Saturday, September 5, 2009

Whole Grain Gluten Free Mac & Cheese and a balanced 3 course meal for kids

Know what you Eat - Just one cup of brown rice will provide you with 88.0% of the daily value for manganese. This trace mineral helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates and is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, which are important for a healthy nervous system. Peas are one of the few members of the legume family that are cooked as fresh vegetables. Green peas provide very good amounts of 8 vitamins, 7 minerals, dietary fiber and protein. Celery is an excellent source of vitamin C, a vitamin that helps to support the immune system. Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K. Carrots are by far one of the richest source of carotenoids.

I had to make something for a small guest one of my friend's daughter(4 yrs old), who came in for lunch and a play date with my kids. Went for this simple and delicious one and they all loved it. I prefer brown rice pasta to wheat, they do taste way much better, you should be able to get Tinkyada rice pasta in health and organic food aisle in your food store.

Ingredients

Whole grain brown rice shell macaroni(uncooked ) - 2 cups
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Frozen green peas - 1 cup
Water

Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Grated Cheddar Cheese(Organic rennetless) - 1 1/2 cups
Flour - 1 teaspoon
Milk - 1/4 cup
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp or more to taste
Onion powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oregano powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

1) Thaw the frozen green peas, cover it with enough water, add 1/2 tsp salt (more as per your taste) cook till tender and set it aside.

2) Bring 2 quarts of water with the teaspoon of salt to a boil in thick-bottomed pan, add the macaroni and cooked through but slightly firm. Drain the water from the cooking pan, and leave the macaroni, add the cooked peas in the pan and keep the stove in low setting.

3) Dice the butter into small cubes and melt it in a saucepan over low heat.Once the butter is melted, begin whisking in the flour.When all the flour is incorporated, continue stirring and cooking for a few minutes. If you plan to be making a white or light-colored cheese sauce, be sure to keep the heat low enough that the flour does not brown. Now add milk and whisk the mixture until its smooth. Allow the sauce to simmer until it has lost its "floury" taste (this will take about 20 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and gently blend in the cheese and add pepper, onion powder and oregano. If the cheese doesn't seem to be melting sufficiently, you can return the pan to very low heat, but watch it carefully and remove as soon as the cheese is melted.

4) Now add this Cheese sauce to the cooked macaroni and peas and combine thoroughly
and serve hot immediately.

I served this with Soup and for the recipe you can click here, the only addition i did to the soup is adding 3/4th cup of cooked mung bean, mashed finely to make this a complete balanced meal and adding a small piece of beetroot to all the vegetables while cooking to give a nice color. I served Sweetened Mixed Nut Balls for dessert.

Event Participation
1) This goes to What you are Cooking for your Guests hosted by Raji of Rak's Kitchen.
2) This also goes to Well balanced three course meal event hosted by Yasmeen.

3) This goes to C&B Cheese Cheese Cheese hosted by Dido Divya.

34 comments:

srikars kitchen said...

looks really yummy & delicious..

Pari said...

The little one must have been really very happy. The pasta looks really yyummy and healthy too.

Nandini said...

Wow! It's really scrumptious and looks palatable! Of course, kiddos are likely to gobble them up! Gobbleworthy dish!

Shri said...

Lovely!I love the soup and the whole grain mac is such a healthy dish:)I should try it for my daughter:)

Bergamot said...

this is a good meal for kids... i too made a pasta with cheese sauce for my daughter with loads of vegetables.

Priti said...

Nice meal..looks perfect and colour combo is gud..sure nice for kids

Happy Cook said...

I am comming ovet to you place next time when you are havin gusest.

lata raja said...

never have cooked pasta this way. Neat recipes with many nutrients.

Sharmila said...

Been a long time since I had pasta. That plate looks so good. :-)

Parita said...

Who can say no to mac and cheese..slurp!

Pavani said...

I'm sure my son's gonna love this healthy mac-n-cheese. Will try. Where do u buy the organic cheese from??

Pavithra said...

Wow thats wonderful healthy meal... Looks perfect and wish to have that wonderful healthy platter.

Vrinda said...

First time here,u hav a nice yummy blog ...nice happy meal for kids who lov mac and cheese..

rekhas kitchen said...

Don't know about kids that plater looks very very very tempting for me great job yaar.perfect complete meal.

Hari Chandana said...

Looks healthy and delicious.. :)

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Thanks for that kids friendly meal :)

Chitra said...

hmm, looks nice..New to me !!

Priya said...

Wow thats a delicious and favourite meal for kids...looks prefect!

Sanghi said...

This is a lovely spread!

Priya Narasimhan said...

I just had my dinner..feeling hungry again seeing the picture..too good.

Yasmeen said...

Awesome and nutritious kiddie meal.thanks for sharing dear :)

Babli said...

I liked your blog very much. I appreciate for the wonderful presentation. Looks yummy and delicious.
You are welcome in my blogs.

Padma said...

That sure is a perfect meal for kids... with all their favourites too... looks yumm

chakhlere said...

You have awards waiting at my blog.
Please accept it from a little fan as token of appreciation.

Renu said...

A wholesome meal indeed !!! collect your award from my blog...

Nags said...

wow that really is something!

Purva Desai said...

this looks healthy and appetizing

Stephanie said...

Hi, For some reason I have never had rice pasta!! I will want to try this soon. How do you know for sure which cheese is rennetless? I use Cabot brand which I'm sure is renetless, but they don't make a wide variety...is the cheese at an Indian market usually renetless?
Peace, Stephanie

A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine said...

Thanks all for your comments, really appreciate it. Pavani, you can find organic renetless cheese in any food store, along with organic milk in the diary section. Stephanie, most of the organic cheese like Horizon don't have renett. Yes, Indian market has renetless but aren't organic.

Divya Kudua said...

Yummy and cheeeeesy:)

Suparna said...

wow!kids would freak out on this dearies :) I too wouldnt mind gorging on it for it looks so lealthy and beautifully presented :)

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Healthy Mac and cheese, makes me drool. Looks delicious.........

Preeti Kashyap said...

Wat a cute and healthy meal!

Aps said...

New here....this luks detectable Lovely:)

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