Baked Mac & Cheese

From EatingWell: Winter 2004, The Essential EatingWell Cookbook (2004)

Mac & cheese can be a true comfort on a gloomy day, and our healthy update takes advantage of extra-sharp Cheddar balanced with creamy low-fat cottage cheese and tucks a layer of spinach into the middle, which may help picky eaters down their vegetables. Whole-wheat pasta adds robust flavor and extra fiber.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Wow, gotta say in 14 yrs of marriage, this is the first time my husband [mac & cheese afficionado] liked homemade however, unlike my usual creedo, I did tweak a bit. I pretty much used this recipe as a basic & made only slight...

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59 Reviews for Baked Mac & Cheese

12/07/2010

sunfire_1

Wow, gotta say in 14 yrs of marriage, this is the first time my husband [mac & cheese afficionado] liked homemade however, unlike my usual creedo, I did tweak a bit. I pretty much used this recipe as a basic & made only slight changes - NO SPINACH being the biggest one!! Neither of us like it cooked. I did have Ians WW crumbs, but instead used a quarter cup/1 tablespoon evoo, Pepperjack cheese instead of Cheddar, Dreamfields elbows, and added 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Not big time deviations. This was so good a recipe that it's the only mac & cheese we will eat going forward. I teamed it with Apricot Glazed Chicken from Epicurious.com and we were in soul food heaven......on this blizzarding Buffalo, New York day. So good and so easy to make! Thanks EW!

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12/06/2010

Anonymous

This was an awesome recipe! I used brown rice elbow noodles and then I also used fat-free cottage cheese. I followed the recipe exactly how it is but, like others, I mixed the spinach in with the cheese and noodles. I also spinkled a little more cheese on top. So yummy!

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10/23/2010

Anonymous

My boyfriend & I made this for the first meal we ever cooked together - & it was awesome! We mixed the spinach in with the pasta, as some commenters suggested, but otherwise followed the recipe to a T. We also added a bit of chili powder for extra flavor & sprinkled some extra cheese on top before adding the bread crumbs. We were really happy with it, & we have plenty left over for lunch!

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10/17/2010

Anonymous

I really enjoyed it, I didn't use nutmeg or spinach and just cut up a head of broccoli into little pieces and stirred it right into the sauce. It turned out really good!! And also, the oil can be left out of the breadcrumb step, its not necessary for the recipe.

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09/23/2010

Anonymous

pretty good and fast way to make mac and cheese. To lower calorie count, I omitted the paprika, EVOO, and breadcrumbs. I also combined three different cheeses (pepperjack, gruyere, and sharp cheddar) to add some flavor. I'd suggest sauteing the spinach with garlic and other spices, b/c when i took bites of the spinach, it was bland.

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