The Mac and Cheese Burrito...

Okay, there is nothing - and I mean absolutely nothing - even remotely healthy about the following recipe. It doesn’t matter if you make your own home-made vegan sausage, use gluten-free noodles, or whole wheat tortillas, just stop pretending you can justify it, I mean it’s mac and cheese in a burrito!  Anyway, who cares which side of the healthy living spectrum this fall on anyway, if you eat a healthy whole foods most of the time like I do then you deserve a little indulgence now and again.

On our latest trip my husband and I indulged a lot, especially in Toronto and Montreal - there are just too many amazing vegan options in both cities to worry about health, and waistlines, and keeping on the straight and narrow. We stuffed our faces with every bizarre, grotesque, outrageous, creative, out of this world amazing vegan decadence that we could find, and we didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. One such indulgence came to us via the wonderful Toronto Vegetarian Festival. The food court was packed with tons of great options - several healthy ones too - but one place I knew I had to stop was Hot Beans. For those unfamiliar Hot Beans is a little take-away place in Kensington Market in Toronto that gets rave reviews for their creative burritos, and tacos. This is one place I really wanted to go but since we had limited time in Toronto I wasn’t able to go to their actual Kensington Market location - lucky for me they were at the Festival and so after some deliberation we ordered the Mac and Cheese Burrito. We ordered this for two reasons 1) It sounded bizarre and possibly disgusting. 2) The sheer novelty is too much to ignore. Of course we were blown away by this crazy concoction, and I am now convinced that I have a real talent for sniffing out the most insane - but can’t believe how good they are - dishes.

We talked about this burrito repeatedly throughout the trip, and I do mean repeatedly. Even after we got home my husband would look at me and say “Remember that mac and cheese burrito?” Well, who could forget? Finally to satiate our desire I decided to get creative myself and see if I could make a passable version at home. I have to say that for a first attempt this was pretty damn good. It wasn’t spot on, it wasn’t exactly like Hot Beans - it wasn’t quite as good - but it was definitely good! Mouth-watering, delicious, satisfying, and that’s all that we were really looking for. I’m hoping to experiment around a little more with this recipe in the future but for now, I give you my version of the Mac and Cheese Burrito.

The Mac and Cheese Burrito

1 Batch Creamy Macaroni and Cheese - or your favorite Mac.
4 Field Roast Frankfurters sliced into rounds - Or other vegan hot dog.
1 Batch Crispy potatoes - recipe follows
4-6 Whole What or Gluten-Free Tortillas

Crispy Potatoes 

3 Large Russet Potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1-2 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 Tbsp Potato Starch
Sea Salt, White Pepper, and Smoked Paprika to taste

- To make the Potatoes Preheat Oven to 450'F

- Combine all ingredients - except potato starch -  in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly to ensure all potato cubes are coated. Sprinkle in the potato starch and toss again to caot.

- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the potato cubes to a lightly greased baking sheet.

- Bake for 15 minutes then flip and bake another 15-20 minutes until potatoes are golden brown and crispy. Set aside and let cool.

- While Potatoes are cooking lightly spray a small skillet with non-stick spray and heat over medium heat. Add the Sliced Frankfurter rounds and fry for 3 minutes until brown, flip, and fry for another 3 minutes until brown and crispy. Remove from skillet and set aside.

- To assemble

- Lay one tortilla onto a plate.

- Top the tortilla with a generous spoonful of Crispy Potatoes.

- Add a spoonful of Sliced Frankfurter rounds.

- Top with 1-2 Generous scoops of Creamy Macaroni and Cheese.

- Fold the edges of the tortilla over and roll up like a burrito. Eat and enjoy!

My Favorite Creamy Macaroni and Cheese...

I know I’ve been ridiculously absent since Canadian Thanksgiving and for that I’m sorry. I just haven’t had the cooking spirit lately. My Oma’s somewhat unexpected passing has been hard on me, and the rest of the past month wasn’t much better. A variety of things culminated to leave me feeling uninspired and uninterested in doing much cooking, or blogging. For almost the entire week post-Thanksgiving we ate leftovers. Then we ate simple rice bowls that tasted delicious but aren’t exactly blog-worthy in my opinion. Then the past week we’ve been having something of a pizza extravaganza - of which I meant to take photos but my camera battery is dead and every day I absentmindedly forgot to re-charge it - thanks to my latest cook book purchase of “Vegan Pizza” by Julie Hasson. But now we’re into a new month, and I’m feeling better, re-inspired, and I’ve missed the blogesphere, and so Im going to make a greater effort to be more active this month.

