Thanks, Karchita! I really look forward to OTCC Fridays and I'm excited to see the recipe posted already! Woo!

I have made homemade mac and cheese before with varying success. I'm excited to try a new recipe.

I think I'm going to have to think of this more as a veggie casserole than mac and cheese. It's entirely mental, but if I think of it as mac and cheese and I get something on my fork that is neither mac nor cheese I may have a texture issue. I get very squickey when I get a crunch or a chunk when I am expecting moosh and smooth.

Like I said. Mental.

I might have to put bacon in this. I am also carefully considering whether to do cabbage at all. I like cabbage, but the combo of cabbage and cheese could turn Mr. Fro into a WMD.

So, you don't sautee the red pepper along with the other veggies, but add it raw to the casserole assembly? Is the cooking in the oven enough to soften it or is it intended to come out more toothsome?

Any tips on buying good soy sauce? My soy sauce experience has been strictly in the realm of Kikkoman which I can take or leave.

It's an agman!