Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar

Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

Macaroni and cheese is one of the most popular comfort foods out there and what do you know? It's full of gluten. Of course it would be. Anything that tastes good seems to be full of the stuff. (Did you know tomato soup has gluten? Who'd have thought...) 

And for some reason, making a gluten-free macaroni and cheese seems to be something that requires a degree in miracles as most of the time gluten free macaroni and cheese is a disaster. It's likely that there's simply nothing quite like wheat-based pasta for that perfect consistency for holding all that cheese.

Many companies have attempted to create a gluten-free macaroni and cheese and most of them have offered a product that tastes good as long as you like paying a lot of money and you enjoy hovering over the stove, plucking a few macaroni bits out every two seconds from the pot just to make sure the concoction doesn't turn to mush.

Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

And that's what will happen to Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar should you walk away from the stove for more than two minutes. The box might say this stuff is done in about eight minutes, but it's MUCH FASTER than you think. Once that water is boiling and you drop that box of rice pasta into the pot, you'd better be ready to stand there, because the moment you leave it, that pasta's going to mush town on the first available train.

Rice pasta really is a delicate flower of a pasta and requires special care and attention any time the word "water" is used in its general vicinity. But as long as someone is willing to pay attention to the pasta and not leave the stove (truly, this is imperative), rice pasta is indeed a worthy base for macaroni and cheese.

Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

For "Annie's" version of macaroni and cheese, the directions suggest that while the pasta is cooling on the stove top that you should toss in the powered cheese and the quarter cup of milk the recipe calls for into a bowl and stir it up. This is actually a good idea as it means more cheese is on the pasta in the bowl when it's eventually mixed together instead of in the stove pot.

But one thing to note: I've made this pasta several times (at least a half dozen) and every time I've made the recipe to the box's specifications, the end result has turned out too soupy as the cheese just won't connect right and stay on the pasta - even if it's left to sit for a while. Your best bet is to back off on the milk a bit unless you like your macaroni and cheese a little soupy. You can also add a bit of butter for taste, but this is completely optional and the final result is fine with or without it.

Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free Rice Pasta and Cheddar Report Card

The Good Things:

As long as you keep an eye on the stove and aren't too liberal with the milk for the cheese mixture, Annie's is a great option for macaroni and cheese and does the job extremely well. 

The basic taste of this mac & cheese is very satisfying and is worth a try. You might have to make it just a few times in order to get the recipe just right, but the end result is worth it, especially if you've had a gluten version of macaroni and cheese in the past and remember fondly what it tasted like.

What Could be Better:

One guess as to what's always on sale at the grocery store and what's never on sale. That's right. You'll never find Annie's macaroni and cheese on sale in gluten free form. Or if it is on sale, the store's offering a paltry ten cents off the massive price tag (which can hover upwards of three and a half dollars!). This means that people who are fond of wheat can enjoy macaroni and cheese for about fifty cents while the gluten free crowd has to pony up their first born.

The consistency of rice pasta is also so delicate that making this macaroni and cheese seems like a more difficult operation than it should be. But this could be a general failing of rice pasta in general and not an issue for Annie's.

Tips for Great Mac & Cheese:

DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE WHILST THE PASTA IS COOKING. This is absolutely important. Even if you think going into the living room to catch some television for just a few minutes is okay, it's not. This pasta must be eyeballed at all times.

It's also a good idea to back off on the amount of milk that the recipe on the box calls for. Just back it off a bit and you'll have a less soupy result for your macaroni and cheese.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

One of the most delightful foods from childhood is macaroni and cheese and it's one of those foods that manufacturers love to advertise since it's so eternally popular. And in the last few years there has been some movement from pasta makers to create macaroni and cheese options that are gluten free. One such type of macaroni and cheese is Quinoa and according to Wikipedia, it's a type of crop that offers edible seeds, but it's not technically a type of grain. 

The neat thing about the crop though is that it does have an unusually high level of protein for something that resembles a grain and scientists have actually determined through testing that it's a complete protein as well. The crop is something that NASA engineers have suggested might be a healthy source of food during long space flights.

But for those of us here on earth, Quinoa is a great alternative to wheat-based pasta because it offers a very nice, solid texture when cooked. Unlike rice pasta, Quinoa will not usually melt into a bowl of goo if it's left to boil on the stove too long. And the high nutritional value of the food is a huge plus for anyone following a wheat-free or gluten free diet since such diets tend to be deficient in some types of important vitamins and minerals.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

For Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac and Cheese, the prospect of getting to eat macaroni and cheese that's not likely to turn into a mush bowl is quite appealing and anyone who has eaten Quinoa before will likely be quite aware of its suitability for cooking. But just because Quinoa acts great on the stove-top doesn't mean that it will necessarily accommodate absolutely any sort of topping or accompaniment.


This type of pasta does taste quite different from regular wheat pasta when it is cooked, although just because it's different doesn't mean that it can't taste good. In fact, when Quinoa is paired with a type of marinara sauce and some Parmesan, the taste combination is fantastic. 


But it's this author's opinion that Quinoa is not necessarily something that lends itself well to a macaroni and cheese presentation.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese in the Pot
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

Or perhaps it's simply because Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese has such an incredible amount of salt in it. Though anything with cheese is going to have some serious salt, macaroni and cheese is always one of the biggest offenders for anyone who wants to lower their salt intake. And Ancient Harvest Quinoa does seem to have a high salt content and might be extremely salty at first taste. 


But there are some options to lessen the significant salty flavor.


To take some of the salty bite out of the meal, adding some butter seems to do the trick. The directions for preparation don't require anything but milk to be added, but it's fine to add your own ingredients. In fact, the "variations" on the back of the box do suggest that the flavor can be enhanced with the addition of some butter.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese in the Bowl
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

One of the interesting things about Quinoa is that it stays together terrifically after it's cooked and therefore allows for a nice, solid meal, but for macaroni and cheese, the use of much more delicate rice pasta seems to lend itself better to the concoction. 


Quinoa has a great taste to it and it's definitely got some amazing nutritional components, but the addition of cheddar cheese in traditional macaroni and cheese just isn't the perfect presentation. 


It is by no means something that tastes bad, but for pure taste, going through the hassle of cooking rice pasta (which tends to turn to goo if you don't stare at it and rip it from the stove almost immediately) might result in a better overall macaroni and cheese experience.


For true macaroni and cheese aficionados, it might be best to consider going with Annie's Homegrown Gluten-Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar Mac & Cheese instead even though proper preparation of that particular manufacturer's rice pasta does take a close eye on the stove.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese Extreme Close-Up!
Photograph Copyright 2012 Kelsey Wyatt

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese Report Card


The Good Stuff


Quinoa has an amazing texture and consistency and is truly a wonderful alternative for pasta for anyone who requires gluten free food as it doesn't have nearly the problems that rice pasta does in staying firm after it's been cooked. It can actually be prepared in an "al dente" style if the cook prefers a firmer style of pasta. Quinoa also has better nutritional value than rice pasta or even simple corn pasta.


What Can Be Improved


As stated above, this particular type of Quinoa does have an amazing amount of salt in it and it's very noticeable in your first bite. While many people do love salt, it's often a good idea to add some butter to the finished product to lessen that salty blow.


Tips for Great Mac & Cheese


If this particular type of Quinoa is too salty or the taste isn't just right, do consider making macaroni and cheese with rice pasta, as the results are usually better as far as pure taste is concerned. For anyone who is already familiar with Quinoa and loves it, Ancient Harvest Quinoa Mac & Cheese will probably be a great option for getting that pasta fix.