To kick things off I thought I’d share a favorite Mac and Cheese recipe with you. I know there are tons of mac-loving vegans out there, vegan mac is like the holy grail for some, and yet I’ve never been much of a mac lover. Blasphemy I know, but I was never one to eat food from a box, that had a lot to do with my upbringing I suppose. Certainly as a kid I ate macaroni and cheese now and then, and I’m sure I liked it well enough but I never developed that ‘ohmygodgottahaveit!’ love affair with it. After I grew up and moved out I don’t think I ate Macaroni and Cheese at all, except for maybe trying my hand at making a home-made baked mac once or twice. My husband was also not a mac and cheese fan - he didn’t like cheese at all in any form in fact - and so it was not a meal that ever made it onto our radar.

Of course, as happens with so many things, the minute you go vegan all your previous ideas and notions about food go out the window. I like Mac and Cheese much more now, then I ever did growing up, and these days I really love and appreciate creative mac and cheese recipes. While I still wouldn’t consider it anything close to being a favorite food, I do now and then find myself getting a wicked bad craving for it. One such crazy craving hit me out of the blue in mid-October as I was reminiscing about the Toronto Vegetarian Festival - more to come about that in a very belated review post. - and the epic Mac and Cheese Burrito we ate there courtesy of Hot Beans. - More on that to come as well. - My husband and I were so blown away by this absurd concoction that we just knew we’d have to eat it again. Of course Toronto is a far way to travel from Chicago just for a burrito and so I decided to try and recreate this masterpiece at home.

Now, the first step to making any mac and cheese burrito is making mac and cheese. Essentially you can use any mac and cheese recipe you like, but the following recipe is one of my very favorite mac recipes. - Inspired by THIS recipe from Vegan Mischief who also happens to be a Vancouver Vegan -  Coconut milk is really the silent star here, as it gives the mac a thick and creamy texture without imparting any coconut flavor. It is hands down my favorite non-dairy milk to use when making macaroni and cheese, and I love the unique combination of spices. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

My Favorite Creamy Macaroni and Cheese 

½ Small Yellow Onion minced
1 tbsp Olive oil
4 Garlic Cloves Minced
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Mild Curry Powder
½ -1 Tbsp Ground Fenugreek
1/4 tsp White Pepper
½ tsp Dried Oregano
½ tsp Dried Basil
1 Vegan Chicken Flavor Bouillon cube
2 Tbsp White Miso
4 Tbsp Water
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast
2 C Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Tbsp Water
1 Bag Daiya Cheddar Shreds
12-16oz Elbow Macaroni Noodles (Gluten-Free)
Salt and Pepper to taste (Optional)

- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain in a colander and then return to the pot until your sauce is ready.

- Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot over medium heat. Add in the minced onion and saute for 3-5 minutes until softened. Add in the garlic and saute another 2 minutes.

- Add Smoked Paprika, Turmeric, Curry, Fenugreek, white pepper, oregano, and basil. Saute another 2 minutes.

- Meanwhile combine the 2 tbsp of Miso with 2 tbsp of water, stir until smooth.

- Also combine the vegan chicken bouillon cube with 2 tbsp of water and mix until smooth.

- Add the Nutritional Yeast and the Coconut milk to the pot with the onions, whisk until combined and smooth. Add in the Bouillon mix, along with the miso mix, and let simmer stirring frequently for five minutes.

- Whisk together the cornstarch and the 1 tbsp of water to make a slurry.

- Add the cornstarch mixture to the Pot, along with the Dijon Mustard, and the Bag of Daiya shreds. Continue to simmer, whisking until all the daiya has melted into the sauce and the sauce has thickened. This could take roughly 5-10 minutes.

- Once the daiya has melted and the sauce has reached a creamy thickness that you like, taste for flavor and if you feel it’s needed you can add ½ -1 tsp of sea salt, along with a bit of fresh cracked black pepper.

- Then add the sauce to your cooked Macaroni and serve as is garnished with a bit of Italian parsley or use it to make an epic mac and cheese burrito - recipe to come tomorrow!

As always, enjoy!

*** Note - I typically always use gluten-free noodles, if you do then the dish is gluten-free. You can also make the dish soy free by using a soy-free miso such as chickpea miso.***