7/12/2016

Competition Mixed Veggie Mac 'n Cheese

 I was truly forced to do another Christine Wenger book post here.  It was the Mac 'n Cheese cook-off competition in Macaroni and Freeze that did it.  Firstly her descriptions of the contest entries had me planning  ingredients for a nice variation of my own.  Also, the book, "A Comfort Food Mystery" is a fun, food-filled cozy.  Nothing deep here.  Even the cuisine is pretty basic, '50's Diner style stuff, which you might expect, as the heroine runs a comfort food diner.  In between helping solve various murders.

The last one I read, and posted about here, was good and this who-done-it is no exception.  The expected murder, narrow escapes, a wee bit of romance, and food of course. Formula writing, but diverting in the evenings.

The beauty of macaroni and cheese is the infinite diversification possible.  I've made a number of those and posted some of them.  Cauliflower, Tuna, hamburger, salmon, green kale, to name a few.  This particular version was inspired by the one I had at Moon and Turtle, made with spätzle.  After my own session of spätzle making,  a corporate decision was made to not bother again, or to buy a special gadget for making said noodles.  There are enough fine pastas on the market which can be conveniently used.  




What I liked about the Moon and Turtle version was the variety of nicely diced, colorful mixed vegetables incorporated into a creamy, cheesy sauce.  I used onions, red and orange peppers and green beans.  Also a few tablespoons of chopped pepperoni were added in.  Unfortunately, I totally forgot to add the toasted breadcrumbs on top. Sigh.....nobody's perfect.   But, there's always left-overs to adjust.


For some extra variety I used two kinds of pasta, fusilli and macaroni.  The veggies can be added to the pasta cooking water the last half minute or so, and all drained together.  Then added into your cheesy white sauce with the pepperoni, if using, and any seasoning adjustments.  Butter a cooking dish, pour in and top with toasted breadcrumbs.


Bake for 30 minutes at 350F and let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Yummo!  I'll share with Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking show.  You can join in if you're posting about anything food related, or just visit and enjoy all the creative ideas.


11 comments:

Katherine P said...

I wouldn't have been able to resist a Mac and Cheese cook-off either. In fact now I really want some good macaroni and cheese! I have the first book in this series and it looks like such a fun mystery series. I really need to get started on it.

Mae Travels said...

I nominate you to write a cookbook entirely of mac & cheese recipes. Different ingredients! Different sauces (all with cheese obviously)! Different veggies! Different toppings! Different ethnic themes -- Mexican! Italian! Australian! Could be fun. Eastern European/Jewish noodle kugel is fundamentally a type of mac & cheese and you can even make it into a dessert.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

bermudaonion said...

Oh my, that looks yummy!

Deb in Hawaii said...

I need to check out this series I think--it sounds like fun and one I would enjoy. Your mac 'n cheese looks delicious! I am loving all of those veggies, the two pastas and how cheesy/creamy it looks. Yum! ;-)

Carole said...

I'd want to add ham or bacon. Have a great week. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

Claudia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I like Mae's idea for a mac and cheese cookbook! I've tried and tried to make it from scratch and it never turns out well. Something with the flour, I suspect...it turns globby when I bake it. Love the addition of pepperoni!

(Diane) bookchickdi said...

My husband loves dinner food. If he had his way, we'd eat at a disadvantage near every night.

Claudia said...

Carole, I added pepperoni and it did the job.

Tina said...

What a great version of Mac and cheese. I only met one person in my life who didn't love Mac and cheese and that has to mean they have a screw loose! What a great dish!

Beth F said...

Fun book -- glad you wrote about! And who doesn't LOVE mac and cheese. Hummmm, now I think I'll have t make it soon. Sorry I was so late getting here this week -- we were off camping and had almost no internet connection.