Vegan "cheesy mac" with Broccoli and some organic chocolate from Oregon

I discovered this recipe while browsing VeganYumYum's blog. It's really good. Definitely not a low fat meal but neither is the real thing.
Lately, I've been craving mac and cheese and since I'm not eating dairy, I thought I would try this recipe and it totally hit the spot.
I served it with brown rice but you can totally make it with elbow pasta too. I also added a few crushed tortilla chips to the top just for fun.
I was really surprised at how good it tasted. As always I included substitutions on the side. This time I actually took the time to figure out how many calories and how much fat there is too. I hope I did it right.

VEGAN “CHEESY MAC” WITH BROCCOLI
Adapted from Vegan Yum Yum
Makes about 5 cups

You will need:
½ cup Earth Balance (vegan butter)
½ cup white flour (AP, white rice, etc.)
2-2 ½ cups soy milk (rice milk)
½ can tomato paste (from a 6oz. can)
¼ cup soy sauce (wheat free tamari)
½ cup nutritional yeast
1 T spicy brown mustard (Dijon)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp. tahini (optional but makes it taste real good)
Black pepper to taste
1 large bunch of broccoli, steamed
Whisk


In a small bowl combine tomato paste, soy sauce, yeast, mustard, salt, and tahini.
Set aside.
Make the roux:
Melt the butter over med-low heat
Add the flour and whisk together (it will become thick and bubbly)
Add 1 cup of soy milk
Whisk vigorously until there aren’t any lumps
Add another cup of soy milk and whisk until smooth
Add the remaining ingredients
Whisk to combine and cook until thickened (about 3-5 minutes)
If sauce is too thick add the remaining ½ cup soy milk (you will want it thin enough to pour)
Serve over brown rice or elbow pasta

You can also use this sauce as a dip or fondue.
Depending on what you want to use it for, you can cook it until it gets quite thick.

Makes 5 cups
Total fat = 86.5g
Total cal = 1475
Serving size = ½ cup (147.5 cal, 9g fat)
Servings per recipe = about 10

Once you've filled your tummies full of "cheesy mac," try some Dagoba Chocolate.
It's organic and it's from Oregon.
Their whole belief is that chocolate is sacred that there is an art to the alchemy of it.
The 100% certified organic, and kosher. They use evaporated cane juice and non-GMO soy lecithin. They also use recycled paper and vegetable ink for their packaging.
I tried two of their bars (a nibble or two from each one, don't worry!)

The first one was the "XOCOLATL" 74% dark chocolate with chilies and nibs.
Size: 2oz.
Price: $2.85
Calories: 158
Fat : 11g
It was truly the weirdest chocolate bar I've tasted to date. Pungent, spicy and crunchy (because of the nibs). At first I wasn't' sure if I liked it, but I went back for seconds and it was pretty good. It's not one of those bars I would chose if I was totally craving chocolate necessarily. I might use it in a recipe or something. It was good but really weird.
The second bar was a 59% semi-sweet chocolate bar
size: 2oz.
Price: $2.85
Calories:160
Fat: 10g
It was good. Actually, it was really good. I think it's one of the best I've tried. So now we have the weirdest and the best. It was smooth and straightforward, no strange floral or acidic notes. Just straight up semisweet chocolate.
$2.85 is a little steep for chocolate I guess, but when it's good, it's good!

Enjoy!
xoxo