This mac & cheese has the same color as many boxed varieties thanks to the color of the sweet potato, but it is far superior in flavor and nutritional value. Get ready to make this over and over as it’s a crowd pleaser for adults and kids alike!
For this recipe, you can use any combination of vegetables or beans you’d like. Cauliflower, sweet potato, butternut squash, zucchini, chickpeas or white beans all work well. Simply purée, stir into your cheese sauce and voila! Microbiome magic in the making! You can even add puréed veggies and beans to a box of packaged mac and cheese—just make sure it’s Gut Hero–approved. Be creative and have fun thinking of all the ways this classic mac and cheese with a Gut Hero twist will nourish your child’s gut microbiome.
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with olive oil, butter or cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the elbow macaroni and cook for 1 minute less than what it says on the package for al dente pasta. Drain, rinse with cold water and toss with a drizzle of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking together.
3. Add the cauliflower and sweet potato to a saucepan with ½ cup water. Cover and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender and easily pierced with a fork, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
4. Drain the vegetables and transfer to a blender. Add the beans and ½ cup of the milk to the blender. Blend until puréed. (If you have an immersion blender, you can skip this step and instead add the steamed vegetables and beans to the sauce in step 7 and blend right in the pot.)
5. In the same pot you cooked the pasta in, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until just fragrant, about 1 minute.
6. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and whisk until dissolved. Continue whisking until the mixture begins to bubble, about 2 minutes.
7. Pour in the remaining 1½ cups milk, whisking the whole time to prevent clumps. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low.
8. Stir in the vegetable purée, salt, black pepper, paprika and Italian seasoning, if using. Cook until the sauce is thick and creamy, about 5 minutes.
9. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese until melted.
10. Stir the pasta into the cheese sauce. Pour the mac and cheese into the baking dish. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbly and top is golden brown. You can switch the oven to broil for the last 5 to 10 minutes to get a cheesy “crust.” You can also add gluten-free bread crumbs sautéed in butter and then broil for a crunchy topping.
11. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before serving.
Per serving: 438 calories, 22 grams fat, 23.5 grams protein, 42 grams carbohydrate, 6 grams fiber
Notes: Higher-protein pastas to try include ZENB Pasta Elbows made from yellow peas, Explore Cuisine Organic Chickpea Fusilli, and Bionaturae Organic Rice and Lentil Elbows. I’ve made this recipe gluten-free, but feel free to use any Gut Hero–approved pasta that is appropriate for your family.
For the smoothest cheese sauce, shred your own block of cheese. Packaged preshredded cheese is super-convenient but typically has anticaking agents that keep the cheese from clumping, which also keep it from melting as smoothly as possible, and may be a little sus for your microbiome. Once my son, Bodi, learned how to shred blocks of cheese for homemade grilled cheese and tomato soup night, we’ve never looked back!
You can also make this recipe dairy free by substituting plant-based butter, cheese and milk.
From Healthy Kids, Happy Kids. Copyright © 2024 by Elisa Song, MD. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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