These are sweets that actually taste like a bounty (Mound bar In the US), but healthy, which for a husband that loves bounties, is a major win.
In a recent race of his, when he was flagging at 30 miles, I sneaked a bounty bar into his bag on a bottle swap at a checkpoint. Apparently, when found, he reacted like he had actually WON the race. Anyway, enough said, it was time to create a healthy version and an alternative race fuel for my boy.
I’m actually not a huge fan of mac n’ cheese, regular or vegan ( I hear you all gasp in horror), but this one actually really surprised me. I normally find it either too bland or too cheesy, (yup I’m just like Goldilocks with her porridge), a stodge overload and quite frankly, a chore to eat. However, this recipe was very moreish, super easy to make and comfort food heaven. Thumbs up too from the monkey boy. “Ooooh this is my favourite EVER”. Yeah, I’ll add it to the extensive favourites list! Anyway enough prattling on, here’s how it’s done. I made this for two and I would like to say we had enough for a lunch leftover, we did, but we didn’t, we scoffed it all, oink oink.
Ingredients
Construction: Half your squash and scoop out the seeds.
Place flesh down on a baking tray with 100ml of water & roast for around an hour or until the flesh is soft and squishy. Let it cool a little before you scoop out. Or if not, scoop, jump around shouting ayeya and burn your fingers. Put in a blender with coconut milk and whizz until smooth. Transfer into a pot and heat for a few minutes before adding in crumbled stock cube, Dijon mustard and cider vinegar. Add salt and lots of black pepper. Cook for around 20 minutes until it starts to thicken and become paler. If it tastes a little sweet for you because of the coconut milk add a little more mustard and vinegar, until it gets to a taste you are happy with. I’m guessing whole grain mustard would be nice too.Add cooked macaroni to sauce, mix in and transfer into ovenproof dish for 10 minutes. You can sprinkle on some bread crumbs on top if you want more of a ‘roni crust or just tuck straight in. Guaranteed to satisfy the vegan cynics.
