Healthy Macaroni

Cooking a macaroni recipe does not has to mean lots of calories, Chef has cooked a healthy macaroni recipe that is delicious and simple to cook.

Instead of macaroni cheese how about macaroni with vegetables and chicken?

This is a very tasty dish to make, great for pasta lovers that don't always want a creamy or cheesy sauce.

Red, green and orange peppers, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms and garlic give this dish lots of health benefits such as vitamin C, vitamin A and more including fibre.

Cooked chicken is used in this recipe which is added at the end of cooking to heat through, frozen chicken can be used as long as it is pre-cooked and ready to eat.

A great recipe to use up left over chicken from a Sunday roast.

If you do not eat chicken you can use quorn chicken or even eat it as a vegetable pasta dish, it is just delicious!

You can serve this wonderful macaroni recipe with fresh garlic bread.

Ingredients for healthy macaroni recipe

• 1 large Sweet pointed red pepper/capsicum (chopped)
• 1 Green pepper/capsicum (chopped)
• 1 Orange Pepper/capsicum (chopped)
• 3 Flat mushrooms (chopped)
• 4-5 small Carrots (sticks)
• 1 Zucchini (sticks)
• 1 large tsp Garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp Tomato puree
• Salt to taste
• 3/4 Cup of water
• 1 tsp Tomato ketchup
• Few drops of Worcestershire sauce
• Pinch dried basil
• Large pinch dried parsley
• 3-4 Cups of Cooked chicken or Pre-cooked frozen chicken
• Rice bran oil

Picture of fresh vegetables.

 How to make a healthy macaroni recipe:

1. Take a large pan and drizzle in a little oil.
2. Add the carrots and cook on a medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
3. The carrots should start to soften but not brown.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the garlic zucchini and peppers and some salt.
5. Cook for another 5-8 minutes stirring often so that the vegetables do not burn.
   
   
   
   
6. Add the water, puree, herbs and mushrooms. 
7. Stir well turn the heat up for a few seconds then turn the heat back down, place on the lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
8. Stir frequently.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Once the vegetables are cooked add the cooked chicken, stir often and keep cooking for a few minutes until the chicken is heated through.
10. If you are using pre-cooked frozen chicken, add the chicken and simmer with the lid on stirring very often until the chicken has evenly defrosted and heated through.
11. Taste and check for seasoning.
    
    
    
    
12. Stir the chicken and vegetables through the macaroni and serve with fresh cracked black pepper.
    
    
13. Enjoy healthy macaroni pasta recipe.