I buy into most of what Alton Brown has to sell on the subject of mac and cheese. In essence: bound with a roux-based sauce, cheesy-as-sin, crispy up top. I change his template up a bit:

• Skip the egg.
• Add a dash of tumeric to the white sauce base.
• Skip the breadcrumbs and add a nice layer of cheese to the top.
• Our version ends up using a bit more cheese. Around 16 oz. I’ve had the best luck with medium to mature cheddar. Too mature and the sauce can go all grainy.

This is so rich we can only eat it once every 2 or 3 months. It hurts so good.

Julia Moskin waxes historic and ultra-cheesy in her NYT piece. “The moral of the story: When in doubt, add more cheese.” Amen, sister.

Shredded to: Chisel – Set You Free.

Oh, tasty days, here comes the peanut sauce.

• half medium shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
• 1 chile (or whatever), minced
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• salt to taste

1. In a small saucepan, saute the shallot, garlic, ginger, and chile until golden.
2. Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy, and sugar and bring to a simmer. (For maximum mixing pleasure, use a whisk.)
3. Simmer away for like 20 minutes or so, mixing frequently. Taste as you go and adjust salt/sweet/spicy magical combo to your liking
4. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice.

Tonight we ate this with some broiled cauliflower (because they were out of broccoli at the grocery) and fried tofu.

We make a mega-spicy version of this to bathe spring rolls in.

Documented while rocking: My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

However you spell it, hummus is one delicious staple. Instead of adding another recipe to the Internet-a-verse (it’s chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, salt and olive oil – use your imagination), how about some extra lemony opinions instead?

• Cook your own chickpeas. This makes the single biggest difference in a batch. You want the little gems as soft as you can get them, without breaking ‘em up. You can soak them for like 48 hours before cooking, if you have that much patience.
• Canned or cooked, separate out the liquid from the beans before you process. As you blend, add the liquid back in gradually until you get the consistency you want. There’s so much other liquid action – olive oil, lemon juice – things can turn into a hummus slurry, if you’re not careful. (Confidentially, even slurried hummus can be pretty darn tasty.)
• You really don’t need a bunch of olive oil. Some of the best batches we’ve made have had little or no olive oil. Tahini, after all, packs a lot of oily love. Besides, you can always garnish with some oil (and paprika, and cumin, and sumac), if you’d like.
• Sumac is delicious. Yes it is.

Tonight, we made hummus, and served it with some whole wheat pita, goat cheese, tomatoes, yellow pepper, olives, carrot, and salad.

Mr. Bittman, over at the New York Times, has good tips, as always.

Musical accompaniment: Can – Monster Movie

Red quinoa is my favorite shade of this superfood. A little more depth than the run-of-the-mill variety. But whatever, you use the plain jane stuff, poseur.

This is somewhere between a cold salad and some freakish pilaf derivative. Hence its crazy namesake. Besides, quinoa is full of maniacal protein and calcium.

Tonight, we served this with some baked tofu. Great – quinoa and tofu. I can see you already – rolling your eyes and writing this off as some vegan cliché, dreamed up by a long-haired man-child with tastebuds eaten through by LSD – but I promise, this is some seriously savory stuff, dude.

• 6 oz. (red) quinoa
• 11 oz. h₂0 or broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 yellow/red pepper, diced
• 1 celery rib, thinly sliced
• a big handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon of coriander, chopped
• salt, pepper to taste
• 1 half lemon, juiced
• splash of the most virgin olive oil

1. In a small saucepan, bring salted water/broth to a boil.
2. Add quinoa. Cover and simmer.
3. After a few minutes, add the pepper and celery.
4. Cook until the water’s absorbed (about 20 minutes).
5. Transfer the steaming pile to a mixing bowl.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients, seasoning to taste.
7. Mix it.
8. Sure, you can eat it right away, but if you let it sit for a bit, it just gets that much better.

Lots of exciting derivatives. Add some chile peppers partway through cooking. Mix in some garbanzo beans. Go crazy.

Made while listening to: Stevie Wonder – Talking Book.