Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Christmas Mac & Cheese (aka Three Cheese Mac & Cheese with Roasted Broccoli and Sun Dried Tomatoes)

Main Dishes

Happy Hanukah! Merry Almost Christmas! We’re on a bus right now headed to New York City, where we’ll be spending the holidays with my family. I’m really looking forward to eating our way through the city, and I’m especially excited about heading over to The Doughnut Plant, which my friend Britt has been urging me to check out forever. She knows how much I love donuts – I’m so excited!

I also kind of love the fact that the internet is working on our bus, and I’m blogging away. Multitasking just makes me happy – I wish I could do this daily during my regular commute! Anyway, I won’t be cooking for Christmas this year, but if I was, I think I would add this mac & cheese to the menu. It’s super creamy and packed with fontina, asiago, and goat cheese. Plus, the festive red and green sun dried tomatoes and roasted broccoli, respectively, just make me smile. I even snuck in some protein-packed chicken for Apolinaras, so this was a one dish meal for us, but you could leave it out and feature it as more of a side dish too. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Christmas Mac & Cheese (aka Three Cheese Mac & Cheese with Roasted Broccoli and Sun Dried Tomatoes)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 head broccoli florets (I had 5 cups, 11 ounces)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound orecchiette pasta
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
2 cups shredded fontina cheese
1 cup shredded asiago cheese
8 ounces goat cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, well drained

Directions:
Heat oven to 400°F. Place broccoli florets on a large cookie sheet and drizzle evenly with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes at 400°F or until tender.

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and place back in a large pot.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat and sauté chicken for 5 to 7 minutes or until fully cooked and no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from pan and place in the pan with the pasta; add roasted broccoli to the same pot.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook one more minute or until mixture starts to brown. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and mix in fontina, asiago, and goat cheeses, and salt. Heat 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth, whisking occasionally. Mix cheese sauce with the pasta, chicken, and broccoli in the large pot; stir in sun-dried tomatoes. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 847 calories, 31.3g fat, 5.6g fiber, 57.5g protein per serving
Cost: $2.20 per serving

Soba Noodles with Eggplant, Snow Peas, and Tofu

We’ve been so busy lately that I’ve baked more “emergency” frozen pizzas for dinner than I’d care to admit. I have managed to whip up some soba noodles a couple of times though. They’re so quick and tasty, and there’s nothing better than a one pot meal. For this...

Avocado Ranch Israeli Couscous Salad

I’m not a huge main dish salad fan. It seems like whenever I just have greens with veggies and protein for lunch, I end up with a grumbling tummy only a couple hours later. My outlook recently changed after a lab potluck though. Sima brought in a lovely spinach salad...

Salmon over Coconut Broth with Baby Bok Choy, Snow Peas, and Mushrooms

I have to admit that even though I consider myself a “foodie,” sometimes hearing about the local/organic food debate tires me out. Ideally, we’d all get all our food from farmers in our state who use no pesticides, right? But it’s not really economical for most people...

Chicken Skewers over Citrus Mashed Potatoes

I love planning parties. My perfectionist and organizational sides enjoy thinking about all the details and watching everything come together. We may not have kids yet, but I already know I’ll be one of those moms attempting to throw picture perfect birthday parties...

Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

The past few weeks have been a bit more crazy than usual because I’ve been working on a grant with my PI while still trying to squeeze in a healthy number of experiments. Our annual genetics department and lab ski retreats have also been thrown into the mix, and I’ve...

Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash

Well it’s somehow November, which I’m in denial about, but the good news is that it’s finally time to share squash recipes! I actually buy winter squash out of season occasionally (yep, I’m a bad food blogger...) because sometimes I crave it even in the middle of the...

Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Penne Pasta

I’ve been looking forward to this week for awhile now, because I get to see my good friend Susie not once, but twice, in two different cities! Susie is one of my best friends from college. We initially bonded as partners in organic chemistry lab, where we amused...

Avocado Crab Cakes with Crushed Plantain Chips

Dear disappointing Boston restaurant, My hubby and I can rarely resist ordering crab cakes when we eat out, and I was really looking forward to trying your twist on our favorite appetizer during our recent visit to your restaurant. So, you can imagine our...