More-Vegetable-Less-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

We improvised this when we really just wanted mac & cheese for dinner but knew we needed to eat our vegetables.

We were too hungry/impatient to wait for sweet potatoes and squash to cook, so we cut them into very small pieces. To our pleasant surprise, that caused them to disappear into the sauce.

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Boil a pound of pasta.

Meanwhile, in a giant saute pan, steam-saute your vegetables until very soft. We used one zucchini (largish dice), one sweet potato (finely grated), and one small butternut squash (cut into matchsticks). And we added some frozen edamame near the end of the cooking.

Also meanwhile, ask one of your housemates to make a cheese sauce. (Ours was a butter-flour roux, plus milk, plus a combination of bits of leftover fancy Christmas cheeses. Believe me, I wish I knew the exact recipe, too.)

While everything is still warm, vigorously stir together the pasta, vegetables, cheese sauce, and a big handful of arugula. Keep stirring until the squash and sweet potato are smashed into the sauce and the arugula is wilted.

Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and paprika.

(Inspired, sort of, by Mark Bittman's more-vegetable-less-egg frittata.)