Comments on: Veganomicon — Mac ‘n Cheese http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/ Wed, 23 May 2012 13:28:44 +0000 hourly 1 By: Tash http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-5821 Tash Sat, 12 May 2012 03:43:56 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-5821 Haven't made the mac daddy recipe yet and after reading this not sure i'm going to try; however most recipes I have tried in this book I have loved. I saw someone mention they thought the strongest section in the book were the soups and actually I found them to be the weakest and while some people have raved about chickpea cutlets, I found them to be far too rich and heavy (just goes to show how subjective tastes are!). I'm not in the US and so there are some recipes I can't make due to being unable to source the correct ingredients and some where I have to adjust quantities as we don't have the same sizes of tins as required however my top picks from the book which all my non-vegan friends have been raving about are (Mains) 1. Spinach linguine with cilantro-basil pesto and artichokes (my boyfriend especially loves this one and he is a massive carnivore) 2. Eggplant rollatini -baked version 3. Caesar salad 4. Spaghetti with beanballs 5. Penne vodka 6. Greek-style tomato zucchini fritters - baked version (must have with cashew-cucumber dip recommended) 7. Eggplant-potato moussaka 8. Lasagna marinara 9. Roasted fennel and hazelnut salad 10. Chickpeas romanesco. Also on a side, the sour cilantro cream recipe is amazing if you're ever having a mexican night and want a vegan sour cream option. Haven’t made the mac daddy recipe yet and after reading this not sure i’m going to try; however most recipes I have tried in this book I have loved. I saw someone mention they thought the strongest section in the book were the soups and actually I found them to be the weakest and while some people have raved about chickpea cutlets, I found them to be far too rich and heavy (just goes to show how subjective tastes are!). I’m not in the US and so there are some recipes I can’t make due to being unable to source the correct ingredients and some where I have to adjust quantities as we don’t have the same sizes of tins as required however my top picks from the book which all my non-vegan friends have been raving about are (Mains) 1. Spinach linguine with cilantro-basil pesto and artichokes (my boyfriend especially loves this one and he is a massive carnivore) 2. Eggplant rollatini -baked version 3. Caesar salad 4. Spaghetti with beanballs 5. Penne vodka 6. Greek-style tomato zucchini fritters – baked version (must have with cashew-cucumber dip recommended) 7. Eggplant-potato moussaka 8. Lasagna marinara 9. Roasted fennel and hazelnut salad 10. Chickpeas romanesco. Also on a side, the sour cilantro cream recipe is amazing if you’re ever having a mexican night and want a vegan sour cream option.

]]> By: Allison http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-4861 Allison Mon, 30 May 2011 03:20:51 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-4861 We made Mac Daddy tonight & it was phenomenal....Looking at your pic, I wonder if you doubled the Sauce recipe? It makes a huge difference. Also, a smaller noodle might work better. It didn't taste like Mac & Cheese - more like Chicken casserole. Next time we are going to sautee some celery & onions and mix it in at the tofu prep level, and then add some curry to the sauce, top with some scallions, chopped peanuts & raisins....and I think that might just make up for no chicken curry...Sorry you are having such a hard time. I am loving this cookbook. We made Mac Daddy tonight & it was phenomenal….Looking at your pic, I wonder if you doubled the Sauce recipe? It makes a huge difference. Also, a smaller noodle might work better. It didn’t taste like Mac & Cheese – more like Chicken casserole. Next time we are going to sautee some celery & onions and mix it in at the tofu prep level, and then add some curry to the sauce, top with some scallions, chopped peanuts & raisins….and I think that might just make up for no chicken curry…Sorry you are having such a hard time. I am loving this cookbook.

]]> By: Scott http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-4255 Scott Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:24:20 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-4255 Follow-up to my previous post: Well I made this using tofu instead of chickpeas last week, and shells instead of elbow macaroni, and it was terrible. The sauce had the consistency of chunky diarrhea, and each bite made me want to vomit. The shells didn't work for me in this dish either, they seemed to clump together and not hold the sauce properly. Tossed it and made another batch using chickpeas instead, and it's back to being delicious. I veer from the recipe by *not* using freshly-squeezed lemon juice because it's way too strong for the amounts listed (use the stuff from the little plastic lemon bottle), and I also put an extra 1/4 cup of flour in the broth mix to thicken things up a bit. Follow-up to my previous post: Well I made this using tofu instead of chickpeas last week, and shells instead of elbow macaroni, and it was terrible. The sauce had the consistency of chunky diarrhea, and each bite made me want to vomit. The shells didn’t work for me in this dish either, they seemed to clump together and not hold the sauce properly. Tossed it and made another batch using chickpeas instead, and it’s back to being delicious.

