component because I’m completely obsessed with them right now. If you don’t have access to her amazing book or soy curls you can use either store bought or homemade tempeh bacon. Of course, any good quiche needs spinach and caramelized onions. It’s a rule I read somewhere. After everything was mixed together it was all nestled into a flaky pastry shell and topped with sliced tomato.

But what the hell, I’ll just tell you exactly how to make it.

Mac n’ Quiche! A Recipe. 

 For the Crust (or use your favorite quiche crust recipe)

• 1 ¾ C pastry flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 C palm shortening*
• 3 – 4 tbs cold water

For the mac n’ cheese filling

• ½ lb macaroni noodles
• 1  C raw cashew pieces
• 1/2 lb firm tofu, crumbled up a bit with your fingers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 C lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric

The rest of the filling

• 1 tbs olive oil
• Medium yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 5 oz spinach
• 1/4 package of Tofurky Smoky Maple Tempeh Bacon or Homemade Tempeh Bacon, cut into medium sized pieces OR 1 recipe of Julie Hasson’s Smoky Curls from Vegan Diner
• Tomato, thinly sliced

*I buy a giant bucket of Tropical Traditions palm shortening  like once every 5 years. It’s sustainable and fair trade. Good stuff!

What to Do

Preheat oven to 350°

Make the crust – In a medium sized bowl sift together the pastry flour and salt. Add the palm oil and use a pastry cutter to work the oil into the flour until dough looks like medium sized crumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time or until dough begins to hold together.  Roll dough into a ball and place in the refrigerator for at least 40 minutes.

Roll the pastry crust into a thin round sheet about ¼” thick. Mold the crust to the bottom and all the way up the sides of a 9” springform pan. Trim off any excess pastry from the top and place a pie shield on the top of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Cook macaroni – Cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

If you are making Julie Hasson’s Smoky Curls now would be a good time to start marinating them.

Make the cashew cheese – Place cashews in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add tofu and garlic, process for 30 seconds, and scrape down sides with a rubber spatula. With the food processor running add the olive oil and lemon juice, let the processor run for about 30 more seconds, scrape down the sides again, add salt, onion powder and turmeric. Process for another minute, or until cheese is smooth and creamy.  Set aside.

Make the rest of the filling (if making Smoky Curls this is a good place to start cooking them!) -  Preheat oil on medium-high in a medium sized nonstick pan, add onions and a pinch of salt. Sautee for about 15 minutes, or until onions begin to brown and caramelize.  Add a tiny bit of water to deglaze the pan and then add spinach by the handful. Sautee until spinach is completely wilted and water is dissolved. Add Tofurky tempeh bacon (if using) and cook for about 2 more minutes.

Put it all together  – In a large mixing bowl combine macaroni, cashew cheese, onion/spinach mixture, and Smoky Curls if using. Mix well.

Add mac n’ cheese mixture to the pan and flatten using a rubber spatula. Place sliced tomatoes in a pretty pattern on top. Put in oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until crust has browned a bit and mac n’ cheese has heated through.  Enjoy!

Mac and Cheese, Potato Salad, Crispy Tofu Burger

As for the mac n’ cheese; some sort of humongous rigatoni-type pasta stands in for the macaroni, but no matter, we’re not noodle purists here. The cheesy sauce is thick, creamy, and heavy on the nooch. I’ve been trying to figure out for a really long time how they make the sauce and I’m not any closer to figuring it out now than I was when they opened.  I’m thinking it’s possibly made with tofu? Overall, it’s nothing fancy, just incredibly comforting and delicious, exactly how mac n’ cheese was intended to be. If they sold it by the pound I would stock my newly aquired deep freezer with it.