Who doesn’t like mac n’ cheese? I absolutely love trying new mac n’ cheese from different restaurants to fill my comfort food desires. The best place I’ve found thus far is the Montage in Portland, OR. They have a Spicy Mac, Old Mac and a Spold Mac. The Spold is a combination of the spicy and old mac. Old mac is a traditional creamy pasta. They spicy is quite spicy and lives up to the name. Spold is a perfect combination of the two, this is the one I always get. You can add chicken or spam to this which I opt out due to Mac N’ Cheese needs to be as traditional as possible for me. Thus far, hands down, the greatest Mac N’ Cheese. My arteries enjoy this probably more than I would like. As good as it is, it’s something you must take into consideration that you may end up with heart failure by the end of the evening with this creamy goodness. :)

Now…… I have made quite a few recipes of mac n’ cheese but haven’t found any that I am confident in. Although the one I am going to share is a healthy version that I find to be just right. I have made one that is decent but I must say it is far from healthy and may ruin the taste if I told you there may be Velveeta in it. Don’t worry, the recipe below is healthy and has not even a hint of Velveeta.

Ingredients:

• Orzo
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Edamames

Cook orzo according to package instructions. I cook it about a minute less than it calls for. Drain water leaving about ¼ cup pasta water to help other ingredients adhere to the pasta. (Note: anytime you cook pasta it’s best to leave some pasta water in the hot pasta. If you are using EVOO or dressing, it will not adhere to the pasta and will lose most the flavor you want to achieve, the pasta water helps with absorption.) While hot, add cheese (roughly 2 cups cheese to 2 cups pasta) and mix well. I use frozen edamames from Trader Joes and toss them directly in. The heat will thaw them without over cooking. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and enjoy.

My son loves this and I don’t feel guilty feeding it to him as I would with the boxed mac n’ cheese. You know, the mystery pack of cheese that nobody knows what exactly is in it. I must confess, I have enjoyed myself a box or two and may have added hot dogs to this elegant dish and most of all preferred it a day old after it’s been reheated. :)  Some people would say that is disgusting…well I must agree, yet it was something I ate growing up and thoroughly enjoyed and still do now and again. Now that I am a mom, I try not to buy any boxed food items as there are many ingredients and 95% of them are words we can’t even pronounce and should never have been added to our dictionary. They are purely chemicals.

So, go ahead and make a batch of this Orzo Mac and if desired, add some spice and heat it up with a little Sraracha, Cayenne Pepper or Paprika.