My approach was to combine 3 different cheeses. It’s a technique used in countless non-vegan dishes, but I haven’t seen it used that much in vegan dishes. I think it worked out amazingly, but like I said, it might not be to your liking. I used the Teese creamy cheddar vegan sauce, Daiya cheddar style shreds, and a nutritional yeast cheese sauce. Each kind of cheese adds something the other may be lacking.

Three-Cheese Vegan Mac & Cheese

• 1 lb elbow macaroni (approximate… use more or less depending on how cheesy you want the end product to be)
• 1 package Teese creamy cheddar sauce
• 2 cups soy milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ¼ teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
• Daiya cheddar shreds
• Paprika to taste

Cook the pasta according to package directions, but subtract a couple of minutes. If you cook the pasta all the way, it’ll get too soft during the baking.

In a blender, add the raw sunflower seeds and some of the soymilk. Blend until the sunflower seeds and are pureed. Add the rest of the soymilk, some salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, garlic and herb seasoning, and cornstarch. Blend until combined.

In a saucepan, add the mostly-cooked pasta and the Teese creamy cheddar sauce. Stir until the Teese is melted. Add the nutritional yeast sauce and stir to combine, cooking on med-low until the sauce thickens just a bit.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a casserole dish. I use an old Pyrex dish with a glass lid. If you don’t have one with a lid, you’ll probably want to cover the dish with aluminum foil.

It’ll look something like this:

Sprinkle some Daiya shreds (however much you want, really – I probably used about ¼ of the package), paprika and some pepper (and salt if you want, depending on how much you added to the nutritional yeast sauce) on top.

Now it’ll look something like this:

Bake at 350 degrees for about a half hour. Stir to combine, serve and enjoy!

I don’t have any good photos of the finished product, but you can imagine what it probably looks like.

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What I did was sauté the onions, peppers, mushrooms and seitan over medium heat in about a tablespoon of olive oil. I added some salt, pepper and garlic & herb seasoning.

When that was ready, I put it on half of the bread, covered it in vegan queso, and then grilled the sandwich on a panini grill for a couple of minutes per side. Absolutely delicious! And compared to a deathsteak (aka “real” cheesesteak), it’s not even that bad for you! Not health food, but not a heart attack waiting to happen, either.

Got the vegan chicken from an Asian Market for dirt cheap, the bell peppers from the farmer’s market, and made a sauce of Trader Joe’s black pepper sauce with some chili garlic sauce, rice wine, and water.

The new Teese mozzarella melts and tastes exponentially better than the original did, if you ask me. Rachel made this pasta bake thing tonight and it was pretty amazing. Just sautéed onions, mushrooms and bell peppers with marinara sauce, pasta and Teese.

If you live in a city where you could get an awesome vegan calzone like this made for you in a restaurant, I’m extremely jealous. You probably don’t live in one of those cities, though, so hopefully you’ll try making one of these at home. Using mostly store-bought ingredients like I did, it’s not as time consuming as it probably appears.

Before baking:

After baking:

Ready to eat!

I got the basic idea for the recipe from an old book I got from the library on Spanish cooking. I just kind of took the basic idea and put my own spin on it.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• ½ lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ teaspoon saffron strands soaked in 2 tablespoons of water
• ¾ cup water
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 12 oz bag frozen artichoke hearts

In a wide saucepan with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic until onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and red bell peppers and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add the paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, saffron mixture, water and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Add the artichoke hearts, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about an hour. Serve over quinoa (or rice, but I prefer quinoa with this dish).