Quinoa Mac n' Cheese

Let's get to the point here. The true way to my heart is some seriously cheesy and gooey Mac n' Cheese. It makes total sense as cheese and carbs are the source of much of my happiness.

So, when I saw this Mac n' Cheese Quinoa recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it!

I used tricolor quinoa, 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese (I mean, come on I figured I'm swapping out the pasta for quinoa so I deserve .5 more cups of cheese, right?!), kale as my add in veggie and kept it simple without a topping.

I love how beautiful quinoa looks both before and after cooking.

My current favorite vegetable is brussels sprouts (I could sit and peel one leaf by leaf to eat as a snack - I'm going to keep riding this wave before it turns back to chips), so I minced some extra garlic and used it with olive oil to coat halved brussels sprouts. Next is to bake them on a cookie sheet at the same time as the mac n' cheese. Oh, the love of multi-tasking.

Before baking...

Someone was anticipating the mac n' cheese as much as I was. I did end up baking it for an extra 15 minutes (50 minutes total) because my bread crust wasn't quite browned to the right golden at 35 minutes.

And after!

This quinoa mac n' cheese definitely gives your taste buds the cheesy satisfaction that you're looking for, without the heavy pasta :) I'm not going to lie - I do still love my rich, carbohydrate filled mac n' cheese, but this is a great alternative for more frequent mac n' cheese dinners - without the guilt!

This recipe by the way is made to serve 8 people. SO, I'll have some tasty left overs for this week ;)

Thanks Leanne!