Mac & Cheese

Who doesn't crave mac & cheese every now and then?  I do, at least once a month.  It's also still one of my kids' favorites.  So, I started thinking about how I can make my own and make it healthy and still delicious.  Voila!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb brown rice elbow pasta (or what ever shape)

Cheese Sauce:

• 2 C. raw cashews, soaked for 2-4 hours
• 1/4 C. melted Kerrygold butter, or ghee, or olive oil
• paprika, salt, garlic powder to taste
• pinch of cayenne
• 1/4 - 1/2 C water
• 2 blocks of raw cheese, grated (to make this dairy free you can substitute the cheese for nutritional yeast)

Directions:

1. Cook your pasta according to package directions.
2. While your pasta is cooking make sauce.
3. Drain cashews and add to food processor.
4. While the processor is on add butter and seasonings, blend until smooth.
5. Add enough water to make it a creamy liquid, kinda like cake batter.  It will thicken as it sits.
6. When pasta is done, drain and add back into pot.
7. Add sauce and 3/4 of cheese, stir until well blended.
8. Pour into a buttered casserole dish and top with remaining cheese.
9. Bake at 350˚ for about 20 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.

I had cooked, leftover broccoli so just before I drained the pasta I added the broccoli to the hot water to heat it up and drained it with the pasta.

This is good enough that I am putting it on my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus.

Whole30 Day 5: Spaghetti Pie

This recipe is similar to one I posted last year, Pepperoni Pizza Casserole.  But PaleOMG's recipe is just different enough it made me want to try hers instead of mine.  Plus, PaleOMG's version is straight-up whole30 compliant. But I'm topping mine with non-compliant pepperoni slices as inspired by From Here To Health.

Photo: From Here To Health

Almost 5-Ingredient Pizza Spaghetti Pie

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 lb italian sausage
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup pizza sauce (no sugar added)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 eggs, whisked
• (optional: add anything you like with pizza: veggies, basil, even cheese if you do primal)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the skin of the squash gives when you press on it. Then, remove squash from oven and reduce temp to 350˚F.
3. Once squash is done cooking, remove threads and place in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Place a large pan over medium heat. Add italian sausage and onion. Cook until pink no longer remains in the sausage and it is broken up into pieces.
5. Add pizza sauce, dried basil and salt and pepper to the pan and mix well.
6. Add sausage mixture to the spaghetti squash and mix well.
7. Add whisked eggs to the spaghetti squash and mix everything together until you can no longer see the eggs.  Pour into an 8×8 baking dish.
8. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust that doesn’t give when you press on it in the middle of the dish.
9. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Green Bean Casserole With Crispy Shallots

We usually pass up green bean casserole due to it's unhealthy ingredients.  This year it sounds good so I'm hunting for the perfect recipe.  Here's my version of The Urban Poser's recipe.

 

The Urban Poser

Ingredients:

1½ cups of Creamy Cashew Gravy*

1 lb haricots verts

2 large shallots

¼ cup coconut oil or ghee

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400˚F
• Blanch the green beans in boiling, salted water for about 2 min. Drain. If you are not going to bake green beans immediately, you will need to shock them in a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking.
•  In a large bowl, combine the green beans and gravy. Transfer to a casserole dish and bake at 400˚F for about 20 min or until the gravy begins to bubble.
•  Meanwhile prepare crispy shallots.  Peel and slice the shallots into thin rings.
•  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium/low heat until oil bubbles slightly. Reduce the heat to low, add the shallots and cook for 5 - 6 min or until they reach a golden brown color. Stir occasionally to ensure even browning.
•  Using a slotted spoon, remove shallots from the oil, drain well and let cool on paper towels until ready to use.
•  Remove green beans from oven, top with crispy shallots, and serve.

*Creamy Cashew Gravy

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup homemade bone broth + ¼ cup

1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee

½ onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

½ tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

sea salt to taste

Directions:

• Soak the cashews for 4 hours then rinse and drain. Transfer to food processor 
• Sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, cook until caramelized.  
• Add onion & garlic to food processor with the cashews. Set the pan aside.
• Add 1 cup of broth to the food processor and blend until smooth.
• Pour the cashew mixture into the onions & garlic pan. Add the thyme and whisk the cashew mixture over a medium heat for a few minutes or until it thickens and darkens up a little bit.  Whisk constantly so that it doesn't burn.
• Whisk in the ¼ cup broth, lemon juice, and salt.  Stirring constantly, allow it thicken for a few minutes.