Broc Mac & Cheese

Growing up, I loved macaroni and cheese: Velveeta-based or out of a blue and yellow box.

Is that so bad to admit?

These days, I'm taking a hint from Eating Well and rewriting mac and cheese to better fit my palate and waistline.

Eating Well's Baked Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

The finished product:

I did substitute steamed broccoli for spinach, and experimented with a box of Einkorn whole wheat pasta. Einkorn wheat was the first wheat cultivated by man and thus considered an heirloom because it has not been hybridized. Remember when Elizabeth and I planted heritage grains in Western Ma for a UMass Extension experiment? That was fun.

The macaroni and cheese was creamy and rich, but without all of the fat. I'd definitely make this recipe again.

Would you like to try it too? Einkorn pasta and Jovial Foods have offered to let one reader try their products and see for yourself whether heirloom whole grain pasta is the way to go! (Hint: It is.)

If you'd like to win some whole grain pasta to try, leave a comment below answering the following question by Friday: What's your worst cooking disaster?

For me, it could have been the time I tried to make macaroni and cheese with cottage cheese. That was a lumpy mess. Or the time in high school when I turned the wrong burner on and a plastic colander that was on top of a soup pot on the stove literally melted into it, almost burning the house down. Or, the time I dropped a hot Pyrex of oatmeal straight from the microwave onto the floor. The glass went down, the oatmeal went up. Up as in on the ceiling. I did the same thing with a glass of milk one week later.

You MUST have a story to top these...

Disclaimer: I was not paid to promote this product, but did receive complimentary product to experiment with.

P.S. for the Boston folks: The Boston restaurant community is throwing Mother's Day two and a half months early in an effort to raise funds for the mother of one of their own.

On Saturday March 5th at 7:00 PM, some of the Boston area's finest chefs will present Mother's Day, a pop up restaurant at the Boston Center for Adult Education. The chefs will collaborate on a family style menu featuring some of their mother's favorite dishes, a menu that will be available for one night only. All proceeds will go to Jodie Gilson, the mother of Will Gilson, Chef/Owner of Garden at the Cellar and co-founder of Eat, a food event and pop up restaurant effort. Jodie is the owner of J. Gilson Greenhouses, a wholesale grower of herbs and perennials. Two weeks ago, Jodie's greenhouses were destroyed under the weight of this winter's heavy snows. Her business was crushed in a matter of minutes. The area restaurant community has rallied to make sure Jodie's greenhouses will get rebuilt.