07

Aug

Guilt-free Green Lasagna

Okay, normally green lasagna makes you think of those 3 week old leftovers in the back of the fridge that never quite made it to the trash. Ick. This lasagna was Matt’s idea, and it’s some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Not only is the cheese melty and strategically placed to make your tastebuds happy, but it’s actually quite healthy with all sorts of veggies and good stuff. And there aren’t 300 ingredients in it, like in a chefs lasagna, so you don’t have to spend $8,000 on all of the ingredients.*
Kids can help you make this tasty dinner, and it’s enough for two casserole dishes (16 generous adult-sized portions, or one hyper 3 year old’s entire messy birthday party).

Guilt-free Cheesy Lasagna
Makes two 9X11 pans of lasagna, 16-18 servings, or can be easily halved
INGREDIENTS:
2 large jars marinara
2 12-oz packages of wheat (or whole grain) lasagna noodles
1 pound ground turkey
5 garlic cloves, sliced thinly (remember the razor blade that sliced paper-thin garlic slices in Goodfellas?)
1 16-oz bag frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1 16-oz bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
3 TB Italian seasoning 
1 TB dried or 3 TB fresh basil 
Dash of black pepper
Dash of red pepper
1 quart low-fat ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella

GADGETS/UTENSILS:
1 large pot
1 large skillet/wok with lid
1 large bowl with ice cold water
sharp knife
wooden spoon
tongs
spatula
plate
2 casserole dishes (AKA lasagna pans, 11X7, 12X8, 13X9) 
INSTRUCTIONS:
step one: Boil a large pot of water and cook lasagna noodles, 5 at a time. 
step two: In the meantime, brown the turkey in a large skillet and drain, if needed. Keeping the heat on medium-high, add the garlic and a drizzle of olive oil and let the turkey soak up the flavors for a couple of minutes. Add broccoli and spinach and let cook for a few minutes. Then stir in marinara and seasonings. Cover and put on medium-low to let flavors unite. Preheat the oven to 350 now and take the cheeses out of the fridge.
{a small learning moment}
{Depending on the flour in the noodle, lasagna boils for 7-11 minutes. Tongs are the safest (avoid boiling water burns) but can be slippery.}
step three:  When the first batch of lasagna noodles are cooked (soft to the touch by a tongue, but not falling apart), transfer noodles to big bowl of cold water. This prevents sticking and frustration while assembling the dish. Leave the noodles in the cold water for a minute and lay flat on a plate. Repeat this cooking process with the next batch of noodles until all are cooked. (Trust me, this goes by faster than it sounds.)
step four: Time to assemble. This goes by really quickly with a buddy. Layer of sauce, noodles, ricotta (use the spatula), noodles, sauce, noodles, ricotta, etc. Of course, layer how you like. Just be sure to top the lasagna with lots of mozzarella, 2 cups per dish. Spray a sheet of foil with nonstick spray and top the casserole dishes (spray side down, to keep cheese from sticking to foil). Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly on top. Let sit for 10-20 minutes and serve. Yum.

Hope your weekend has been loverly. We had a bunch of dear and not-so-near friends visit for a couple of days. So much fun!
 

Happy cooking and happier eating! 

*Disclaimer: a slight exaggeration, but only slight. 🙂

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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20

Jun

Shrimp Pasta

 
Days off from work are always fun, but being off on Monday is especially great. It’s like I’m breaking the rules or something! My mother-in-law, Pat, has all sorts of tricks and helpful tips to making meal planning easier. One is that she usually keeps a frozen fish or crab package (the kind you buy at the grocery store) in the freezer. It’s an easy go-to when you need to make dinner but do not want to run to the store to do so. We’ve started doing this, always keeping a small package of chicken (breasts, tenders, leg quarters, drumettes, whatever) or 1/2 pound shrimp in our freezer. I can’t tell you how convenient this has been on so many occasions! (Plus, it lowers grocery bills on tight weeks.)

Shrimp pasta is one of those meals Matt and I never get sick of, it’s pretty inexpensive, and we’ve never made it the same way twice.

shrimp pasta
20 minutes, serves 2-4

1/2 pound (8 oz) pasta (we used tomato basil)
3 TB cup olive oil 
1/2 pound of shrimp, thawed (peeled, rinsed, tails on or off)
1/3 green pepper, chopped
1 TB butter/margarine
2 TB water
Dash of oregano, basil, salt
1/3 t. black pepper
1 t. garlic powder
2 TB fresh chopped rosemary
1 TB capers
1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli, heated in microwave for 4 minutes 

1 In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Drop in pasta and cook according to package.

2 In a skillet or wok, pour in olive oil on medium high heat. Drop shrimp in and cook for 3 minutes. Add in green pepper and stir with wooden spoon. Next add in butter, water, and rest of spices and capers. Continue stirring and let cook for a few minutes. Add in broccoli.

