Vegan mac and cheese dog

A couple weeks ago I was flicking through photos of a slide show for 13 Creative Hot Dog Recipes and came across a "mac and cheese dog". I would never have thought of putting mac and cheese on a hot dog. Never ever. However, I made a mental note to one day make this if I ever found a vegan mac and cheese recipe that I liked. 

Well thanks to good ol' Instagram, I saw a post that The Simple Veganista had put up for their spicy vegan mac and cheese recipe. I love The Simple Veganista. Their recipes are amazing, and so I knew that this one would probably not disappoint. I'm not a huge fan of cheese sauces made with nutritional yeast but I figured that I would be in good hands with this recipe. So I just took a leaf of faith with this one. 

Turns out, the recipe is totally yummy and about a million times more guilt free than your ordinary legit mac and cheese. This is one of the perks of being vegan. A lot of the substitutes are quite healthy. You still have to check though just in case. 

I made up a batch of the vegan mac and cheese and scooped in on top of a vegan hot dog which was snugly placed in a fresh hot dog bun I had bought today. I sprinkled some chipotle pepper seeds on top and served it up with smokey parsnip shoestring fries (original recipe from here). I have yet to meet a hot dog which has let me down, and today was no exception. It doesn't matter if you're vegan or not, everybody needs to try a mac and cheese dog. Sooner rather than later please :)



The Simple Veganista also have another mac and cheese recipe that sounds tasty. I think I'll try this one at some point too!

Vegan Chipotle Mac and Cheese (from The Simple Veganista)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. favorite pasta
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 heaping tablespoons flour (spelt, rice, tapioca or all-purpose) - I used white spelt flour
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
• mineral salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook your pasta according to package. Drain and place back in pot. 
2. In a small/medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat, add flour and whisk to incorporate. Continue whisking and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk slowly, whisking constantly. Turn heat to low and cook until sauce thickens, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, chili powder and chipotle powder. Stir until everything is incorporated and smooth again. Taste for flavor. 
3. Add sauce to the pasta, toss well, add more milk as needed and serve right away...or on top of a hot dog!

Notes: 

This recipe is just a template. Add as much of the salt and spices to suit your taste. You may even like to omit the chili and chipotle opting for a mild mac n' cheese. Or use either the chili or chipotle powder alone.

For the nutritional yeast, if using powder form reduce amount to about 1/4 cup. You can try playing around with the amount. I have used less, 1/4 - 1/3 cup, and still had a nice cheesy flavor. You may opt to start with less and add more to taste. 

Toss in steamed or roasted vegetables of choice with the pasta...broccoli, brussel sprouts, sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes, spinach, kale and corn are a few that come to mind that will work with the flavors. I'm sure I missed a few and would love to hear your suggestions in the comments below.

To reheat, add a small amount of milk and heat over low until warmed.
You may also like to top with some almond parmesan!