Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I often find myself poring over cookbooks and trying to find ways to make healthier versions of classic comfort foods that still taste like, well, comfort foods. I'm also trying to keep sodium low (am trying to get off BP meds), so I balk at any recipe where there are more mg of sodium than calories. In playing with a classic mac n' cheese recipe today, I modified it into an AWESOME version that is better in every nutritional category. First the numbers.

Serving size 3/4 cup
Calories = 304
Fat = 17 g (10 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat)
Carbs = 25 g
Fiber = 4 g
Protein = 14 g
Sodium = 224 mg
Cholesterol = 46 mg

Note that the low sodium is achieved by using low sodium cheeses, unsalted butter, and omitting additional salt from the recipe, including cooking the pasta. Note also that I do not care for the way that reduced fat cheeses melt, so this was done with real cheeses (i.e. not reduced fat or fat free) and 2% milk. If the calories are still a bit too high for you, you could certainly play with the cheese and milk components.

1 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat macaroni
5 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp wheat flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
6 oz cheese (Your choice...we used 2 oz Swiss and 1 oz each of sharp cheddar, Gorgonzola, mozzarella, and cream Havarti to get a 5-cheese effect...we'll likely modify our choices next time to play with the flavor.)
2 tbsp dry bread crumbs

(1) Cook pasta; drain and transfer to greased baking dish (1 1/2 to 2 quart)
(2) Melt 4 tbsp butter in saucepan; add flour, pepper, and milk. Stir until smooth. Bring to boil; cook & stir for 2 min.
(3) Reduce heat and add cheese; stir until all cheese is melted.
(4) Pour cheese sauce over macaroni and stir together. Melt 1 tbsp butter and mix with bread crumbs; sprinkle on top.
(5) Bake for 30 min. at 400 F.

A couple of notes. You need at least 2 oz of Swiss to keep sodium low as it's one of the lowest sodium cheeses and compensates of the high sodium of softer cheeses like the Gorgonzola and Havarti. If you lose the Swiss the sodium will increase per serving. Anyway, my wife and I enjoyed this immensely (and will both be solidly under our net calories at day's end!) and our four year old loved it. Is that a ringing endorsement or what?

I do a lot of lower sodium cooking and have a number of good recipes, so feel free to send friend requests if this appeals to you and you're interested in others.

Cheers!