squash mac + cheese with hot sauce bread crumbs

Over the holidays I was gifted Thug Kitchen 101: Fast as F*ck, which features plant-based comfort food and one-pot meals with the same irreverent prose and deliciousness you'd expect from a TK creation. Here's their Squash Mac and Cheese with Hot Sauce Bread Crumbs. It's a little more in-depth than a lot of mac and cheese recipes but the payout is YUGE. This is the cheesiest, creamiest vegan dish I've ever had and I highly recommend baking at the end if you have time. Next time, I will double the bread crumbs- they're delish.

adapted from a Thug Kitchen 101 Recipe:

hot sauce bread crumbs:

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups chunky bread crumbs
3 Tbsp hot sauce
1 Tbsp unsweetened nut milk

cheesy sauce:

1 Tbsp + 1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped yellow onion

2 Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 carrots, cubed

2 cups veggie broth

1 cup unsweetened nut milk

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp Bragg's liquid amino acids

1/2 tsp salt

everything else:

1 pound pasta (shells or fusilli)

2 cups frozen peas

2 cups shredded yellow squash

to make the bread crumbs:

*warm up oil over medium heat

*toss in bread crumbs and stir for a few minutes

*mix remaining ingredients in small glass and pur over bread crumbs

*make sure all bread crumbs are coated and remove from heat and set aside

to make the cheesy sauce:

*using the same, emptied skillet, warm up 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat

*add onions and saute for 3-4 minutes

*stir in the potatoes, carrots, and 1 cup of broth

*cover and braise the veggies for 15 minutes then remove from heat

*toss the remaining sauce ingredients including oil and broth into a blender

*add the softened veggies and all liquids from pan and run blender until creamy

to make the mac and cheese:

*cook pasta according to directions

*just before pasta is finished, throw in frozen peas and drain

*fold in the squash

*pour in cheesy sauce and serve right away with bread crumbs on top

-OR-

*bake at 425 for 20 minutes^

^worth the wait

roasted sriracha cauliflower super bowls

This is the cauliflower dish dreams are made of. We crave this dish weekly! If you don't already own Thug Kitchen, do yourself a favor and get a copy A.S.A.P. It's a vegan cookbook but I promise you'd never know it eating out of it. The meals are savory, filling, and obscenely delicious.

It really helps to have someone making the hot sauce and peanut sauce while someone else is chopping and roasting the cauliflower but all in all this meal takes about a half hour to get on the table. We love the leftovers and think it gets hotter with time. Make this for dinner, make this for friends (they will love it!).

adapted from Thug Kitchen's Recipe

serves 4-6

2 medium heads Cauliflower, chopped into thumb-sized trees
1/2 cup flower
1/2 cup water
***
2 tsp oil
2/3 cup Sriracha (or hot sauce)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 tsp tamari (or soy sauce)
***
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 tsp tamari (or soy sauce)
1 tsp agave (or maple syrup)
***
prepared quinoa
shredded cabbage

to make your cauliflower:

*heat your oven to 450
*lightly grease rimmed baking sheet
*whisk together the flour and water, toss with cauliflower
*spread the cauliflower out on baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, mixing halfway
*combine all hot sauce ingredients in a sauce pan on low heat until warm
*remove hot sauce from the heat
*whisk together all peanut sauce ingredients and place in the fridge until serving
*after 15 minutes in the oven, toss cauliflower with the hot sauce, and place back in teh oven on the baking sheet for 3 minutes

to make your bowls:
*divide quinoa
*add shredded cabbage
*divide cauliflower
*drizzle peanut sauce

serving suggestions:
*garnish with peanuts, cilantro, or more sriracha
*add dry-fried tofu strips!