By: Lee-Anne Ekland
Superhero Smasharoni
I won’t lie, I hide the vegetables when I cook for my son. But these days the little guy is getting too smart for his britches. So when I’m insisting on getting more greens in his belly, I appeal to the superhero in him. This my friend is the golden ticket if you want your kids to eat healthier.
My superhero’s favourite superhero may change as often as he changes his superhero underwear but there is one that stands out all the time. The Hulk.
We originally named this recipe Hulk Smasharoni but I changed it to include all his superheros as we don’t want to get into a copyright infringement thing when this recipe goes viral. In the meantime, enjoy!
Ingredients
2 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp yellow mustard
approx. 1 cup almond milk
2 cups of cheese (we prefer aged cheddar but you really can use anything)
1 tbsp salt
2-3 cups of raw spinach
1 package of rice pasta, preferably twisty macaroni style
Method
Put a large pot of water on to boil. Also, boil a kettle of water for the spinach.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and then stir in rice flour. Brown slightly to bring out a nice colour. Add mustard and a pinch of salt.
Add almond milk, stirring in slowly to avoid clumping and cook on medium heat until thickened.
Add cheese slowly and melt thoroughly. Turn heat down and cover.
When water has boiled, add olive oil and remaining salt, minus a pinch, to the water. Add pasta and cook for the minimum required time (about 7 minutes depending on type). Don’t overcook.
While pasta is cooking, rinse spinach and put into large measuring cup or bowl and fill with hot water. Add spinach to water to blanch, let stand a few minutes then drain in a colander.
Chop spinach finely, add a bit of salt for flavour if you wish.
When pasta has finished cooking, drain and rinse with warm water.
Add spinach to the cheese sauce, stirring in to distribute evenly.
Add pasta back into large pot, then stir in the sauce. Serve.
This recipe makes enough for two hungry grown ups, two kids and lots of leftovers. It freezes well too.
There you have it! Superhero Smasharoni! Yum!