Healthy Mac n' Cheese

Today I am going to be doing a demo on Connecticut’s NBC30 at 11:00 am, which is channel 4. I will be teaching you all how to make a simple and healthy version of Macaroni and Cheese using Feta and Yogurt. Its taste closely resembles the classic macaroni and cheese, but without any of the heavy ingredients. I do not remember the first time I made this dish. It might have been in college one night, when I was addicted to Greek yogurt. I discovered that combining feta cheese and yogurt was super creamy and tasted even better than the macaroni and cheese I grew up with. It was also much healthier and easier to make. And throughout the years since then, this has been my go-to recipe for a healthy dinner in a flash.

All you do is mix yogurt with freshly cooked pasta and stir in feta cheese. It is as simple as that. The residual heat of the pot heats the yogurt and the feta cheese adds the necessary amount of saltiness. What I love about this dish is that you can use the yogurt, cheese, and pasta as a base for many more combinations. I used to add cooked chickpeas to it for added protein. My mother likes hers with spicy peppers or freshly ground black peppercorns. The two of us were daydreaming about adding anchovies and olives as well. I would be curious to know what people are going to add to their own version. Hint hint. . . give us some ideas!!!

You can buy feta and yogurt from one of Connecticut’s goat dairy farms to make this dish local. My favorite is Beltane Farms. They are currently in kidding season, so you will have to wait a few more weeks for the yogurt, but the feta is available on the shelves of select Whole Foods.