(Almost) Instant Mac and Cheese (and Healthier Too)

Baked cod, roasted tomatoes, asparagus and quick mac and cheese with cauliflower.

I came up with this side dish tonight to go with some baked cod (frozen cod from Costco) with roasted tomatoes, and asparagus.

I put the cod and the halved tomatoes in a casserole and drizzled all with olive oil, sprinkled the tomatoes with salt, pepper and oregano and the cod with black pepper and Italian style bread crumbs.

That all went into the oven at 375, for about 20-25 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish) and I got a pot of water boiling and put the asparagus in a skillet with a little butter and white wine, ready to go on the fire.

I had about 1/3 box of quick-cook Ronzoni penne pasta (which cooks in 3 minutes) and when the cod was close to being done, I got the pasta into the pot to boil while the cauliflower (which was last night's leftover - roasted in the oven with olive oil and garlic, so I knew it would go good with pasta) was in the microwave to reheat - also 3 minutes.

When the pasta was done, I put the asparagus on to cook in the skillet on high heat for just a few minutes.

I drained the pasta, put in two heaping tablespoons (+/-) of plain non-fat yogurt and approximately 3 heaping tablespoons (+/-) of grated Romano cheese, added in the cauliflower with its garlicky sauce and tossed the whole thing together.

Easy and healthier mac and cheese

The fish was done and so was the asparagus. All in less than 30 minutes. Rachael Ray, eat your heart out.