Stove top 3 cheese Mac n' Cheese with Asparagus and Black Olives

 I can't say I was looking for a healthier version of Mac n Cheese, but was in the mood for some comfort food and needed to use up some asparagus and some garlic scapes.   

And it just so happened I also had some sliced black olives that were calling my name, rather loudly and rudely, I thought.  

I'd actually bought the olives to use in some Cheese Enchilada, Tijuana Tilly style And you know I still have all the rest of the ingredients, but haven't committed to making them yet, but I will.  

To get back to my little story, I made this whilst staying in a furnished apartment earlier this summer which had a 2-burner cooktop, and I decided I was tired of eating out. If my Mom could cook for a whole family on a 2-burner cooktop and make good meals, I can make some decent food for myself.  And I wanted some comfort food, so I fired up the stove, cut up the asparagus and a couple of garlic scapes, cooked some macaroni, and made a cheese sauce of some Colby Jack cheese and the heel of a Port Salut cheese.  

As the macaroni cooked, I melted a little butter in a pan, added some half-and-half and some milk, and then chopped the cheeses into fine dice and added them to the butter-milk mixture.   Let that cook over very low heat until the cheeses melted, then whisked it together.  (If I'd had some cornstarch, I would have added about a half teaspoon.)  

I added the asparagus, garlic scapes, and black olives to the pot with the macaroni and let them cook a bit.   After they were cooked a little, I drained the pot, added them to the pan with the cheese sauce, and let them cook together for a couple of minutes.  

And there you have it, a fancied up version of Mac n' Cheese done on a stove top.