Classic comfort food: Mac and cheese

A vegan version of mac and cheese was served at another one of our cafes. It received RAVE, I mean to-die-for type of reviews and was thus requested to make an appearance at our cafe. I was unable to get the recipe from the fellow vegan chef and thus went searching about the internet for a fail-proof, oh-my-gooey-goodness type of mac and cheese. My hunt did not prove to be very bountiful. So I combined the best of the sources and came up with what you see below. It was a big hit.

Mac 'n' cheese casserole with butternut squash

Grilled broccoli with tempeh bacon

My thought process was that I wanted a creamy, smooth sauce to envelope the cooked elbow macaroni. I proceeded to make a butternut squash sauce with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, fresh sage, and a touch of cayenne. After the squash was sauteed with the aforementioned ingredients, I stirred in almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Then the whole mixture was blended until smooth. While the mixture was still hot, I stirred in some Daiya cheddar cheese, so that it could melt. A separate notion was to create additional depth and earthiness with sauteed oyster mushrooms and paprika. The sauce, mushrooms, and pasta were stirred together with additional Daiya cheese, placed in a casserole pan, topped with additional cheese, and fresh breadcrumbs that had been tossed in melted vegan butter. After baking, I turned up the heat quite a notch so that the bread crumbs could get toasty, brown, and crunchy. Yum! It was oh-my-gooey-goodness.