Easy cheesy broccoleesy

It's late, I'm hungry and I don't feel like doing anything too complicated. After 1 a.m., steaming bowls of mac and cheese take up about 75 percent of my thought processes. While the boxed version is tasty, it's a little more fun to come up with your own version. I had some chopped walnuts in the cupboard, so I used them in here, too. That's probably the least traditional mac and cheese ingredient in here but it adds a really nice texture (crunch), making this more than your average late night snack.

Ingredients:
16 ounces of your favorite shaped noodles
1 head of broccoli
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 package of powdered chreese (Road's End has a decent line of vegan "chreese" products)
Sweet Basil
















Start boiling some water for your noodles. You want to use a sauce pan big enough to hold enough water to cover your noodles completely.















Chop up the broccoli into florets and 1-inch pieces. Then get another sauce pan to steam them. If you have both pots going at the same time, you will obviously finish faster.

We need speed, demon speed, speed's what we need!
-Mickey Goldmill




















Once the noodles are done, drain them and add the chreese powder, walnuts, and about a tablespoonful of sweet basil.















When you mix it all up, the noodles will probably look a little gritty, like they need butter or milk or something. Don't worry and don't give in, we'll take care of the problem in the next step.















Once the broccoli is done steaming, drain out all but about 1/4 cup of water. Pour the broccoli and the water into the noodle pot.















You're nearly done, and before sun up, no less! Once everything is mixed up, make yourself a bowl and throw some shredded cheese on the top, if you like. Then enjoy eating it while your brother comes back with a late night bag of smelly enchiladitos from Taco Bell.















Variations:
If you want to use real cheese powder or something with dairy in it, the recipe would also need to include butter and a little milk for the right consistency. The vegan chreese powder only needs water.