broccoli cauliflower macaroni & cheese (a Jess post)

I am a HUGE fan of comfort food. Almost every week I try to slip something in that is either creamy or cheesy or rich. It's good for the soul even if it isn't always good for my hips. That's why I usually try to slip some kind of vegetable in and/or lighten the recipe a bit with extra flavor as opposed to extra fat (not that fat is always a bad thing). This broccoli cauliflower mac & cheese is one of those comfort foods for sure. Even after a super busy day, one bite in and I immediately heaved a sigh of contentment. And there really isn't THAT much cheese in it, so I don't have to feel bad about my GIANT serving (or the servings I'll be eating every day for lunch this week...)

This mac & cheese is VERY loosely based on this Real Simple recipe. When I've made it in the past, the only veggie I used was cauliflower (which I actually prefer). Drew HATES cauliflower though so I figured I'd throw him a bone and balance it with broccoli, which he does like. So here's what I ended up with:

Ingredients-
12 oz elbow macaroni
3 c roughly chopped cauliflower and broccoli
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper
1 T onion flakes
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
1 T dried Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c milk
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c seasoned breadcrumbs

Heat oven to 400. Cook pasta according to directions, adding cauliflower & broccoli during last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain. Toss pasta mixture with oil, salt, pepper, onion flakes & onion powder. Mix in cheeses, sour cream, milk & mustard. Transfer to 9x9 baking dish, top with breadcrumbs & bake until browned (12-15 minutes). Makes apprx. 6-8 servings.

Like I said, I adore this recipe. Griffin loved it too! Drew, on the other hand, despised it. He said he couldn't pick out the cauliflower and the taste made his stomach hurt. He literally had to go eat pretzels to "wash the taste out". SO looks like Griff & I have lots of leftovers to ourselves and it will be BROCCOLI mac & cheese next time. Sigh. He's lucky he's cute and handy.