Thursday, September 15, 2011

Asian Macaroni and Cheese

Asian Macaroni and Cheese

For the third time in two weeks I've made Asian Macaroni and Cheese from Kim Barnouin's new cookbook Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook.   I thought it was time I shared my obsession with my friends.  The recipe title is a bit of a misnomer because there is nothing cheesy about it but the secret to the mild, creamy flavour of this baked pasta dish is coconut milk.  I thought this sounded strange at first and wasn't inclined to try this recipe but a recommendation from someone in my cooking group on Goodreads (*waving at Laura) convinced me to give it a chance.  My only complaint is the number of pots necessary to prepare this dish - three on the stove-top plus your baking dish.  The sauce is very mild and consists of coconut milk, water, pureed cauliflower, miso, a tiny bit of mustard and soy sauce.  The top gets nice and crispy when baked with the Panko bread crumbs sprinkled on top.  Along with the tofu, I've tossed in some quick fried broccoli (in place of more cauliflower) to add some colour.  You could easily throw in more veggies to beef it up even more.  This dish is kid-friendly and a great meal that would probably go down well with most people.  We are certainly enjoying a lot of it.  :-)

7 comments:

  1. That looks amazing! I once tried the mac n' cheese recipe in Skinny Bitch and I was so not impressed. It called for frozen pureed squash and the flavor of the dish was predominantly squash (although, the color was lovely). Now, I love me some squash and I love me some mac n cheese, but not together! I may be willing to try again, after seeing this post.

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  2. Thanks Christina! The flavour of the sauce is actually quite mild, nothing overpowering. My daughter wouldn't touch it if it was weird. She's extremely picky. She especially likes to pick off the crispy bits of pasta from the top.

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  3. Sounds yummy and looks gorgeous! It's a cool morning here (hooray) and I'm starting to crave comfort food like this.

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  4. Funnily enough, it looks more cheesy than many vegan mac & cheese recipes. I'm not a huge coconut fan, though I have liked the milk in Thai dishes. It looks yummy. Yum re crispy pasta on the top!

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  5. It's hard to tell from the photo but it's actually quite creamy and delicious. I added too much pasta when I made it this time without increasing the sauce so it looks a little drier than normal. The coconut taste is not strong but it makes the sauce very creamy. Can I say creamy one more time - LOL?

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  6. Oh boy...I'm going to have to buy this cookbook. I can tell.

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  7. I'll try and review a few more recipes before it goes back to the library but life is crazy right now! I can tell you that the layout of the book is very nice.

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