I veer from the recipe by *not* using freshly-squeezed lemon juice because it’s way too strong for the amounts listed (use the stuff from the little plastic lemon bottle), and I also put an extra 1/4 cup of flour in the broth mix to thicken things up a bit.

]]> By: Scott http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-4219 Scott Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:01:27 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-4219 The Mac Daddy recipe is definitely an acquired taste, a very STRONG taste. I actually like it a lot -- I've made two batches so far, both times substituting smooshed chickpeas for the tofu, and I found it quite tasty. Just finished off the last square of my latest batch tonight (with a side of garlic bread). In my opinion, it's a little heavy on the mustard, but otherwise I like it. I'm a fan of nutritional yeast, so the heavy dose of it worked out fine for me. The chickpea cutlets are the best though. I moisten them and bounce them around in a baggie with some vegan shake&bake type coating and fry them in olive oil. Is nice. The Mac Daddy recipe is definitely an acquired taste, a very STRONG taste. I actually like it a lot — I’ve made two batches so far, both times substituting smooshed chickpeas for the tofu, and I found it quite tasty. Just finished off the last square of my latest batch tonight (with a side of garlic bread). In my opinion, it’s a little heavy on the mustard, but otherwise I like it. I’m a fan of nutritional yeast, so the heavy dose of it worked out fine for me.

The chickpea cutlets are the best though. I moisten them and bounce them around in a baggie with some vegan shake&bake type coating and fry them in olive oil. Is nice.

]]> By: Spoony http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-4199 Spoony Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:34:05 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-4199 Not to revive this thread, but I am not a huge fan of this sauce either, however, I find myself making it every once in awhile because my man-friend loves it. It is also easy and cheap, and I always have the ingredients in the house. I feel like it tastes more like a light alfredo sauce at best. Almost no cookbook could live up to the hype that V-con got, but I always say that if you get a few recipes that you absolutely LOVE from any cookbook (recipes that you make over and over) then the book was worth it. I like the spaghetti and bean balls recipe (frying them of course) because they don't taste like fake meat, they just taste good. I think V-con is a good book for those looking for recipes that use relatively easy to find ingredients and/or inexpensive ingredients, and for people unfamiliar with basic cooking techniques. The soups are probably the strongest section in general. On an aside note, I subscribed to Vegetarian Times for years and probably only really found five recipes that I've made more than three times each. I guess I'm one of those people who is fine eating the same thing over and over. Not to revive this thread, but I am not a huge fan of this sauce either, however, I find myself making it every once in awhile because my man-friend loves it. It is also easy and cheap, and I always have the ingredients in the house. I feel like it tastes more like a light alfredo sauce at best.

Almost no cookbook could live up to the hype that V-con got, but I always say that if you get a few recipes that you absolutely LOVE from any cookbook (recipes that you make over and over) then the book was worth it. I like the spaghetti and bean balls recipe (frying them of course) because they don’t taste like fake meat, they just taste good. I think V-con is a good book for those looking for recipes that use relatively easy to find ingredients and/or inexpensive ingredients, and for people unfamiliar with basic cooking techniques. The soups are probably the strongest section in general.

On an aside note, I subscribed to Vegetarian Times for years and probably only really found five recipes that I’ve made more than three times each. I guess I’m one of those people who is fine eating the same thing over and over.

