This Baked Green Mac and Cheese naturally colored from spinach and broccoli is the perfect addition to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Growing up my mom loved to celebrate every holiday. Especially when my siblings and I were little she would make crafts with us and dress up.
I am not quite as inspired or motivated as she was with celebrating holidays however I still like to have some fun with it.
Since Dan and I both have some Irish heritage (all three of our kids have Irish middle names), I like to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, even if it’s on a small scale.
This year I decided to experiment with making green mac and cheese.
When I first told my kids about it they thought it sounded gross which I really don’t blame them.
I decided to blend spinach with some whole milk to give it the green color but then thought it wasn’t green enough for my liking.
This led me to blend 2 cups of broccoli into the mix which make it much greener, but also a little grainy. Next time I’ll make sure to blend it a little longer.
Thankfully after the whole dish came together and I baked it, the texture and flavors turned out great. Of course you’re welcome to leave out the broccoli and just blend the spinach (which blends much easier).
The color just might be a little lighter green than mine turned out.
Dietitian’s Dish
You’ll notice that I rarely use whole milk in recipes.
I only buy skim milk for my family to drink and add to cereal to reduce the saturated fat we consume since there are plenty of foods we eat that contain saturated fats like in desserts.
So that’s one reason why I buy low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
However, I wanted to use whole milk in this recipe to help make the sauce extra creamy since I believe it needed it with the broccoli. Next time I may try using skim milk.
Baked Green Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole wheat macaroni noodles
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 2 cups frozen broccoli thawed
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- 4 cups colby jack cheese grated
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Add 2 cups milk, spinach and broccoli to a blender. Blend until spinach and broccoli are pureed.
- In a large pot, add butter and flour over medium heat. Once thickened, slowly add remaining 1 cup of milk. Stir until thickens.
- Add 3 cups cheese and seasonings to pot.
- Add pasta to mix and stir.
- Add pasta mix to baking dish, top with remaining 1 cup of grated cheese and bake for about 20 minutes.
This Baked Green Mac and Cheese post first appeared on Chocolate Slopes.
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