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This is an exciting day! I’m sharing the black pepper cheesy mac and broccoli recipe from my friend Richa‘s second cookbook, Vegan Richa’s Everyday Kitchen.

This is a vegan cheese-esque mac with broccoli and seasoned aggressively (but tastefully!) with freshly-ground black pepper. And if you are familiar with Richa’s recipes, you already know that this one is healthy and flavorful and easy to customize!

Speaking of customization, that’s one of the biggest themes of the new cookbook and biggest departures from Richa’s first cookbook. The cookbook chapters are organized around sauces (or sets of sauces) with recipes for how to use them. This cheesy black pepper macaroni and broccoli comes from the “Deep Dishing” chapter which features a set of cheese analogues and complementary dishes.

Another example of a chapter structure is the “Sweet and Sour” chapter, which includes recipes like Teriyaki Tempeh, Kung Pao Lentils, and Crispy Sweet and Sour Tofu. The recipes are structured such that you could swap around the sauces and make Crispy Kung Pao Tofu, Teriyaki Lentils, and Sweet and Sour Tempeh instead. You get the idea!

Flipping through the cookbook for the first time I recognized about half of the recipes as previous favorites from Richa’s blog with the rest being new to me. In typical Richa fashion, everything is flavorful and delicious, with such tempting recipes as Chickpea Chilaquiles; Tiramisu Fudge Bars, and Buddha Bowl with Nacho-Spiced Sweet Potatoes. I truly believe all of the recipes are approachable and would be liked by people of all dietary persuasions.

Most recipes are accompanied with a beautiful photo. In my experience the prep and cook times were accurate as printed. I would have loved to see the cookbook concept come full circle by included some suggested meal plans or being more explicit about the sauce variations available for the various recipes. Thankfully this isn’t really a hindrance to enjoying the book, since in addition to being organized around sauces/styles it also includes a comprehensive index. Like Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen, this new cookbook will be a great addition to your cookbook shelf!

Back to the cheesy mac and broccoli. I’ve been doing this vegan thing for a while now and have seen many takes on potato-carrot “cheese” over the years.. As I talked about in my vegan baked mac and cheese recipe, I’m skeptical of the carrot in there and usually if I’m creating a recipe I go a different direction with it. My classic vegan mac and cheese contains no “orange thing” at all for that same reason.

For the purposes of science, I tried really hard to follow Richa’s recipe exactly; I was at least loyal to the potato and carrot base and it’s by far the best version of that that I’ve had yet. Richa expertly brings in other supporting ingredients to build a flavorful cheezy sauce that boasts a beautiful orange color and coats the macaroni noodles and broccoli perfectly.

Because of what I had on hand and my little preferences I made some other small changes. I used shallot instead of white onion; fish pepper (don’t worry, that’s just a type of pepper) from the CSA instead of green chile; grapeseed oil instead of olive; and extra broccoli! I also used Tinkyada brown rice macaroni.

Get your copy of Vegan Richa’s Everyday Kitchen today! I know it will become a well-loved cookbook in your home. PS, you can find my review and recipe from Richa’s first cookbook here!