It is fall, the nights are chilly and my “to do” lists are terrifying. It is, in short, time to introduce some comfort food into my cooking and baking repertoire.

I have scanned many cookbooks and websites for a vegan version of mac ‘n cheese. Most have long lists of spices that include things like curry, mustard seed, cumin, etc. While I’ve got nothing against spices, I tend to be a bit of a fusspot when it comes to my comfort food. I want comfort, straight up and not too complicated. After making a highly unsatisfying and distinctly uncomforting batch of vegan mac and cheese (from a recipe book that shall remain nameless) I decide to take matters into my own hands and make my old stand-by stovetop cheese sauce, but with vegan ingredients. So: 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance (instead of butter), melted, 2 tablespoons of flour stirred in. Next up was to add in about 1 – 1 1/2 cups of soy milk (whisking, whisking, whisking all the time until the sauce starts to thicken up) and about 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast. Then I whisked in about a cup of cheddar-style Daiya shreds (side note: I love, love, love Daiya and was delighted to hear that it is now available through Canadian grocery retailers!!). The cheeseless cheese sauce thickened up just like the traditional version used to and I poured it over cooked macaroni, topped with buttered (er… Earth Balanced?) bread crumbs and baked it at 400 for 15 or so minutes. Delicious and exactly what I had been craving!

On a similar note, I also spent time this weekend searching for a simple biscuit recipe (again, not too tarted up with too many flavours — remember, I’m going for pure uncomplicated comfort food!). VegWeb had a recipe for Biscuits Like Mom Never Made (sorry mom, that’s the name of the recipe! Nothing personal!) This ended up being a great recipe — fantastic hot out of the oven with a bowl of soup. Perfect for a chilly fall evening!