Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Panko

Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. And even though the packaged stuff is good once in a while, it loses its charm pretty quickly. Why is the powder so orange, and why do the noodles get gross after 10 minutes? Unanswered questions.

This mac and cheese still serves as a great comfort food, but you can eat it without the suspicions about what’s in your food. I used both cheddar and mozzarella, along with a handful of spices, to try and get the best flavour I could. I also put a layer of panko on top for extra crunch.

My brother suggested that I name this dish “Chacarron Macarroni” because of this hilarious yet horrible song that we listen to as a joke. Really, listen at your own risk. I decided against naming it that because I figured most people wouldn’t get the reference, but that’s what I’m calling it around the house.

There are a few things I would change about this recipe, so you’ll definitely be seeing some creative variations in the future. One thing is that I imagined the panko would be a nice crispy layer, but once it’s baked between the cheese it becomes soft, and doesn’t add any real flavour. I’d toast the panko to give it some extra crunch and taste, or substitute it for something else. Another thing I found was that the top layer of cheese was amazing, but that strong cheesiness didn’t carry throughout the dish. The noodles/sauce still tasted good since there was a mix of spices and lots of cheese, but it could use an extra booster next time. I would almost say put MORE cheese in, but I may just like cheese too much.

I think because I like my mac and cheese creamier, almost soupy, I would try it stove top as well. Either way this recipe is very open to adaptation.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 3 cups elbow pasta (macaroni pasta), or another small-sized pasta
• 2 cups milk (I used 1%)
• 4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Method

Bring a large pot of water to boil, and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Once water has boiled, add elbow pasta, and stir consistently until pasta is cooked al dente (still slightly hard). Strain and set aside back in the large pot. In a separate medium-sized saucepan, whisk together milk and flour. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, still stirring frequently. Bring down to a simmer and whisk often until mixture it thick and creamy; this should take about 5 minutes.

Remove the flour and milk mixture from heat. Gradually stir in 2 cups of the cheddar, 1 cup of the mozzarella, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, Worcestershire and dry mustard. Whisk together until well combined.

Pour cheese sauce over the macaroni and stir until all of the pasta is well coated. Pour the mac and cheese into a large casserole dish, and evenly sprinkle the panko on top of the pasta. Add the remaining cheese on top of the panko.

Place casserole dish on the middle rack of the oven, and bake until the cheese is golden brown; about 10-15 minutes. Set oven to broil (keep a VERY close eye on your pasta–it burns easily!) and let cook for another 60 seconds until lightly browned and crispy. Serve immediately, or store the rest for leftovers the next day.

Guacamole Grilled Cheese

I can eat grilled cheese all day long. I’m also frequently craving guacamole. Stick those two together and I’m going into a food coma.

I like my cheese to be as melted as possible in my sandwich, so I normally take a lid from a large pot and place it over top of the skillet. The bread still gets golden and crunchy while the cheese is gooey–it makes for the perfect sandwich.

I know traditional guacamole is made with lime juice, but I was working with what I had in the kitchen. That being said, whenever I say to use lemon or lime juice, never use that artificial stuff from the store because it’s garbage and really not that much cheaper than real lemons.

Also, I decided to add the guacamole in after the sandwich was taken off the heat because avocado can get a “smoky” taste when it’s cooked.

Ingredients

Makes 1 sandwich

• 2 slices of your favourite bread, lightly buttered on one side (I just used regular sliced sandwich bread, nothing fancy)
• 2 slices swiss cheese
• 2 slices cheddar cheese
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
• 2 tbsp. red onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
• Dash of hot sauce
• Salt to taste

Method

Place both swiss and cheddar cheese inside your slices of bread, buttered sides out. Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, and cook sandwich until golden brown on each side and cheese is melted; about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, mash together avocado, red onion, lemon juice, tomatoes, cilantro, hot sauce and salt. Remove sandwich from pan and carefully open the sandwich to reveal melted cheese (I know this seems obvious but it will be very hot).

Spoon guacamole into the centre of the sandwich, close it back up, and enjoy with a side of salsa!

Ginger, Citrus and Blueberry Popsicles

Homemade popsicles are fun, easy and better than store-bought ones for so many reasons.

