Macaroni and Cheeseless

Ingredients

375g box of whole grain macaroni

1/3 cup non-hydrogenated margarine

2 tablespoons shallots, peeled and chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

2 cups water

1/4 cup raw cashews

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until al dente. In a colander, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, add shallots, sweet potato, carrot, onion, and water to a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

In a blender, process the cashews, salt, garlic, 1/3 cup margarine, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper and cayenne. Add softened vegetables and cooking water to the blender and process until very smooth. Notice that it now looks like Kraft Dinner cheese sauce.

In pasta cooking pot, toss the cooked pasta and blended cheese sauce until completely coated. This is me demonstrating how to pour sauce out of a blender into a pot.

Spread mixture into a 9 x 12 casserole dish, sprinkle with crumbled potato chips or breadcrumbs, and dust with paprika. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top has turned golden brown.