Hot and Cold Mac and Cheese Salad

A cacophony in the kitchen that sung in harmony on the plate.

Sometimes I come up with odd combinations of foods for us to eat for supper.  Tonight was one of those nights.  I came home with the idea of making macaroni and cheese. I didn’t want to eat a huge portion, but I didn’t want to go hungry with a tiny plate of pasta.  We happen to have a fridge full of veggies and I wanted a salad that was satisfying enough to be a meal.  I also wanted roasted veggies.  These ideas danced in my head for awhile, and an idea emerged — I will make a salad, Mac & Cheese and roasted veggies and put them into the salad rather than serving the three separate things side-by-side.  Obviously, pasta tossed into a salad is nothing new, I make this constantly in the summer for our back yard BBQ’s.  I recently read a blog post about a tasty salad combination of Penne, Chickpeas, Sun-dried Tomatoes and baby Arugula on Skinnytaste which looks pretty good.  I know I’ve heard mention of hot and cold salads.  When Bjorn gave me a thumbs up to having a sort-of salad for supper, away I went.

I started by breaking off florets of broccoli and cauliflower to roast for the “hot” part of the salad.  I tried to picture the amount I would want for 4 servings of salad so that I didn’t make too much.  My goal is to prepare enough to feed us twice.  Two plates at supper and then leftovers for lunch.

I dumped the broccoli and cauliflower, along with some sliced button mushrooms on a sheet pan coated with cooking spray, and threw it in the oven, which was heated to 425 degree Fahrenheit.  I didn’t add any oil to the veggies.  A drizzle of olive oil tastes great on roasted veggies, but I was planning to dress the salad before serving, so I didn’t use any.  It really isn’t necessary.
When you roast veggies without oil, they tend to char a little more than when they are tossed lightly in oil.  That char is tasty.
While the veggies roasted, I put a small saucepan of water on the stove to heat, and salted it lightly.  While that heated, I chopped a half of a red pepper into chickpea-sized chunks, and rinsed and drained a can of chickpeas.

I assembled an assortment of greens.  We had a great variety in the fridge.  Our salad tonight had baby spinach, Butter and Romaine Lettuce and Pea Shoots.  When the Broccoli, Cauliflower and Mushrooms had roasted for about 8 minutes I used tongs to toss it around so that all sides would get exposed to heat.  I also added a few handfuls of whole grain pasta shells to the saucepan of salted water to cook until al dente, according to the package directions.

While the pasta cooked and the vegetables roasted, I began assembling the cold portions of the salad:  two on plates for dinner tonight, and two in portable containers for our lunches tomorrow at work.  I whisked a little balsamic vinegar with olive oil, and added a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes and a good shake of Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salut to dress the salad.

When the pasta was done cooking, I stirred in a spoonful of light cream cheese, a small handful of grated sharp cheddar, and a shake of nutmeg.  I didn’t go to the effort of making a cheesy roux for the Mac & Cheese.  I just tossed the cooked pasta with the cheese.  The cheese melted and coated the noodles nicely.  It was easier to make this way, and actually better to have the pasta coated in cheese, rather than a creamy sauce, since I was planning to toss it into the salad.

I divided the roasted vegetables between our plates and two small containers for our lunch.  I dressed the two plates of salad for our supper lightly and tossed them before adding the mac and cheese, since I didn’t want too much dressing on the pasta part of the salad.  If I hadn’t been saving half of the salad for our lunch, I would have tossed the hot and cold vegetables with dressing in a bowl before placing in it on our plates.

I happened to use all of my homemade dressing up on our dinner portion, so I packed a small container of Trader Joe’s Light Champagne Vinaigrette* to take to work.  I added a pinch of red pepper flakes and some grated Asiago so that the salads would still have a good flavor even without the balsamic vinaigrette that we had at supper.

Once our plates were assembled, we charged to the dinner table and dug in.  I put out a nice chunk of Asiago cheese and a grater, salt and pepper for us to adjust the flavor at the table.  A Hot and Cold Mac and Cheese Salad might sound a bit of an off the wall, but it was great.  The balsamic vinegar and spicy red pepper flakes were a punchy contrast to the warm, cheesy pasta.  The variety of colours was visually appealing.  The crunchy lettuce and red pepper contrasted with the soft noodles and chickpeas.  The roasted vegetables added warmth and charred flavor, and were roasted perfectly to retain their bite.  Chopping, assembling, roasting, boiling, dressing and stirring together three different dishes raised a mild cacophony in the kitchen, that sung in harmony on the plate.  I started with three ideas, and ended up with a meal that satisfied a hunger for Mac & Cheese, but kept the portion size reasonable, it was a plate packed with antioxidants and vitamins as well as great flavor and texture contrasts.  We’ll make it again!

*Trader Joe’s Light Champagne Vinaigrette is my current grocery store salad dressing favorite.  It contains champagne vinegar, white wine, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard, and clocks in at 50 calories for two tablespoons.  It is light and zingy, and it is a legit way to have some bubbly at noon.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Mushrooms, Broccoli, Spinach and Peas

A bunch of veggies roasted, steamed or sautéed and served with some type of pasta is a meal we eat every week.  Sometimes we eat it on multiple days.  It is easy, and it can be absolutely yummy and healthy, if its made it right.  There are infinite variations, and every time we make this we both think it is pretty great.

