Cold-and-flu season calls for comfort food and lots of vitamin-C foods.
A mission of mercy for a person with sniffles could include steaming bowls of chicken soup and cups of hot tea laced with honey and lemon, offered in between bouts of bed rest.For a more substantial meal, offer a casserole of soft, creamy, golden macaroni and cheese. It takes no extra energy to chew, and it goes very nicely with a slice of wheat toast and a few pieces of colorful fresh fruit or vegetables.
And most healthy people are crazy about macaroni and cheese, too, so this is an all-purpose solution to the age-old question, "What's for dinner?"
The energetic ones in the household might want a broiled chop or microwaved meatloaf to go with their "Mac," but puny people usually prefer simple menus with "Mac" as the entree.
Among my collection of macaroni-and-cheese recipes, the versions baked to a golden crust on top are more popular than the quicker stove-top versions. This disallows all opinions from the peanut gallery that a box mix is better than homemade "Mac."
Maybe sometimes it is, but most times the homemade baked casserole of elbows and cheese is more satisfying.
Some recipes call for a ritzy blend of five cheeses, others just good ol' Cheddar, the sharper the better.
Last summer and fall, I came upon these two versions. One is a healthier-than-most recipe that includes garlicky sourdough bread crumbs and cottage cheese. This is from an excellent healthy-diet guide suitable for everyone, "Sunset Diabetic Cookbook" (Sunset Books, Sept. 15,1996, $12.99).
The second "Mac" is definitely different, a blend of small pasta shapes, spicy brown mustard, smoked Swiss cheese and a process cheese spread (such as Cheez Whiz). It was demonstrated last summer at the Ohio State Fair's Heartland Cuisine food pavilion by Lt. Gov. Nancy Hollister, who said it tastes just like her husband's mother's macaroni and cheese.
In case the chief household cook is the one stricken with a cold or flu, pray that some leftover macaroni and cheese is waiting in the fridge to be scooped out and microwaved until sizzling. Cover loosely with plastic wrap during reheating, because the pockets of cheese absorb microwave energy quickly and can pop, putting exploded macaroni all over the inside of the microwave. Appliance cleanup is too much for the cold-ravaged to cope with.
To round out the meal and for snacking in the recovery room, provide plenty of vitamin-C foods. Orange juice is obvious, but navel orange slices are higher in fiber. Eaten raw, so the vitamin C can be at its maximum level, some other top vitamin-C foods include kiwi fruit, red bell pepper, sweet red Texas grapefruit sections (Ruby Sweet or Rio Star), cantaloupe chunks and crisp broccoli stems cut into sticks (no need to peel).
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Recipes
SUNSET'S MACARONI & CHEESE
2 slices (about 2 ounces) sourdough sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
11/2 cups skim milk
1 tablespoon flour
8 ounces (about 2 cups) elbow macaroni
1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Salt and ground white pepper
Chopped parsley, optional
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: About 1 hour
Whirl bread in a blender or food processor until fine crumbs form. Combine crumbs, 1 tablespoon water, the olive oil and garlic in a 4- to 5-quart nonstick pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until crumbs are crisp (8 to 10 minutes). Remove from pan and set aside. Wipe out pan with a paper towel and set aside for use again.
Combine cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of the milk in a blender or food processor. Whirl until smooth; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour and 1/4 cup more milk until smooth; set aside.
Bring 8 cups of salted water to a boil in another 4- to 5-quart pan over high heat. Stir in pasta and cook just until tender to bite (8 to 10 minutes), or cook according to package directions. Have oven heating to 350 degrees. Wipe olive oil on the inside of a 2- to 21/2-quart oval casserole or other baking dish-of-choice. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 3/4 cup milk in the 4- to 5-quart pan (same used for crumbs) until steaming; do not boil milk. Add flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Cook, stirring often, until mixture begins to thicken (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in cottage cheese mixture, the Cheddar and nut-meg.
Drain pasta well in a colander. Add to cheese mixture and blend gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon into the oiled casserole and cover tightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with bread crumbs and continue baking, uncovered, until top is lightly browned and mixture is bubbling, about 20 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.
- Recipe adapted from "Sunset Diabetic Cookbook" (Sunset Books, 1996, $12.99).
MARIETTA MAC-N-CHEESE
1 box (12 to 14 ounces) macaroni or other small pasta such as shells or rotini
11/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1/2 pound smoked Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 jar (16-ounce) pasteurized process cheese spread, such as Cheez Whiz
Salt, pepper to taste
Fine dry bread crumbs
Yield: 8 servings
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking: 30 minutes
Boil macaroni in salted water until tender to the bite. Drain well in a colander and set aside.
In a large pan over low heat, combine milk, butter and mustard. Heat until butter is melted, stirring often. Add cheeses, a little bit at a time. Stir constantly until ingredients are well mixed and cheese is melted. (At some point, the mixture may look curdled, but it will smooth out.)
Add macaroni to cheese mixture; stir until combined. Season with salt, pepper. Turn mixture into a suitable baking dish (lightly greased for easier cleanup). Top with bread crumbs. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes.
- Recipe from the Ohio State Fair's 1996 Heartland Cuisine program; contributed by Nancy Hollister.