3 Drain pasta and serve shrimp sauce over pasta.

This a light, flavorful pasta that is a meal by itself. If you have different veggies, throw those in, too.

Some variations:
Base:
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Chicken broth
White wine

Handful of spinach leaves
Bean sprouts
Snap peas
Asparagus
Yellow squash
Red bell pepper
Green onion
Zucchini
Green beans

Matt’s birthday is Thursday, and I have some surprises in store that will be shared.

Happy Monday!

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL 2 Comments

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06

Jun

Adult Mac & Cheese

 Many of us grew up with classic, American macaroni and cheese. Most of the time it was from a blue box with the name “K-r-a-f-t” on the front, while some of us lucky ones (not me) had moms with crazy amounts of time to make homemade mac & cheese. Honestly, I don’t know anyone who grew up with that, but I hear it’s what kids in farm-sounding states get on their dinner plates…places like Montana and Wyoming…
Back to REALITY. Who has time to make mac and cheese? Who has the energy to whip up creamy, cheesy goodness? And who wants all of that salt and fat on a plate for one moment of tastiness? Not I, said the fly.
This was my first attempt to making healthy, grown-up mac and cheese. It has whole grains, veggies, a few spices and minimal fatty cheese, yet enough cheese to count.
  
Healthy (My) Version:           Kraft’s Version:

*Disclaimer: This is no jab at Kraft Mac & Cheese. I grew up with this tasty treat! But this is just a comparison of how one can make mac and cheese easily at home, along with adding more nutrients.

Now that I interjected with that disclaimer, let’s compare and contrast these Nutrition Facts.

  • Healthy version: 280 grams (1 1/2 cups or so), Kraft 1/4 of the amount. I eat way more than the suggested serving of the cheesy goodness, don’t you?
  • Comparable calories–257 for 259. However, you’re eating four times as much in the healthy version!
  • Okay, 8 grams of fat in mine, but some of that is from the whole wheat pasta and the REAL cheese (not cheese powder dehydrated from real cheese).
  • Saturated fat: more in mine, but for same reason as above…real cheese. And, if this is an entree, it’s nowhere near your alloted 20 grams based on USDA’s guidelines for a 2,000 calorie/day diet.
  • More cholesterol in mine…real cheese, but also some of the “good cholesterol,” too.
  • Less carbs in healthy version; wheat pasta helps with this. Incredible, considering you’re eating way more pasta with the healthy one.
  •  5 grams of fiber versus 1 gram in Kraft. This has a lot to do with the broccoli.
  • More protein in healthy version; real cheese and broccoli do the trick.
  • Plus the best part: Vitamin A: 133% vs. 1%, Calcium: 37% vs. 9%, Vitamin C: 50% vs. 1%, Iron: 9% vs. 14% (not sure why this is, unless it’s a “fortified” ingredient in the boxed mac and cheese. 

Are you convinced that it might be worth whipping up your own homemade (easy and healthy) mac and cheese??? Onto my first attempt.

I finally got our big food processor out of the box for this project…How exciting! It even shreds carrots and cheese!

 

Healthy Mac & Cheese
*Serves 4 grown-ups, or 1.2 kids* 🙂 
10 ounces whole wheat pasta (I used rotini)
1 1/2 quarts of boiling water, in a pot
2 cups broccoli (frozen or fresh) cooked and drained
1 carrot (fresh or frozen), cooked and drained
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika (regular or smoked)
1/4 teaspoon each: black pepper, salt, garlic powder
1 cup skim milk 
1 TB olive oil
1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Adding the best ingredient–CHEESE!

TOOLS:
Large pot for boiling pasta
Food processor
Colander
Large spoon

  1. Boil pasta in a pot according to pasta directions minus one or two minutes (cooked but not too soft, al dente). In the meantime cook/boil/microwave the broccoli and carrot. Drain. 
  2. In a food processor, combine veggies, paprika, pepper, garlic powder and salt until creamy. Gradually add milk. If 1 cup is not enough, add one splash of milk at a time until you reach the desired thickness. This will be a thick sauce that coats the pasta. 
  3. Drain the pasta and return to pot, keeping heat on medium. Toss the pasta in olive oil. Add “sauce” to pot, folding sauce to coat all of pasta. Add low fat cheese and fold in until melted. Add extra paprika and garlic powder to taste.

Serve with salad or top with chicken or other meat to make a meal. Top plates with the sharp cheddar for extra cheesiness and extra paprika for extra color and flavor.


This is super easy and healthy. Note: You will slightly taste the broccoli at first bite, but the cheese definitely dominates. 🙂 Stay cheesy, my friends.

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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