Chobani Night: Veggie Mac & Cheese

Girls night! For our book club (that we don't read books for) we decided we would have a food theme of Greek yogurt. This has thrown us all in a loop trying to figure out what we can swap the yogurt in for, or for what recipes already call for the yogurt!

What we made tonight:

• Plain Chobani with some olive oil, salt and pepper and consumed with pita chips. 
• Plain Chobani with quartered grapes, peanuts, and a scoop of jelly and and a scoop of peanut butter. I ate it with wheat thins.
• Mango Chobani combined with guacamole and crushed almonds then topped with spicy corn relish served on wheat thins.

I decided on a veggie mac & cheese casserole. I've made my godmother's mac and cheese recipe before, so I figured this one wouldn't be too different. This recipe is adapted from the Chobani website and from this recipe for Confetti Mac & Cheese. It is a tangy mac and cheese that could be due to the cheeses and the yogurt. I don't know, I've never had Gruyère before. I added in the veggies to bulk up the recipe but also so we could pretend we ate something healthy.

If you are making this ahead of time (the day before), use lots of the milk and cheese as it will absorb into the noodles and not be as cheesy. The recipe below does not reflect the addition of more milk and cheese. If you were curious, I would add in an additional cup of cheese and probably a few splashes of milk to get to a creamy consistency. 

Melted butter, Add flour, It will clump.

Added Milk, Spices, and Cheese. It is thick!

Pre Broil

Nom!

Veggie Mac & Cheese Casserole
Makes 1 9x9 pan

3 cups pasta (I used ziti)
2 tbsp of butter
3-4 tbsp of flour
1 1/2 cup 1% milk
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 heaping cup of Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 heaping cup of mild white cheddar, shredded
1 6  oz container of plain Greek yogurt
Panko breadcrumbs
about 1 - 2 cups of frozen veg of your choice

Cook pasta according to box directions, but 1-2 minutes less than al dente.

Melt butter in frying pan or sauce pan. Add in flour and whisk. Slowly add in milk and whisk to remove clumps. (I don't have a whisk, I used a spatula and mashed the lumps outs). Once a smooth slightly thickened sauce add in ground mustard, garlic powder, and black pepper as well as the cheese.

Remove from heat. Stir in pasta, yogurt, and optional frozen veggies. Pour into 9x9 pan. If you are eating it that night, top with bread crumbs and pop under broiler for a few minutes to get the bread crumbs golden. If you are making this ahead, omit the breadcrumbs. When you are ready to heat the mac & cheese, top with the bread crumbs, cover with tin foil, and heat in 350F oven for 30 minutes or until hot. Take off foil and broil for a few minutes, until top is golden.

Godmother's Mac & Cheese Casserole (Plus Chicken & Broccoli)

N and I were looking to make something for dinner and we decided to make a mac & cheese casserole. Now, who makes the best mac & cheese casserole? My godmother. It is cheesy, creamy, and topped with buttery Ritz crackers.

The recipe actually comes from the back of the Prince elbows pasta box, however there is a secret ingredient! A tsp of ground mustard. Where did this addition come from? I have no idea. But this is a very easy dish that is great to bring to big family parties.

I doubled some of the recipe (typical me, I only had enough to double some of the ingredients). You can also find it on this blog as well.

I wanted to make this more filling so I added 2 chicken breast and a crown of broccoli.

I started with the cheese sauce. I combined 2 tbsp of melted butter with 1/4 c of flour, 1 tsp of onion powder, 1 tsp ground mustard, and salt & pepper. I let this all combine. Now I get creative. I added the (mostly defrosted) chicken and let that cook a little bit. Then I tossed in the chopped up broccoli. I didn't have enough milk, I used 2 cups of 1% milk. I also used 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. The recipe called for double that. However I didn't let that phase me and continued to stir until the cheese melted into a thick sauce. It looks like broccoli and cheddar soup!

 

I cooked the pasta according to the directions on the box. Elbow pasta was not on sale so I purchased rigatoni for $0.88 instead of elbows for $1.29.

I drained the pasta and put it back in the pot. I poured the cheese sauce over the pasta and stirred. I dumped the entire pot into my casserole dish and covered with another cup of mozzarella cheese.

Next is the cracker topping. I used my food processor to crush 15 Ritz crackers and combine it with a tbsp of melted butter.

 Baked it for 25 minutes at 350F.

Next time I would use the correct amount of cheese which is 4 cups. But everything cooked perfectly and made about 4-6 servings!

Godmother's Mac & Cheese
4-6 servings

1 box of pasta (16 oz)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of flour
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground mustard
salt & pepper
1 crown of broccoli
1 lb of chicken - 2 chicken breast, diced
4 cups of cheese
3 cups of milk

15 Ritz crackers, crushed
1 tbsp butter, melter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, in a pot, melt butter, add flour, onion powder, ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Add chicken and broccoli (if using). Let good for a few minutes. Add milk and cheese. Stir until melted. 
4. Combine pasta and sauce. Pour into 9x13 baking dish.
5. Combine crushed crackers and butter. Sprinkle over the pasta mixture.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden and bubble. 

Enjoy!