Meatless Monday!

Happy Meatless Monday!!

Today I am going to share with you my vegan version of *Hamburger Helper*!

One day I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner, and his repsonse was, "Can you veganize Hamburger Helper?"

I thought, "Why not?"

So began my research!

I hadn't eaten this dish in Y.E.A.R.S.!!!!  So I went to the food store to try and get a feel for what was in it.  Well, reading the ingredients on the package made me glad I didn't eat this boxed meal anymore.  Basically it was noodles, cheese, a sauce, and ground beef.

Then I starting search online to see if anyone had a homemade version of the dish, and there were many!

Well, here is the veganized version that I created from all the data I collected!!  It has a bit of a Tex-Mex flair.
Look at that cheese-y goodness, without a drop of cheese!

2 Vegan Sausages, pulsed in the food processor until the crumbles form.

1 pound elbow macaroni, or pasta of your choice, cooked according to package directions and drained.

2T Olive Oil

1 Onion, chopped

1 Sweet Pepper, chopped

1 1/2C Mushrooms, chopped

1 cup corn (frozen or canned)

2 cups cashew cream (to make this I blended 1 1/4C vegetable broth with 1 C of raw cashews until it was smooth.)

1 - 14oz can Tomato Sauce

1 1/2C Daiya Cheddar or MontereyJack Style shreds

1/2C Tofutti Cream Cheese

1t dried basil

1t dried oregano

1t chili powder

1t garlic powder

1t salt

1/2t black pepper

Heat oil in a large saute pan.  Add onion, sweet pepper and mushrooms.  Saute until onions are translucent.

Add the herbs and spices.

Saute for 2-3 mins.

Add the tomato sauce and corn, heat thru.

Stir in the sausage crumbles and the tofutti cream cheese.

Then add in the noodles.

Turn the heat down low, stir in the cashew cream and Daiya shreds.
Keep stirring until all the cheese is melted and the ingredients are evenly mixed together.
Serve with a salad & ENJOY!!

Just a few notes:

* if you do not want to make cashew cream, you can use any non-dairy milk, but I would suggest adding 3T of flour to it and adding it to the recipe when the tomato sauce is added, so it can thicken a bit.

*i make my own vegan sausages.  they are easy-peasy, so if you want to make them google a recipe, make a batch and keep them in the freezer.  you can also use veggie patties ground up, or veggie crumbles.