Saturday, October 2, 2010

Fancy Boxed Mac and Cheese


We have a bunch of Annie's white cheddar mac and cheese that I bought at Target when it was on sale for $1a box.  My boyfriend isn't a big fan of mac and cheese so I wanted to make it a bit fancier and yummier.  This is what I came up with!

Fancy Boxed Mac and Cheese
1 box mac and cheese
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
little bits of butter

1. Make a box of mac and cheese according to directions.

2. If you're making Annie's mac and cheese you'll mix the powder with 1/4 cup milk (actually this seemed a bit watery and I'll use less next time):

3. While the water is boiling steam broccoli:

4. Chop up the broccoli into bitesize pieces.
5. Drain the macaroni.  Put it back in the pot.

6. Add the chopped up broccoli, some sundried tomatoes, and some shredded cheese (I used 1/4 cup havarti and some parmesan but next time I'll use a bunch more) to the noodles. Mix until the cheese is melted.
*7. Mix together the topping. I used Panko bread crumbs because I have seen 2 mac and cheese recipes using it as a topping recently and because I first heard about it in Cooking Light magazine and am therefore convinced it is healthier even though I haven't compared nutrition facts. I'm glad that I used it because it added a really nice crunch to the soft mac and cheese.



8. Sprinkle the topping over the mac and cheese.  Add a few bits of butter.

9. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. 
 10. Enjoy while feeling fancy!
*I don't know why step 7 and the picture below turned white and I can't figure out how to fix it.  Sorry!

2 comments:

  1. It just looks more dramatic to have the step be white! Regular mac and cheese is boring. This looks much better.

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