]]> By: Lane http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-3775 Lane Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:56:56 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-3775 Hi Lexi, Thanks for the link. Jane said she'll give it a go. But if it's like mac daddy, it won't work for us. We both really didn't like that recipe at all. We actually threw the leftovers away, something we never do in this house. Jane's tried a number of different "cheese" recipes based on cashews. Those are much more palatable to us. Interstingly, we like the taste of nutritional yeast. Jane uses it in almost all of her tofu concoctions and we sprinkle it on our pasta... Hi Lexi,
Thanks for the link. Jane said she’ll give it a go. But if it’s like mac daddy, it won’t work for us. We both really didn’t like that recipe at all. We actually threw the leftovers away, something we never do in this house.
Jane’s tried a number of different “cheese” recipes based on cashews. Those are much more palatable to us.
Interstingly, we like the taste of nutritional yeast. Jane uses it in almost all of her tofu concoctions and we sprinkle it on our pasta…

]]> By: lexi http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-3765 lexi Sun, 12 Apr 2009 09:22:34 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-3765 hey, came across this post after some late night googling. sorry to hear you guys didnt like the mac daddy. i admit it was a little weird the first time we tried it too, but this recipe has totally grown on me since... i actually crave it now if you can believe that. the real reason i decided to comment here, though, was to share a recipe for a killer vegan queso. if you dont like this stuff, then youre not going to like any nooch-cheese sauce. best of luck! http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=70450 hey, came across this post after some late night googling. sorry to hear you guys didnt like the mac daddy. i admit it was a little weird the first time we tried it too, but this recipe has totally grown on me since… i actually crave it now if you can believe that. the real reason i decided to comment here, though, was to share a recipe for a killer vegan queso. if you dont like this stuff, then youre not going to like any nooch-cheese sauce. best of luck!

http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=70450

]]> By: Lane http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-3387 Lane Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:41:28 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-3387 Hi Carole, Thanks for the links. Next time I have a craving for mac n cheese, Jane's promised to try one of these. Hi Carole,
Thanks for the links. Next time I have a craving for mac n cheese, Jane’s promised to try one of these.

]]> By: Carole http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-3353 Carole Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:52:36 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-3353 I haven't tried this recipe from Veganomicon, but I love the cookbook, there's so many great recipes in there. If you have the patience for multi-step, many used pots and pans recipes, I'd highly recommend the Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream. It's blogged in step-by-step detail here with pics: http://freshcrackedpepper.com/2008/10/13/vegan-moussaka/ So so yummy and worth all the effort. My dinner guests were very impressed with it and we've made it just for ourselves several times too. If you haven't tried the VegNews mac and cheese recipe, you really should, no nutritional yeast and fab! http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=40&catId=10 :-) I haven’t tried this recipe from Veganomicon, but I love the cookbook, there’s so many great recipes in there. If you have the patience for multi-step, many used pots and pans recipes, I’d highly recommend the Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream. It’s blogged in step-by-step detail here with pics:
http://freshcrackedpepper.com/2008/10/13/vegan-moussaka/

So so yummy and worth all the effort. My dinner guests were very impressed with it and we’ve made it just for ourselves several times too.

If you haven’t tried the VegNews mac and cheese recipe, you really should, no nutritional yeast and fab!
http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=40&catId=10

:-)

]]> By: Lane http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/comment-page-1/#comment-3300 Lane Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:20:48 +0000 http://veganbits.com/vegan-mac-cheese/#comment-3300 Hi Elizabeth, I can't say enough good things about the chickpea cutlets. Jane makes them all the time. She always doubles the recipe and we eat the cutlets in sandwiches the next few days. She bakes them and we haven't had an issue with them being dry. (And we use canned chickpeas too.) Good luck with the Snobby Joes. It's nice that your hubby is willing to eat vegan food, and great that you have a back up in case he doesn't like what he's being fed. I always have to eat what Jane makes. I'm allowed to say I don't want it again, but if she's cooked it, I eat it. I'm lucky she's a good cook! Hi Elizabeth,
I can’t say enough good things about the chickpea cutlets. Jane makes them all the time. She always doubles the recipe and we eat the cutlets in sandwiches the next few days. She bakes them and we haven’t had an issue with them being dry. (And we use canned chickpeas too.)
Good luck with the Snobby Joes. It’s nice that your hubby is willing to eat vegan food, and great that you have a back up in case he doesn’t like what he’s being fed. I always have to eat what Jane makes. I’m allowed to say I don’t want it again, but if she’s cooked it, I eat it. I’m lucky she’s a good cook!

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