The generic popsicles you get from the grocery store are alright, but they’re filled with sugar and food colouring and probably not much of anything else. If you go to buy healthier ones, they’ll be double the price. Catch-22. That’s why I decided to make them at home.

You don’t necessarily have to own a popsicle mold for this recipe. You can pour the liquid into small dixie cups and place wooden popsicle sticks inside, or you could use mini-muffin tins as well. Most dollar/grocery stores carry popsicle molds for cheap though, and the hold the stick upright which is handy.

Using cold water is important for colour. I figure if you’re using frozen blueberries, they leak colour very quickly and they don’t need to be squished. Keep the blueberries in the freezer until the last minute, and keep the water cold so less can leak from the berries. This way your popsicles will have a mix of purple and orange.

Ingredients

Makes 8 popsicles

• 4 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 large orange, juiced
• 1 1/2 cups cold water (this may vary on the size of your molds)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. honey
• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries

Method

Place ginger, lemon and orange juice in a blender and process until frothy and well mixed. Add in cold water and honey, and blend on high-speed for 20 seconds.

Pour the mixture into a popsicle mold, filling each one just below the top so it does not over-expand when freezing. Drop frozen blueberries evenly into each popsicle mold so that each one has the same amount, then place tops of molds on the mixture.

Freeze popsicles for roughly 3 hours until they are completely solid all the way through. Enjoy!

Curried Lentil Cashew Burgers

This is not your average veggie burger.

Lentils and cashews give this burger the substance to be protein-packed and filling, while the curry and coriander give a big kick of flavour. I normally don’t bother with a bun when I’m eating burgers at home, but these ones are nice with fresh burger buns, topped with radish, avocado, cheese and whatever else you want. I put a bit of chipotle mayo on the tops of mine as well—can’t go wrong.

This recipe is from the Canadian Living Vegetarian Collection, my favourite all-veg cookbook. I have used oats instead of breadcrumbs, but if you prefer to use breadcrumbs, that’s what I used this time (it’s also what they call for in the original recipe) and it works well too.

Sidenote: There’s one exception to the store bought veggie burgers. President’s Choice makes a Portobello Swiss Burger which is really yummy (although it’s still soy-based), but it’s easier to barbecue than homemade ones because they stay together really well.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1/2 cup unsalted cashews
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 4 cups white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
• 1 19oz can lentils, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp. curry paste
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped
• Avocado slices to garnish (optional)
• Radish slices to garnish (optional)

Method

In a dry skillet, toast cashews over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor.

In the same skillet, heat 1 tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat; saute mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt and pepper until no liquid remains, about 5 minutes. Add to food processor.

Add lentils and curry paste to food processor; pulse to combine, scraping excess food from the sides with a rubber spatula. Mix in oats and coriander. Shape mixture into four 1-inch thick patties.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat; fry patties until crusty, turning once so they don’t fall apart, about 16 minutes. Top each finished burger with your favourite veggies and slap it between a bun.

Easy Homemade Maple-Mango Granola

I’ve been wanting to make granola for a while because it’s one of the best breakfast foods. Easy to make, lasts a long time, very flexible with ingredients, and mixes well with yogurt.

This recipe is from Judy Krizmanic’s “The Teen’s Vegetarian Cookbook” which outlines some simple and inexpensive meals. This was the first cookbook I ever received and I’ve been using it for almost 10 years now–tons of great stuff in it. I chose to put dried mango in instead of raisins because, in my opinion, they taste better. Also it’s just more colourful.

For anyone whose wondering, oats are safe for gluten-free when consumed in the right amounts. There’s a good article on it here for anyone who is Celiac or gluten intolerant.

Also to clear up any confusion, I had a hard time figuring out the difference between rolled oats, flaked oats, instant oats and “old-fashioned” oats. It turns out that rolled oats and old-fashioned oats are the same, instant oats are thinner so they cook faster (not ok to sub in for this recipe) and flaked oats can be used in recipes like burgers.

