Mac'n Plus

Hey all,

again, it seems I owe you several posts at once. I'm on it as fast as I can. First let me start with a wonderful (and probably obvious) casserole dish.
Veggie Mac
 2 teaspoons butter.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup asparagus, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes.
1/2 cup trimmed and halved snow peas.
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Cook the macaroni according to package directions until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and transfer to a 2 1/2 to 3 quart casserole dish

3. Warm the oil in a saucepan. Add green onions, garlic and bell pepper and cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft but not browned, 2 to 3 min. Add the basil, oregano, cumin, asparagus, tomatoes and snow peas cook for another 2 to 3 min., stirring until the asparagus and snow peas are tender but not overcooked. Mix the cooked vegetables with the macaroni in the casserole.

4. Melt the 2 teaspoons butter in a saucepan and stir in flour and cook for 2 min. Gradually add the milk and cook, whisking until the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan cheese and pepper. Stir the sauce into the pasta and vegetables.

5. Bake uncovered for 25 min. or until lightly brown and bubbly.

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The first things I should mention I what I replaced. The obvious things that I replaced were the flour the milk, and of course the cheese. the other less obvious things that are placed were the snow peas and the asparagus, which were replaced with regular green peas and green beans. All these replacements didn't seem to change the entire recipe much. Even considering the state flour milk and cheese that I used. my best guess at the difference not having made this from regular would be that the white sauce made with the cheese, milk and flour would be a bit thicker (or thinner, its thickness is in question). The main reason for this conclusion is that the recipe at the top mentioned that you can easily mix and match vegetables to suit the taste of the young ones who may be eating this dish.

With that all said, this dish is wonderful. It's a bit heavy on the vegetables to noodles ratio, but that really doesn't matter. It tasted great. I think one of the best things about it. Besides the fact that my fake cheese worked wonderfully in it was the difference in textures between the vegetables and the noodles.. But, the sauce was great as well. At times it seemed like the whole dish needed a pinch of salt, but looking back to the whole recipe salt would maybe have harmed the final product and if it needed salt I should have added it when the vegetables were cooking. All in all, this dish was wonderful and well worth the  more than considerable time it takes to prepare and make.(I was getting really hungry within the last 5 min. of baking )


Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!