Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 yellow or white onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (large)

1 head cauliflower (broken into florets)

1 red bell pepper (roughly chopped)

2 cups butternut squash (chopped)

1 carrot (chopped)

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp tahini

1/2 cup coconut milk

3 tbsp hot sauce

1 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth

1/2 cup pasta water

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

16 oz whole wheat macaroni (cooked)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the liquid, reserving some pasta water for later.

Add the onion, garlic, cauliflower, bell pepper, squash and carrot to the baking sheet, along with the paprika, garlic powder and sea salt sprinkled on top. Bake for 40 minutes, until all of the vegetables are soft and tender.

Once safe to handle, add the ingredients to a high speed blender with the vegetable broth, tahini, coconut milk, pasta water, hot sauce and nutritional yeast. Blend until a smooth “cheese” sauce is formed, adding more vegetable broth as needed to thin. Taste and adjust salt as desired.

Pour the desired amount of cheese sauce into your cooked macaroni, stir and enjoy immediately. Use any remaining sauce as a delicious nacho or cracker dip.

Nutrition

• Calories: 417.3 kcal
• Total Fat: 9.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 4.2 g
• Sodium: 998.6 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 74.4 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.8 g
• Total Sugars: 4.6 g
• Protein: 16.9 g