Shrimp & Mac & Cheese

WOW guys.  WOW.

Drooling yet??

For the big game this past weekend, I was looking for a something a little different to take to the family party… Something a little healthified but that still packed a little somethin somethin.  During my search, I stumbled upon the the Mac and Cheese Light recipe from the September 2010 Cooking Lite, and it looked like the perfect fit!  You can never have too much cheese on super bowl Sunday, I always say.

What really drew me to this particular recipe was that it started off with the “secret weapon” – a puree consisting of one whole LARGE onion and 9 cloves of garlic. 

Hello lover. 

Clearly this was destiny. 

First up, I put a big ole pot of water on the stove to boil, then tossed a large Vidalia onion and 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic into a bowl with 1/2 cup water. 

I covered this guy with plastic wrap and nuked in the microwaved for 10 minutes.  Prepare to smell like onions and garlic for the remainder of the day.  Don’t worry.  I won’t judge you.

After 10 minutes, you dump this onion garlic goodness out into a blender and pulse until smooth.  It should look like grits, ya’ll:

By now the water should be boiling, so drop in 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni and cook until al dente.

1

Meanwhile season up you onion garlic puree with:

• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• Salt and pepper to taste (I used A LOT)

Once the pasta is done, drain and set aside.  Then heat your onion garlic puree up in a pot (large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta), and once hot and bubbly slowly whisk in 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese. 

It should be gloriously thick.

Once the cheese is all melted in, take it off the heat and whisk in 2/3 cup fat free plain greek yogurt, then add in the cooked pasta.  Once everything is combined, pour the mac and cheese into a casserole dish greased with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the top with

• 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Sprinkling of dried parsley

Baked at 425 for 15 minutes:

Cheesy deliciousness:

Just to balance things out, I also made a big arse salad for the game:

No joke.  Big. Arse.

Of course I finangled one serving of the mac and cheese to take home with me after the game, and I decided to spice it up a bit for dinner tonight.

I LIBERALLY seasoned up 4 jumbo shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and sautéed them up on a pan:

I also roasted up some broccoli  that I had liberally seasoned with S&P … and I also microwaved the mac and cheese.  Don’t judge.

VOILA!

That is a seriously grown up healthified mac and cheese masterpiece!!!

I havent had roasted broccoli in months!! I practically lived off of roasted veggies last summer, and I had somehow forgotten how friggin delicious they are! 

The mac and cheese by itself was a little too mild for my tastes – so, at the super bowl party I topped it off with some Frank’s Red hot.  But for tonight’s dinner this spicy cayenne shrimp added plenty of kick:

Can’t get over how delicious!

Get in my beeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese (no shrimp):  275 calories, 30g carbs, 10g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese WITH shrimp:  322 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 3g fiber

Mac & Cheese Ingredients List (serves 8 )

• 1 large Vidalia onion
• 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups reduced fat cheddar
• 2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Sprinkling of dried parsley