I've been wanting to make mac 'n' cheese for a while now. Justin likes it, but I don't buy boxed mac 'n ' cheese much these days. If I do it's organic. I finally got around to making some last night. The base recipe was from Deceptively Delicious. But I decided to put it in a casserole dish, top it with bread chunks and extra cheese and bake it for a bit. And I made it a 4 cheese mac 'n' cheese instead of one. I thought it was quite good. Justin thinks the texture is a little weird from the beans, but not bad. It is a little different. But it's still good and full of plenty of yummy cheese :) And I feel better knowing there are whole grains, beans and cauliflower in it. This cookbook has 2 mac 'n' cheese recipes. Maybe next time I'll try the other one. Rebecca seemed to like it. But she likes just about anything :) Especially if it involves "pata" (pasta).
Macaroni and Cheese
Cook pasta according to directions.
1 1/2 cups whole wheat elbow noodles
1 cup skim milk (I used half 1% and half whole...it's what we had)
1/2 cup canned navy beans, chickpeas, or white beans, drained, rinsed and pureed (I used northen beans)
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese (I used a combo of cheddar, gouda and edam...then topped it with mozzarella)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. paprika (I used Hungarian paprika :)
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup pureed cauliflower (optional)
Cook pasta according to directions.Combine milk and beans in food processor or blender. Process until pureed.
Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray (I didn't do this). Set over medium heat. Add the bean mixture to the pan. Cook, stirring until smooth...1 to 2 minutes. Add the cheese and cook until melted and creamy (you can add the cauliflower at this point too), 1 to 2 minutes longer. Stir in the seasoning. Stir in the macaroni. Serve warm.
At this point I put it all in a 7x11 baking dish, topped it with ripped up bread chunks (1 slice whole wheat bread), and sprinkled some mozzarella on top. I baked it at 375 for 20 min.
This made enough for 2 dinners for our family and 1 lunch for Justin.
Did the beans make it kind of grainy textured? I like the idea of having the protein from the beans, but I doubt I'd get Kevin to eat it if it was grainy at all... he's big on textures lately.
ReplyDeleteIt must be mac & cheese time. I noticed its on Kat's menu this week at A Good Appetite, too.
There was a very slight graininess. Not quite as smooth as regular mac. The beans make it thicker...that's how I would describe it. When I pureed the beasn and milk it was total liquid...no chunks. I think any slight graininess might have been from the cauliflower I added. It wasn't 100% pureed. You could try adding a very small amount to try it...maybe 1/4 cup. Then if that goes over well go up to 1/2 cup, etc. Every little bit helps. Maybe next time I'll try a little less bean and a little more veggie...but totally pureed. See if that works.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is in the mood for warm comfort food with this cold weather :)