Mac N Cheese Recipe, A Healthy Macaroni And Cheese Recipe
What? A healthy mac n cheese recipe? Yes, there is such a thing, believe it or not! It is the mouth-watering combination of raw, vegan cheddar cheese sauce married with our favorite raw veggie and seaweed pastas.
This is my husband Ken's living food version of the traditional comfort food favorite. We have been making this variation for years, but I don't think I've actually made it one time. That's because he loves to make it and eat it! Its just his thing I guess, but I certainly don't mind the warm, cheesy mac aroma as it comes out of the dehydrator.
When he made the recipe this time, I took some pics so I could share it with you. It is absolutely perfect when you get the macaroni and cheese craving, and despite the interesting list of ingredients, it always digests very well. When all the cheese sauce ingredients become ONE and merge with the raw food vegetable pasta and kelp noodles, all seems to balance out very well in terms of flavor and digestive balance.
This mac n cheese recipe is a heavy food, so we don't recommend eating it everyday or anything like that. Once a month is fine. We seem to make it more when we are in colder climates. Because we are traveling full time in our RV now, we try to escape the winter months. But, once in a while, they seem to catch us. This is when a healthy macaroni and cheese recipe hits the spot. There is nothing like pulling it out warm from the dehydrator on a cold rainy day. When you "un-bake" it this way for a few hours, it develops a nice cheese crust on top. Meanwhile, underneath this crust, are all your ingredients marinating in cheesy flavors.
The Best Of Macaroni And Cheese Recipes
We believe it is just good plain fun to indulge in the comforts of your favorite foods once in a awhile. We like to make them using raw vegan recipes that don't include dairy products or refined, processed foods. A traditional mac n cheese recipe is simply a filler food, packed with carb's and deficient in any kind of nutrition. I mean, why even go there? I personally want to feel the best I can from the foods I eat. So, when I indulge, I like to stick to a raw vegan diet.
Blend all ingredients in a Blendtec or other high speed blender. You most likely won't need to add any water because the juice from the bell pepper and orange are enough to blend this creamy smooth.
Yes, you add the entire orange. I know, this may sound weird and not very good food combining, but for some reason it works for digestion, as well as flavor. If you need to add a little water, do so sparingly. You want your cheese sauce thick and rich. (See pics for consistency.)
Spiralize or slice your zucchini and carrots into pasta-like pieces.
Rinse your kelp noodles and strain.
Add all pastas to a big bowel.
Add cheese sauce.
Mix with clean hands or use food prep gloves.
Lay into a casserole dish.
Dehydrate for 2-3 hours.
Cut your mac n cheese recipe into lasagna style squares. Enjoy with friends or on a snowy winter day.
TIP: When you first dehydrate your mac n cheese, turn the temp up to 145 degrees for the first hour. This is always good to do for dense recipes, to kill any bacteria present. Then turn down to 105-118 degrees for the remaining hours.
We make our vegetable pasta in the Saladacco spiralizer. (See our Superfood Evolution Ezine #7 for more info.) There are another models out there now, like the Spirooli Slicer, that are pretty deluxe and way more heavy duty. But, for travel, the small spiralizer is more compact. It is good to have both if you are using veggies pasta in a lot of recipes.
This pasta is not like other traditional macaroni and cheese recipes because we don't try to get the exact macaroni shape. We use spaghetti-like pasta as our "macaroni." You can also cut your zucchini into macaroni-like pieces if you wish. As an alternative, you can use the fettuccine slice, which gives a much thicker pasta. Then, you can simply cut it in small pieces like macaroni. That version will take a little longer to dehydrate.
What are kelp noodles?
Kelp noodles are put out by the name brand Sea Tangle. They are sea kelp that has been formed into spaghetti-like pasta. They are mineral rich and free of calories or allergens. A great addition to raw veggie pasta dishes or in a nice miso soup. They can be purchased at most health food stores or you can by them online here. They are not good when eaten cold, in my opinion, so either marinated or warmed slightly in the dehydrator. They are especially good in this mac n cheese recipe!!
Get the combo pack, including a Saladacco and the Spirooli Slicer for only $49.95... a great deal!
