Quinoa and Broccoli Mac-N-Cheese

If you don’t like mac-n-cheese, I don’t know if we can be friends! It might be my favorite food on the planet. I wanted to experiment with a new recipe for a few reasons. One, I recently went “semi” gluten-free and dairy-free (I am trying to limit the amount I have because it makes my tummy upset) and two, the boxed mac-n-cheese is full of preservatives, chemicals, and artificial food coloring. No thanks.

 

After searching for a few recipes on Pinterest, I came up with my own twist on two that sounded amazing. I made the cheese sauce with a secret ingredient: SWEET POTATOES! And instead of noodles, or even gluten-free noodles, I opted for quinoa to give the dish more protein, and added broccoli to “bulk” it up and give it a nutritional punch.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

 

INGREDIENTS: 

2 sweet potatoes

1/2 onion

4 garlic cloves, crushed 

1/2 cup milk

1 cup cheese (any kind)

1/4 cup vegetable broth (low-sodium)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbs Ghee or butter

2 tbs flour (make a roux)

1/2 tsp paprika

3 cups quinoa (pre-cooked according to package instructions) 

3 cups chopped broccoli (roasted or steamed) 

 

 

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. I made ahead the quinoa and broccoli to save on time. It’s a meal prep tip that you MUST DO! I chose to roast my broccoli.
3. Peel, dice and boil sweet potatoes until tender. Then drain and place potatoes in a blender. Let cool.
4. While potatoes cool down, chop onion and peel and crush garlic cloves. Put 1 tsp of olive oil in a pan and cook until translucent.  Don’t worry to much on the size of the onion because you’ll be blending it with the potatoes shortly.
5. Once onions are translucent, add them to the sweet potatoes in the blender, along with 1/4 cup vegetable broth. Blend until smooth.
6. In the pot you boiled the potatoes in, melt 2 tsp of Ghee or butter on low heat, then add 2 tsp of flour. Whisk together to make a roux, then add the milk and continue whisking. Once combined, add sweet potato puree and continue whisking.
7. Add spices and stir.
8. Once well combined, add quinoa and broccoli (reserve 1/2 cup chopped broccoli for garnish).
9. Once well combined, transfer mix to a greased baking dish. Top with 1/2 cup broccoli and you can even sprinkle a little more cheese on top.
10. Place baking dish in the oven until cheese is bubbly.
11. Remove from oven, let it cool a bit, as it will be really hot. Serve and enjoy!