Kale, Mac N Sweet Potato Cheese

This is day 3, week 1 of my Eat to Live 6 week challenge, and I am feeling pretty great!  I have noticed that my usual "time of the month" pains and woes are much less than they usually are, and for that, I am so grateful.  Here is my daily log and a recipe at the bottom: Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato Cheese.

Food log:

• Breakfast: 2 apples
• Lunch: Dr. Fuhrman's Warm Lentil Salad, 2 slices of gf bread with hummus
• Dinner: Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato "Cheese" (see below)
• Extras: 1 beer

Exercise log:

• Cardio: 30 minutes stationary bicycle
• Body weight exercises: calves, abs, back, core
• Stretching: 5 minutes before and after

How I feel:

I'm happy that I was able to get in some exercise today. I know because of that I will sleep a lot more soundly tonight, yay!  I have noticed that I really really felt hungry for lunch today. Once I took that first bite, it was so delicious!  Looking over my food for the day, I feel like I did not get in as many fresh fruits as I had hoped for.  I'm hoping to find some time tomorrow to crack into a pineapple I have been saving up.  Yum!  Tonight, I found some time to cook and needed to use up a sweet potato I had had in my produce basket for a while, as well as the rest of the tofu package I used for my last recipe post. What resulted was Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato Cheese.  Hope you enjoy! (Please note, since I am posting daily, my pictures are not being edited, and these are the best ones I could do on my iPad at the time!)

Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato Cheese

Ingredients:

• Pasta:
• 1 cup dried macaroni noodles per person
• 1-2 cups chopped fresh kale

• Sauce:

• 1 sweet potato, baked and peeled
• 6 oz or 1/2 package silken tofu
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a boiling pot of water, begin to boil the macaroni. 
2. In a high speed blender, blend together all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy.  If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add non-dairy milk one tablespoon at a time. 
3. Once the pasta has become nearly al dente (with 3-5 minutes left to cook), add the chopped kale and stir.  Frequently stir the pot until the pasta is fully cooked. Drain the kale and pasta in a strainer. 
4. Return the kale and pasta to the pot and drizzle on the desired amount of sweet potato "cheese" sauce for the entire dish.  Return to the stovetop on low heat.  Remove from heat and serve once the sauce has become hot. 

Amy's Notes:

This dish actually came together very quickly.  For the noodles, I used rice macaroni that I had gotten from the bulk bins at the grocery store.  To be honest, they are not my favorite on their own, but this sauce definitely makes them worth eating.  I would suggest that you use a whole wheat pasta instead.  When I made this, I used about 1 cup of kale per one cup of macaroni.  I found that this was a little less kale than I desired, so make sure to overestimate for the greens, they tend to shrink down!  If you don't have kale on hand, you can always use another dark green like collards, mustard greens, or spinach.  Keep in mind that lighter greens like spinach will take much less time to cook in the boiling water.  For the sauce, I have experimented with making several different types of vegan "cheese" recipes including those that are nut base, some that use corn starch to thicken, and some with pretty interesting ingredients.  I found that this has been my favorite one so far.  The sweet potato and tofu add the right thickness and color, while the spices add a great, but subtle kick to it. 

What types of vegan "cheese" sauces have you tried making at home?  Which ones have been your favorite?

This post was submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday.  Thanks to one of the hosts, Carrie from Carrie on Vegan for giving bloggers such a fun stage for recipe creativity!
(Backlink: http://www.carrieonvegan.com/2013/05/10/healthy-vegan-friday-recipes-my-favorite-submissions/)