Mexican Macaroni Casserole

Aaaah, I feel so much better, so refreshed.  I just colored by hair, and took about 8 years off of my appearance.  I started going gray when I was in my early 20’s, so… I have a lot of gray.   I go back and forth between long and short hair styles, and the last time that I had short hair I tried to go Au Natural; while it didn’t look horrible, I definitely looked older.  Needless to say I am very grateful for that little bottle of dye. 

Any whooo…on to the food.

I don’t know if you remember me telling you in previous posts that my mom, Little Mama, doesn’t cook.  However, when I was a little girl she had to cook, we didn’t have much money so we couldn’t afford take out, plus I don’t think that people did take out back then (this is going waaay back).  Little Mama made all kinds of casseroles.  Often the base of the casserole was Kraft Dinner and a can of tomatoes; with some kind of veggies and affordable meat tossed in.  Don’t ask what kind of meat, you don’t wanna know.  While I make fun, I do sometimes crave the food I grew up eating.  This casserole is reminiscent of Little Mama’s casseroles but made with quality ingredients.

Here’s what you do.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.





Sauté the mushrooms and bell peppers over medium high heat, just until they’re soft.

Add the baby spinach to the skillet and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. 

As soon as the spinach has wilted, remove the pan from the heat and set to the side.

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.



Get the cheese sauce started by melting 2 tablespoons of butter, and whisking in 2 tablespoons of flour.  

Cook the flour while whisking for about 3 minutes, this will remove the raw flour taste in the sauce.

Slowly whisk the milk into the butter and flour.










When the milk is hot, add the cheese.

I use whatever cheese I had in my fridge, which happened to be gruyere and aged cheddar, and yellow cheddar. 


  

 
 I also added reduced fat Velveeta cheese to the sauce, just to lighten up the fat and calories. 

The cheese sauce and the tomatoes help to mellow out (but not mask) the processed cheese flavor, but if you adore the taste of processed cheese you could go with all Velveeta, and you would reduce the fat and calories even further.

 

When all the cheese has melted, add the can of tomatoes.  

Remove the sauce from the heat.

I used Rotel tomatoes which are spicy; if you don’t want the spice, then use stewed tomatoes.  

The pasta water should now be boiling, add a big handful of salt to the water; then add the pasta.  Only cook the pasta for 6 minutes.  Then drain the pasta, but please don’t rinse it.




I had a rotisserie chicken in the refrigerator, so I shredded half of it, and just heated it up a little.  

Add that to the pasta along with the cheese sauce, veggies…

…and a couple of chopped scallions.

 
Pour that into a casserole dish, and top with some crushed tortilla chips.

Bake the pasta until it’s hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Then just dish yourself up a big ol’ bowl of yumminess!








*Leave the chicken out and you have a healthy vegetarian meal!

Serve 4 to 6

1              Tbsp.      Cooking oil

4              oz.         Mushrooms, quartered (if the mushrooms are large, give them a chop)

½                          Red bell pepper, medium dice

1-6           oz. bag    Fresh baby spinach

¼             tsp.        salt

¼             tsp.        pepper

½             tsp.        Garlic powder

2              Tbsp.      Butter

2              Tbsp.      Flour

1              cup        milk

1 ½          cups       Cheese, such as cheddar, Swiss, fontina; shredded

8              oz.         Velveeta processed cheese, reduced fat, cut into cubes

1- 10         oz. can    Rotel tomatoes, (stewed tomatoes can be substituted)

¾             box        Penne pasta, a box is 16 oz.

3              cups       Cooked chicken, shredded (about half of a rotisserie chicken)

2                           Scallions, chopped

½             cup        Tortilla chips, crushed

1.        Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

2.        Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the mushrooms and bell pepper; sauté until the veggies are soft, about 3 minutes.

3.       Add the spinach to skillet and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  When all the spinach has wilted down, remove the pan from the heat.  Set to the side.

4.       Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

5.       Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a 3 quart sauce pan.  Whisk the flour into the melted butter and cook, while whisking for about 3 minutes.

6.       Slowly whisk the milk into the flour butter mixture. 

7.       When the milk is hot, whisk in the cheeses.

8.       When the cheeses have melted, stir the tomatoes into the sauce.  Remove the pan from the heat and set to the side.

9.       When the water comes to a boil, add a generous amount of salt, and the pasta.  Cook the pasta for only 6 minutes.  Drain the pasta.

10.   If your chicken is cold, then just heat it through.

11.   Stir the cooked veggies, cheese sauce and chicken and scallions into the pasta.

12.   Pour the pasta into a casserole dish, top with the crushed tortilla chips, and bake for 30 minutes.

   I posted this at:

CAULIFLOWER MAC & CHEESE

What is more comforting than a bowl of mac and cheese? It’s like a big ol’ hug for your belly.  Maybe a plate of chocolate chip cookies…mmm, cookies.  I am easily distracted by cookies, but that is not what this is about.

