Mac & Trees

Remember how just yesterday I said that friends who have been asking me for recipes would finally have a place to find them? Well, wouldn't you know that today a friend asked me for my recipe for Mac & Trees just a few minutes ago, so I figured I should make good on my promise and add it to my list here! It's a yummy recipe for Macaroni & Cheese with Broccoli that I love, and I think you might too.

I wish I could take credit and say I was clever enough to come up with the recipe completely on my own, but alas, I cannot. I did, however, blend two recipes into this particular version of Mac & Trees. Laura at Heavenly Homemakers has a recipe for Creamy Mac & Cheese that is awesome. Having already tried (and loved) her recipe a few times, I was inspired to combine it with the Whole Foods’ recipe for Macaroni & Trees (that I found on my awesome Whole Foods App. There are tons of great recipes there! I find that I use it for inspiration all the time! Highly recommend it. But I digress.)

The recipe below is lower in fat than either of the originals, as I used skim milk. I also added a bit of butter to help make things a bit more creamy so if you use a different kind of milk, you might want to omit the butter, but that’s your call. It also works fine with regular pasta, but as Laura points out, not brown rice pasta.

Mac & Trees

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli florets
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups skim milk
1 T butter
1/2 t. kosher salt (or 1 t. table salt)
2 cups shredded cheese (divided into two 1-cup portions)

Method:

Cook the broccoli until crisp-tender (whatever method you like best for cooking broccoli. I typically microwave them for two minutes, then one additional minute until done). Set aside.

Put the pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring all the while. Do this until the pasta is tender. It will seem as if it’s not doing anything for the first several minutes. Do not despair! It will almost suddenly start to boil. Keep cooking until the pasta is tender (takes about 10 minutes or so). Remove from the heat. Add 1 cup of the cheese and stir until melted and completely absorbed. Pour into a greased 9 ½ x 11 baking pan. Place broccoli on top, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Put under the broiler for a few minutes, watching closely so it doesn’t burn. You’re just looking for the cheese to be melted over the top. When it's melted, and is as crispy (or not) as you like it, take it out, let it sit for a minute, and serve.