Lent: Skinny Macaroni and Cheese Soup with Broccoli

Happy Lent! Every Friday I am going to try to make a meatless or seafood recipe since I can't have meat those days and I feel like I've been relying heavily on dead animals to carry my recipes recently. I'm going to try to change that up, and here's the first one to try out.

This recipe came from SkinnyTaste.com and is the first time that I've ever made a soup. I know that pasta is actually just a carb and should probably be avoided, but I used whole wheat pasta so I tried to make it a little better for you. Besides, you need carbs every once in a while and think of this recipe as a nice substitute for the all-around fattening mac and cheese. This recipe has some vegetables not found in typical comfort food, but they are disguised well in a pool of cheesy goodness. I was a fan of this recipe if you couldn't tell.

If you serve this with a salad you could have an easy complete meal. I doubled it and that would've been enough for a family, for me it's enough for a week.

Skinny Macaroni and Cheese Soup with Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 4 oz dry elbow macaroni (I like Ronzoni Smart Taste)
• 1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp light butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 1/2 cups fat free low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 cup fat free milk
• pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 2 cups (about 10 oz) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
• 1-1/2 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside.

Chop onion, carrot, celery, garlic by hand or mini food processor.

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt light butter. Add chopped vegetables and sauté on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add flour and fresh pepper to the pot and stir until smooth. Slowly add chicken broth, milk, nutmeg and dry mustard powder; whisking constantly. Set heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil. Cover and cook on low about 10-15 minutes.

Add broccoli florets, Parmesan cheese, and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered until broccoli is cooked, about 5 minutes or more to your liking.

Add cheddar, mixing well until cheese melts and immediately remove from heat. Add cooked elbows and mix well, adjust salt and pepper if needed. Eat right away so the pasta doesn't absorb all the broth.

Macaroni and Beef with Cheese

Essentially, what I made was Hamburger Helper without the box. The recipe came from Michael Ruhlman's blog and it is actually incredibly simple. I used a box of those rigatoni whole wheat noodles instead of macaroni because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy more pasta. If I make this again, I'll probably just use actually macaroni. Also, I would change the recipe to add some cheese right into the mixture instead of just on top. I'd mix it in before you bake it.

I have really tiny pots and pans apparently, so cooking gets difficult when I am supposed to put large amounts of ingredients into one pot. As a result, I didn't let the meat and tomato and spices simmer for an hour. That would have greatly enhanced the taste. And don't be afraid to add spices to the meat and then the tomato mixture to simmer. It'll soak in. I neglected to do this and everything turned out a little bland. One full box of mac is going to be too much but if you make the whole thing you can put as much as you want in without over doing it, and then make a cold pasta salad with the rest. That's what I did. I'll include that recipe next.

I bet this could be made a little healthier my using the whole wheat pasta, low fat cheese and ground turkey. You could also add other veggies in besides just an onion if you wanted.

Simple Macaroni and Beef with Cheese

1 large onion, diced

1 tablespoon canola oil

salt to taste

optional seasonings: black pepper, oregano, cumin, coriander, chopped garlic, hot smoked paprika, chilli powder—whatever you’re in the mood for (I just used black pepper, garlic and a tablespoon of fish sauce, which gives it depth)

one 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, pureed in the can with a hand blender or in a blender blender

2 pounds lean ground beef

1 box macaroni

1 cup each grated cheddar and mozzarella cheeses

Sweat the onions in the oil with a three-fingered pinch of salt. Add the beef and cook it, breaking it up as you do. (Because my beef was very fatty, I cooked it separately and added it to the pot along with the tomatoes. Also an option, but uses an extra pan.) Add another three-fingered pinch of salt or two, along with any dry seasonings you want. Add the tomatoes and any fresh seasonings you may be using, bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for an hour.

Cook the macaroni in boiling water till it’s half done. Drain it andadd it to the tomatoes. (I wanted this to stretch into two meals, so I used the whole box, but if you want your dish to be very tomatoey and beefy, you might want to add only half the macaroni). Stir it into the sauce. Taste it. Add more salt and other seasonings as needed, and cover. When it’s cooled and the pasta has absorbed the tomato juices, transfer it to a large baking dish and cover it with foil. It can sit out for several hours like this, be refrigerated for up to two days, or frozen a few weeks.

Sweat the onions in the oil with a three-fingered pinch of salt. Add the beef and cook it, breaking it up as you do. (Because my beef was very fatty, I cooked it separately and added it to the pot along with the tomatoes. Also an option, but uses an extra pan.) Add another three-fingered pinch of salt or two, along with any dry seasonings you want. Add the tomatoes and any fresh seasonings you may be using, bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for an hour.

Bake it in a 400 degree oven till it’s piping hot (about 45 minutes if it’s cold to room temperature). Just before you’re ready to eat, remove the foil, cover macaroni with the cheese and broil till it looks beautiful.