Vegan Southwest Mac and "Cheese"

I am consciously eating less dairy these days. I am not vegan, but I do eat many more vegan meals than I used to. I still occasionally east seafood, and even less frequently, poultry, but for the most part (I'm talking 98% of the time), I eat only vegetarian meals. So the whole vegan thing is new to me. This is the first time I've cooked with Daiya "cheese" or nutritional yeast, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it came out. Actually, really good. I made this last night, and had leftovers this afternoon for lunch!

I stumbled upon this recipe for vegan mac and cheese, but when I went shopping for the ingredients, I couldn't help snatching up a few items to jazz it up a bit.... and I am a fan of Mexican anything. So why not mac and cheese?

Here's what I did:

VEGAN SOUTHWEST MAC AND CHEESE

1/2 box (8 oz) small shells

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large sweet onion, chopped

2-3 tsp mexican seasoning mix

1 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 package (2 cups) daiya cheddar shreds

3 roma tomatoes, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

5 green onions, sliced

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 - Boil a pot of water large enough for the pasta, and cook according to package directions and set aside cooked pasta.

2- While the pasta is cooking, saute the onions in  large saucepan with the olive oil. Once the onions begin to turn translucent, add the mexican seasoning and cook for one more minute, then set aside in a bowl.

3- Using the same saucepan you used for the onions, cook the soymilk over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Whisk in the nutritional yeast, then the Daiya shreds. Whisk together until sauce becomes smooth and creamy.

4- Add in the tomatoes, black beans, and cooked onions, and stir in with a rubber spatula. Continue to stir while cooking over medium-low heat for another couple of minutes.

5- Stir in the pasta and green onions, and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.