Ingredients

Makes about 6 cups

• 1 cup hulled sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp. black sesame seeds (optional)
• 1/4 cup almonds, chopped
• 3 cups rolled (or “old-fashioned”) oats
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried mango, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In an ungreased skillet, combine sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and almonds on low heat. Stir frequently to toast, until strong aromas arise and seeds/nuts appear to be slightly golden.

In a large bowl, combine the toasted seeds and nuts with remaining ingredients (do this in order) except for the dried mango. Once well combined, spread mixture over 2 baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. The granola should be golden brown once done. Remove from oven and leave granola on a pan while cooling.

Add dried mango to granola once cooled, and stir to combine. Store in an airtight container. Serve on its own or with fresh fruit and yogurt. Enjoy!

Bluth Frozen Chocolate Bananas

There’s always money in the banana stand.

With the new season of Arrested Development coming out on Netflix, I thought I’d make a treat from the show. The show’s Facebook page posted the basic steps to making a Bluth banana the other day, so I tried it out and loved it.

Feel free to get creative with the toppings as well. I felt like making basic ones at first, but I guarantee some crushed up M&Ms and sprinkles would taste great (and add a bit of colour). Also, when you’re heating up the chocolate, be careful of over-heating and clumping. Using a double-boiler helps with this, but if you can only use a microwave, heat it in small intervals so it doesn’t burn.

I couldn’t believe how hard it was to find wooden popsicle sticks. I checked bulk stores, dollar stores, grocery stores and hardware stores…I ended up finding them at an upper-end grocery store. I imagine you could find them at craft stores as well but I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time.

Sidenote: The background for a lot of the photos is a poster called The Many Faces of Tobias Fünke. It includes his “never nude” shorts, his blue-man self, and Mrs. Featherbottom.

Ingredients

Makes 4 frozen bananas

• 2 large bananas, peeled
• 4 popsicle sticks
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup pecan halves, finely chopped

Method

Cut each banana in half, and insert popsicle sticks into bottoms of each half. Freeze bananas for 1 hour until solid. 

Place chocolate in a small microwave-proof bowl and heat on medium heat for 15 seconds at a time until well melted and smooth. (You can also use a double boiler to melt the chocolate down if you have one.)**

Dip the frozen bananas in chocolate so they are completely coated, then generously roll in chopped nuts. Serve immediately or re-freeze for a few hours later.

**I made a make-shift double boiler by using a small pot of water and a Pyrex bowl–it worked just as well.

Orange, Cheddar and Pine Nut Asian Salad with Sesame

This recipe is the photo that has been the banner of my blog from day one. It’s light, colourful and packs a mix of flavours that aren’t commonly seen together.

I’m heading up to the cottage for May 24 weekend, and this is the type of thing that’s perfect up there along with a veggie burger. I made the portions for this recipe to only serve one person (since that’s how I made it myself) but double up if you have company.

If you don’t love spice, feel free the dial down the hot sauce in the dressing. It won’t hurt the salad at all, you could even replace it with an Asian-tasting sauce of your own if you have one on hand. I like the mix up the dressing a little bit each time just to try something new, but the ingredients I listed for the dressing are the basics.

Sidenote: This is unrelated to this recipe, but I found out something interesting about absorbing iron for any of you who are concerned about this. Apparently, when you pair up iron-rich foods with calcium, it makes it difficult for your body to absorb any of the vitamins. For example, eating a spinach omelette with cheese could lower the amount of iron you intake. BUT vitamin C and citrus-rich foods are supposed to help absorption of iron–just something to keep in mind for all you vegetarians.

Ingredients

Serves 1

• 1 cup romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 medium orange, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup cheddar, shredded
• 3 tbsp. pine nuts
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. hot sauce
• A few drops soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. orange juice
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds

Method

Combine lettuce, orange, cheddar and pine nuts in a salad bowl. In a separate smaller bowl for the dressing, whisk together sesame and vegetable oil, hot sauce, soy sauce and orange juice. Drizzle the dressing over the salad mix and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Healthy Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

I’ve recently come to the conclusion that fast-food muffins are basically cupcakes. I know it’s not shocking, but when I ordered a muffin from my school’s coffee shop and it came topped with chocolate drizzle and powdered sugar, I couldn’t bring myself to call it a muffin.

