Easy Mac and Cheese with Braised and Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Is it just me, or does eating a lot at night just make you want to eat a lot the next morning?  Miss Yunks woke up starving the morning after the Super Bowl and there was only one cure: baked macaroni and cheese.

I wanted a moderately healthy recipe and knew Cara would have one.  I found this recipe on Cara’s Cravings using cottage cheese and uncooked pasta.  Too easy! I thought.  I’d never made a baked mac and cheese without first cooking the pasta.  I was a bit skeptical so I kept searching and found a very similar recipe on A Thought for Food that also used cottage cheese. Two recaps of a successful baked mac and cheese without cooking the pasta sold me.  I edited the recipe to my taste – here’s my version of Easy Macaroni and Cheese.

Ingredients

1 T butter
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cups milk (I used Rice Dream)
1 T dijon mustard
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 -1 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 tsp Frank’s Red Hot
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/5 box of pasta (I used whole wheat small shells)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan/ pecorino romano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a baking dish and set aside.
2. In food processor (or hand held immersion blender like me) blend together the cottage cheese, milk, mustard, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Spread uncooked pasta in baking dish.  Sprinkle all but a handful of cheddar cheese on top.  Pour milk mixture on top.  Use spoon to mix all ingredients together and evenly coat the pasta.
4. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.
5. Uncover dish, sprinkle remaining cheddar, parmesan, and breadcrumbs on top.  Bake for 15 more minutes.
6. Let cool a bit (if you have time and patience), serve, and enjoy!

Braised and Glazed Brussels Sprouts

It seems like suddenly brussels sprouts are everywhere.  They’ve been popping up on blogs, in restaurants, and at brunch at the Langham Hotel.  Instead of adding vegetables to my mac and cheese like usual, I opted for a brussels sprouts side dish and turned to Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for the recipe.  Mark Bittman prefers to keep the sprouts whole; I decided to cut some in half and keep some whole.  After all, all cooking is an experiment and this was my first brussels sprouts experiment.

Ingredients

1 lb brussels sprouts (honestly I didn’t know how much a pound was and used my whole container)
3 T butter or olive oil (I used butter)
2 cups vegetable broth, white wine, or water (I used water)
Salt to taste
(I added garlic powder too)

Directions

Put all ingredients in medium sauce pan, cover,  and bring to a boil.  Uncover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until brussels sprouts are tender.  Raise heat to a boil and continue to cook until all liquid has evaporated.  Do not stir.   Shake the pot to turn brussels sprouts.  Sprouts will become browned and glazed.  Total prep time is about 25 minutes.

The cheesy pasta and buttery brussels sprouts paired wonderfully together.

I’m happy to report my first home-cooked brussels sprouts were a huge success and I can’t wait to make them again! I will definitely use the same recipe, experimenting with broth and wine, and also want to try new recipes.  The mac and cheese came out well too.  The cottage cheese added a nice texture with very little flavor.  Next time, I would use more cottage cheese and more parmesan.  I liked the spice from the cayenne and Frank’s Red Hot.  I’m looking forward to these cheesy, healthy, and comforting leftovers.