Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Vegan KD 1.0

Ah, KD. The food of my youth. Back in my teen years when grew about a foot every night, I would come home from school, eat an entire box of KD, then eat dinner a few hours later. And I never gained a pound. Man, those were the days. This is my first attempt (hence version 1.0) to recreate that peculiar KD look and taste. Part of this is because of a weird hankering I got for KD the other day, the other part is because I want to create some very kid-friendly meals for my nephew who has recently embraced veg*nism. I got the colour right, but the sauce was still too thick. No matter, the kids bolted it down with gusto with Son #1 eating a record 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 large red pepper roasted, peeled, and seeded
- 3 cups macaroni
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup margarine
- soy milk

METHOD
1. While red pepper is roasting, cook pasta according to directions. Start processing cashews and water in a blender until very smooth (3 to 5 mins).
2. Chop roasted pepper (after peeling and seeding, of course) and add to cashew mixture. Once smooth, pass mixture though a fine sieve (optional--my blender really isn't that great). Return to blender and add yeast, mustard, spices, salt, and flour. Blend until smooth.
3. When pasta is cooked, drain. Add margarine to the now empty hot pot and return to the stove over medium heat. When melted, slowly whisk in cashew mixture, then add pasta and mix well. Add enough soy milk until desired consistency is reached.