Mac n Caulieese

Healthy and quick  alternate to Mac n Cheese

I know the name is Cheesy :) but true to the name, the recipe has cauliflower substituted instead of the loads n loads of cream and cheese you add. I came up with this after getting inspiration from watching a show featuring a book called 'Hungry girl', the author talked about replacing carbs with loads of veggies to increase portion size, that way even when your dieting your eating your stomach's full without increasing the calories, smart isn't it? She gave an example of adding cooked cauliflower florets to a small portion of mac n cheese.

 So, I started my search for a healthy version of making mac n cheese so I can add cauliflower in it. I was looking for a recipe which also didn't call for lots of ingredients. I like to cook with ingredients readily available in my pantry, certain ingredients are like one-off gadgets that you rarely use, I hate buying stuff like those as they rot in my fridge after one use.  None of the recipes I found on the internet made that possible, they needed sour cream or heavy cream this and that. So I gave up and told myself I'll do it my way, and lo and behold I was surprised with my creation :) and my husband loved it. 

Here's a list of what you need. Don't worry if you don't have all the veggies mentioned, use what you have. Traditional mac n cheese does not have any, so don't worry, the reason for adding so many veggies is to decrease the amount of pasta (macaroni) and make people eat veggies.

• Pasta (macaroni) - as required, I use one handful for each person + 1 extra handful
• Cauliflower - Half cut into florets
• 1 Onion - finely chopped
• 4 cloves of Garlic - finely chopped
• 1 Carrots - diced into small cubes
• 1 Capsicum / Green Peppers -   - diced into small cubes
• 5-6 Mushrooms - Halfed
• Chili sauce -  as preferred 
• Salt - as preferred 
• Pepper - as preferred 
• 1Table spoon oil
• Grated cheese -  as preferred (quantity n type, I used mozzarella) 

Don't worry, I did  not leave any ingredients behind, there is no need for flour, butter, cream or milk, the cauliflower is gonna be the white sauce! 

Steps:

1. Cook the cauliflower: place cauliflower it in a microwave safe dish, fill 1/4th of the dish with water, add salt. Cover and pop it in the microwave for 10 mins. 

2. In a large vessel bring water to boil, add salt generously then add pasta and cook till tender. While the pasta cooks, heat another pan, add oil and saute the onions and garlic. When the onions changes color, add the chili sauce, little salt and the veggies and stir well.  Add 1/4th cup of water n let the veggies cook.

3. Drain the cooked cauliflower and puree it in a blender/mixer grinder using the water it was cooked in. Add to the veggies, still on stove. Mix well, add pepper as desired. Salt if required.

4. Drain the cooked pasta and add them to the veggies and cauliflower mixture. Turn heat off.

5. Transfer to a oven safe dish. Top with grated cheese and broil on high till the cheese melts and turns light brown. Keep an eye, you don't wanna burn them. And your done.

Enjoy! :)

I took the end product picture in the morning while packing them as  lunch for my hubby.  I made the dish last night for dinner.