I made this before (Vegetables, Tofu, Pasta and Cheese), several times in fact. Each time I’ve made it I’ve tweaked to make it better. I thought it would be good to repost/reboot it with the changes I’ve been making to make this dish even better. If you didn’t bounce over to the original copycat recipe, it was all formulated because a favorite frozen lunch dish (Amy’s Country Cheddar Bowl).

The biggest change was creating a cheese sauce before mixing all the ingredients. Also, because of my wife’s changed diet, we used gluten free pasta and panko bread crumbs, rice flour and lactose free milk. This made zero difference in this dish as far as flavor or anything else. I also didn’t steam the broccoli which made it even more crunchy, which we liked a lot.

Healthy Mac’n Cheese – Above

Healthy Mac’n Cheese – Side

Amy’s Country Cheddar Bowl

INGREDIENTS

• 10-12 oz tofu, drained, dried and cut into ¼ inch slices
• 8 oz Gluten free rotini pasta
• 1 head of broccoli, sliced thin and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
• 2 carrots, sliced thin (I have a fancy peeler tool, just cut them thin as you can)
• 8-10 red new potatoes, quartered
• Dale’s steak seasoning
• 1-2 cup lactose free milk (or cream)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2-3 tablespoon rice flour
• 10 oz aged English cheddar cheese, grated
• Gluten free Panko bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
2. Add potatoes to a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss. Roast for 10-15 minutes. If you have a convection oven, switch to convection and cook until potatoes are crispy and browned. If you don’t have a convection, toss the potatoes once or twice during cooking. Remove and set aside also reduce the oven heat to 350 F.
3. Heat a large non-stick pan to medium heat. Make sure the tofu is dry and season with a little salt. Add oil to the pan to coat. Cook the tofu until slightly browned on both sides. Let the tofu cool on a cutting board, then cut into cubes.
4. In a large pot over high heat, bring water to boil. Season the water with salt and add the pasta to still boiling water and cook to al dente according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
5. In a bowl combine Dale’s, milk, onion powder, garlic powder and Dijon.
6. In the same pasta pot over medium heat add olive oil and heat until it shimmers. Add equal parts flour and whisk constantly to create a paste (roux).
7. Add the milk mixture, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, creating a bechamel sauce. Add the grated cheese and continue whisking to combine, creating a Mornay sauce. Once the mixture has thickened, cut the heat.
8. Next add everything else. Season to taste. Toss to combine the mixture and add to a baking dish. Top with panko bread crumbs (I just used a cup or so) and drizzle with a little olive oil.
9. Place in the oven until all the cheese is melted and the sauce has thickened. Switch the oven to the broiler and cook the top of the mixture until golden brown (carefully not to burn).