We loooooooove mac and cheese in this house, but only eat it every couple of months, cuz I ain’t making a low fat version, and I want more hugs for my belly, not more belly to hug.  This is full of cheese, tons of cheese, not to mention a splash of cream and a dab of butter.

So how am I going to “lighten” up the dish?  I feel like by replacing some of the pasta with cauliflower. I compensate for this super, duper dairy indulgence (I heart dairy, I’m so glad I’m not lactose intolerant.  Please Lord; don’t ever let me become lactose intolerant).  This mac and cheese is about half Mac and half cauliflower.  Cauliflower is low in calories, contains fiber, is high in antioxidants and nutrients; it’s even considered a Super Food because it contains phyto-chemicals which help in the prevention of cancer. 

There!  I’ve justified just why we should all eat Cauliflower Mac and Cheese more often!




 

Here’s what you need for the sauce…







  Cheese, lots of cheese. 
“American cheese?” you ask. Purists please don’t revolt. I keep trying to make cheese sauce without processed cheese, I really do. I’ll taste the sauce and think “something’s missing”, I add a couple of cheese slices, and all is right again in Cheese Sauce Land.

 

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.




 

Add the flour to the melted butter, and whisk.



 

Add the dry mustard, and cook for a couple of minutes while stirring.

Whisk in the milk a little at a time…the cream












…and the salt and pepper.

When the milk is hot, add the cheese a little at a time, whisking each time.

 Add a handful of salt to the boiling water before you add the pasta.  Yes really that much salt. The water is where the pasta gets its seasoning from; no salt in the water equals no flavor in the pasta.

 

Cook the pasta for only half of the time that it says on the pasta box. The box of cavatappi said cook for 8 minutes, so I cooked it for 4 minutes.  It’s going to finish cooking in the oven.

Add the cauliflower in for the last 30 seconds of cooking time.  My timer was going off to tell me my pasta was done cooking and I hadn’t gotten my cauliflower in the water, so I drained the pasta and added the cauliflower to the water on its own.
 

Return the drained pasta and cauliflower to the pot stir in the cheese sauce.



 Now pour the pasta and cheese sauce to an oven proof casserole dish and top with bread crumbs.

Top the bread crumbs with little dots of butter. 

 

Put into a 375 degree oven, and cook about 30 minutes, or until the bread crumbs are golden.

Truth be told, I usually make extra cheese sauce to serve over baked potatoes with broccoli the next night. 
Just thin the sauce out with a little milk or cream.  
 I’m always looking for dinner shortcuts.

 

I’m counting down the next 2 months.  I look forward to that big ol’ hug for my belly, which only Cauliflower Mac and Cheese can provide!

Serves 6

3              Tbsp                      Butter
2              Tbsp                      Flour
½             tsp                         Dry mustard
2  1/2     cups                       Milk
1/3         cup                         Heavy cream
½             tsp                          Salt
¼             tsp                          Pepper
8              oz                           Gouda cheese, grated
8              oz                           Cheddar cheese, grated
3              slices                     Processed American cheese, or about 3 Tbsp of Cheez Whiz
4              cups                       Cauliflower, about 1 head, broken into bite size pieces
½             package                Cavatappi, or Penne pasta, a box is 16 ounces.
                                                *If you don’t want to add the cauliflower, then add the whole box of pasta.

½             cup                         Panko bread crumbs, or regular bread crumbs
2              Tbsp                      Butter, cut into small cubes

1.        Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

2.       Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

3.       In a medium sauce pan, over medium-low heat; melt the butter, whisk in the flour and dry mustard.  Cook about 2 minutes while stirring.

4.       Whisk the milk and heavy cream a little at a time.  The mixture will appear to seize, but will loosen by the time all the milk is incorporated.

5.       Season with salt and pepper.

6.       When the mixture is hot, add the cheeses; again a little at a time whisking with each addition.

7.       Keep the sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally.

8.       When the water for the pasta is boiling, add a big handful of salt to the water, add the pasta, and stir immediately to keep the pasta from sticking.

*Only cook the pasta for half of what the cooking time says on the box, the pasta will continue to cook in the oven.

9.       For the last 30 seconds of cooking, toss in the cauliflower.

10.   Drain the pasta and cauliflower and return to the pot.

11.   Stir the cheese sauce into the pasta and cauliflower.

12.   Transfer the pasta and cheese sauce to a large oven proof casserole dish, about 11”x9”x2”.

13.   Sprinkle the bread crumbs all over the top of the pasta.

14.   Dot with butter.

15.   Put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the bread crumbs are golden.