Besides being over-sweet, store bought muffins can be lacking in content; there’s often a lot of dough and minimal blueberries. This recipe doesn’t skimp out on the blueberries, and since I resisted the temptation to put chocolate chips in, the sweetness doesn’t drown out the taste either.

The only thing I wish I had done differently in this recipe was add a little bit more moisture. I think a 1/2 cup of yogurt or a bit more milk would have done the trick, but they still taste good as-is. Over the past few years I’ve stuck to the same fool-proof muffin recipe so when I try deviating away from that, mistakes are made.

Ingredients

Makes roughly 20

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• Pinch of orange zest
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups frozen blueberries

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together both flours, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, sugar and orange zest until smooth. Mix in eggs, milk and vanilla extract with an electric beater.

Carefully add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined and “doughy”—do not overmix or the muffins won’t rise as well. Fold in the frozen blueberries and spoon mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake for roughly 20 minutes until cooked all the way through; test with a toothpick to make sure the middle is cooked. Allow to cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container for a week.

Beer-Cheddar Spread

Spreads are perfect for summer because they’re quick and easy. Throw in some beer and you’ve got yourself a good time.

I was flipping through an old Vegetarian Times magazine from 2006 when I came across their feature on beer. Since I’ve only ever used booze in stews or soups, I figured trying it out raw in a food processor might be kind of interesting. Mixed with the smokiness of the paprika and the blend of other spices, it worked surprisingly well.

Cheddar and beer mix together really well. They are both distinct flavours, but the cheddar sort of neutralizes the bitterness of the beer, while you still get a taste of both. This is like the ultimate pub food, only it’s not deep-fried (always a bonus), and it’s cheaper. I can’t be the only one who finds it ridiculous that bars get away with charging $12 for a plate of nachos…please.

Ingredients

Serves 6 (makes about 2 cups)

• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated
• 4 oz. plain cream cheese, softened
• 2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/3 cup your favourite beer, room temperature
• Chives to garnish

Method

Place cheddar and cream cheese into a food processor. Add Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, smoked paprika and garlic powder, and process until well blended. Scrape down excess with a rubber spatula, and process again.

Gradually add beer, blending until the mixture is smooth and spreadable. It should not be runny—this would make it more of a dip, and beer may over-power the rest of the flavours. Top with chives and serve with pita chips, in sandwiches, with cut up veggies or crackers. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sprinkles

Cake batter in cookies is one of the greatest baking discoveries I’ve come across on the internet.

My perfect cookie is soft, chewy, and colourful. These cookies check off all three of those requirements (plus they smell AMAZING) so I’m devouring them pretty quickly.

This recipe is directly from Sally’s Baking Addiction, just like my last batch of strawberry cake mix cookies. These ones are even more delicious from the last batch. In her instructions, she notes that she uses 1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 white, but I would say I did more of a 3/4 semi-sweet because white chocolate can be iffy for me sometimes depending on the quality.

I was skeptical to let them chill for a full 24 hours (mainly because I’m lazy) but it made a big difference in chewiness. They hold their form much better once the dough has solidified.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup golden or white boxed cake mix
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips (You can use half white, and half semi-sweet depending on your preference)
• 1/2 cup sprinkles

Method

In one medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, cake mix and baking soda. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, beat together butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until creamy. Mix in egg and vanilla until well blended.

Add flour mixture into the wet ingredients, and mix until just combined. I found it was easier to do this with a wooden spoon (or your hands, if you don’t mind the mess) just because the batter was getting all clumped up in my mixer. Fold in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.

Cover and refrigerate the dough for roughly 24 hours. This step is important so that the cookies don’t completely flatten out.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Form dough into balls, taller than they are wide. See photo below for visual help, but essentially if you make the dough ball “tall”, it will bake down into a thick, chewy cookie. Bake cookies on an ungreased baking sheet for 10-12 minutes until they just begin to turn golden brown around the edges.

When you remove them from the oven, they should still appear to look very soft—just let them cool and they will settle. Allow them to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack if available. Store in an airtight container for up to a week and enjoy!