After googling my options, I settled on the Pioneer Woman’s recipe as a solid basis from a trusted source. Seriously, go check it out, because the recipe is good, and the pictures are awesome.

Side Note: I seriously think people may devote too much creativity to coming up with mac & cheese variations. I can understand wanting a roux/no roux option (although, really, if you can whisk, you can make a roux), but I found an overwhelming jungle of options, even when I narrowed it down to trusted sources.

My variation included whole wheat pasta (some people don’t like whole wheat pasta, but I really really do) and about a million cheeses. Okay, really, probably 6; the co-op has baskets with smaller pieces of whatever kinds of cheeses they’ve been cutting lately, so I got several different kinds (two cheddars, a gruyere, and a raw milk monterey jack) and added some bits I had at the house (parmesan, mozzarella).

It was so delicious I had to put it away to prevent myself from eating way, way too much. Yummy dinner, yummy leftovers. This is what I live for.

Macaroni and Cheese: A+

In an attempt to balance things out, and also because we got a ton of broccoli from our farm share this week, I tried a recipe I’d heard great things about: Ina Garten’s Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli. I stuck pretty close to the recipe on this one, and man, it is tasty. So tasty that Ian, who does not love broccoli as I do, said it was really good. Which gives me like two broccoli recipes that Ian likes. It’s a start!

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli: A

Side Note 2: Ina Garten may be old news to some, but she only came into my life earlier this spring, when I was flipping through the channels and came upon her making her Spring Green Risotto, which first hypnotized me then compelled me to cook it within the week. I can say with a straight face that this recipe changed my life, since it introduced me to mascarpone, which I had a brief but delicious affair with this spring. But it’s also a great recipe for the first vegetables of the summer. Delicious.