We keep vegetables on hand, both fresh and frozen.  We almost universally have mushrooms of some type, fresh spinach and broccoli in the fridge.  We keep them on hand because they are wholesome and extremely versatile, but even more importantly, because I really love these veggies.  I can’t imagine what I’d eat during a week that I do not eat mushrooms and broccoli.  Frozen peas make a frequent appearance on our plates too.  There are a few short months in the year where we might have fresh, home grown and farmer’s market peas, but the rest of the year, frozen peas are quick to make and taste great.  I am partial to fresh spinach.  A huge bag of washed spinach is cheaper than lettuce.  You can add a few handfuls to soup, pasta, quinoa, or even a packaged frozen entrée, if you eat them.  Spinach adds calcium, antioxidants, flavor and if the food is warm, it cooks in a few minutes after you add it.  I am not a big fan of frozen bricks of pre-cooked spinach.  I think they might be the reason spinach got such a bad rap.  It works fine for spinach dip, but it is otherwise, too dark and mushy for me.

The first key to a pasta meal being a healthy, lovely meal is veggies.  Veggies!  Vegetables are the absolute most powerful tool to healthful eating.  They fill you up and they are full of good things like calcium, potassium, antioxidants and fiber with a very low-calorie count.  The key is to try every veggie you can, get them fresh from a good source, or preserved in a wholesome manner, make sure they are prepared in a way that doesn’t ruin them and pile them on 3/4 of your plate.  I love vegetables, which makes this easy.  If you don’t, just try them, one at a time.  Make a lot of the ones you like, and give the rest a chance.  They are an acquired taste, but they are satisfying when they are the center of your meal.  Tonight I sautéed garlic and a diced shallot in a little olive oil, then added mushrooms.  When the mushrooms began to brown, I added a splash of pasta water, and then covered to pan to allow the broccoli and peas to steam.  I didn’t cook the spinach at all.  I placed two large handfuls into the bottom of the bowl I used to serve the veggies.  When I added the veggies, the spinach wilted, but didn’t totally lose its shape or get soggy.  I frequently roast veggies, and recently, I’ve also been steaming them in my Mom’s Bamboo steamer that she has had since the 1970’s.  The entire key to veggies is not to overcook them to use a light touch with oil, salt or other seasonings.  They don’t need it.

The next step to making this meal, of course, is the pasta.  I make homemade pasta, and I have yet to post about it.  It is delicious, but I’ll admit, I like to eat pasta a little more often than I have time to mix it and roll it out.  I consider it to be a process to go through for a special occasion.  Tonight, we had organic, whole grain angel hair pasta, cooked al dente, according to package directions.  If you ate whole wheat pastas a few years ago and found it dry, grainy and generally too serious, you should try them again.  There are whole grain pastas that have a delicious nutty texture, there are even some whole grain pastas that have no noticeable difference from traditional “white” pasta.  Using whole grain adds a little stomach-filling fiber, lowers the glycemic index of your meal and helps nudge a week-night pasta meal in the direction of health.  Also worth noting are fresh herbs.  In the middle of winter, a big bunch of flat leaf parsley costs less than $2 at our grocery store.  In the summer, we grow herbs, and buy them at the Farmer’s Market for pocket change.  The addition of chopped herbs to pasta is unbelievable.  Your eyes will thank you.  Your tastebuds will thank you.  Fresh herbs elevate a dish and only add good.

One out of two of us eats meat.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  it is a good thing for Bjorn that he is a flexible meat eater.  It makes it easier for me that he doesn’t expect meat to be a central part of every meal.  I enjoy preparing meat for a special occasion and Bjorn makes it whenever he wants it, and he swears he gets enough.  There are many meat eaters who don’t feel like they’ve had a meal if meat isn’t center stage.  I think we’ve all gotten the memo advising us that people aren’t supposed to eat as much meat as we did before we knew where our next meal was coming from, or we needed to fuel ourselves through 12 hours of hard physical labor.  Reframing meat as a dish that you have for a special occasion opens up a world of opportunity for meat to be a meaningful garnish.  Here enters Soppressata.  It is a flavorful hard salami.  Just a few slices, casing removed, cut into little chunks and heated briefly puts a tasty bit of meat on the omnivore’s plate and rounds out their meal.

Finally, there is sauce.  We don’t always have sauce with our pasta and veggies.  I like to use spaghetti sauce, or a can of San Marzano tomatoes, torn into chunks when we feel like tomatoes.  If we aren’t feeling tomato-y, I would use a touch of olive oil or butter and a sprinkling of grated cheese or nothing.  Tonight I made a simple creamy sauce.  This isn’t an “every night” sort of thing though.  We had a little heavy cream left over from the Soufflés Bjorn made for Valentine’s day and I couldn’t let it go to waste.  I melted the tiniest bit of butter and added a sprinkling of flour.  Once it cooked a bit, I added the cream and let it thicken before adding a bit of pepper and grated Asiago.  Just like the meat, if you are going to use butter, oil or creamy sauce, if you use a light touch, you can enjoy the richness without consuming excessive calories.

I want to live in a world where I can have my pasta and eat it too.  I am finding that if I keep an eye on portions and make thoughtful choices about ingredients and preparation, I can enjoy my plate of pasta without feeling gluttonous or guilty.