06

May

Lowfat Stuffed Shells

I’m a sucker for pasta. Pretty much every kind I’ve tried. There’s something really wonderful about Italian food…

  • homey, hearty
  • rustic with simple ingredients
  • beautiful dishes, yet not TOO pretty to eat
  • a little mysterious (I didn’t grow up with an Italian grandmother sharing all of her secrets)
  • and, best of all, it is meant to be shared!

 So let’s share some shells…
Stuffed shells were a treat in college. Living in Boston and having a tight budget, ordering Italian takeout was a treat. It was especially good because I don’t think I ever had REAL Italian until moving to Boston. And there are a ton of great Italian places in the city…mmm, it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. One of my roommates turned me on to stuffed shells. They were humongous, full of melted cheese and had this amazing sauce. The flavor was spectacular! 

So here’s my first shot at making the home-version, which has a LOT less fat but hopefully is full of flavor still. This one uses jar marinara but, if you have time/access, I strongly recommend fresh sauce and fresh basil. Yummm.

Lowfat Stuffed Shells
serves 8 (4 shells each)

32 shells + 2 quarts water + large pot + dash salt
step one: In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Let pasta cook according to instructions on package. Once the shells are cooked, drain the water and lay the shells out in one layer on a dry towel. Set aside.

1 TB olive oil + large saute pan + 4 garlic cloves, chopped + 1 bell pepper, chopped + 1 onion, chopped
step two: Heat the saute pan on medium-high, adding oil. Saute bell pepper and onion and cook for 3 minutes. Then add garlic and saute for 2 more minutes. Set pan aside. 

large bowl + large spoon + 1 pint fat free cottage cheese (or ricotta) + 1/4 cup parmesan cheese + 16 oz. chopped spinach (if using frozen, thaw and squeeze out water) + sauteed veggies from pan + 1 TB Italian seasoning (or 3 TB fresh chopped basil) + 1 egg + 2/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
step three: Combine all of these ingredients in a large bowl. This is your “stuffing” for the shells.

3 cups marinara + 9X11 baking pan + 8X8 baking pan + non-stick cooking spray
step four: Spray each baking pan with spray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup marinara in the bottom of each baking pan. 
step five: Using a spoon, stuff 2 TB of cheese mixture into each shell and place opening-down in each pan. Repeat the process until all of the shells are stuffed. [20 shells fit in the large pan and 12 fit in the smaller pan!]

1/4 cup parmesan + 1 1/2 cups ‘Italian blend’ shredded cheese [use mozzarella, more parm, pecorino romano, or your favorite cheese blend] + 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs [optional]
step six: After all of the shells are stuffed and arranged in the pans, pour the remaining 2 cups marinara over the shells. Sprinkle cheeses over the top and breadcrumbs [if you want a little extra crunch]. Bake for 30 minutes.

Adapted from: Recipe Girl, Live Better America

There you have it, stuffed shells! Serve with steamed veggies or a giant salad on the side. Enjoy the flavor without all of the takeout guilt. 🙂

   

Happy eating!
Laurel
~Laurel~

13 years ago Short URL

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09

May

Low-fat Brownies

Isn’t it nice to whip up a little dessert after a long day? I’m talking about 5 or 10 minutes on your feet in the kitchen, max. I found this recipe on Joy of Baking’s site, a low-fat wonder before adding a layer of crunchy peanut butter for my dear husband Matt. He and my mom (and other members of the family) are nutz-o about chocolate peanut butter in combination, so I imagine that–even if I had burned these brownies–they still would’ve been gobbled up.

You know, I just realized that I should explain all of these “Joy’s” that I’ve been referring to in the posts these last few weeks.

  • Joy of Cooking–the classic, 80 year old cookbook with the white cover and red lettering; I refer to this often in cooking, and a little less on this blog
  • Joy the Baker–a hip, Californian young baker who is creative with her flavor combos and baking techniques; I refer to her regularly
  • Joy of Baking–a middle-aged, established blogger with many traditional baking recipes (think comfort food) that she and her contributors offer; I refer to her seldomly
So today’s brownies are from Joy #3, the last on the list. So much Joy! The brownies are low fat and, if you add the peanut butter topping, well, it adds a little more fat. Just warning you. But they are tasty!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
Adapted from Joy of Baking
Makes one 8X8 pan

1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup soft butter spread (margarine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup light sour cream or plain low fat yogurt

Topping (not so low fat)
3 TB crunchy peanut butter, melted in the microwave (1 minute)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Step one: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with one rack in the center of the oven. Spray an 8X8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and margarine until smooth. Then, mix in the vanilla and egg.

Step two: In a second bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Combine the dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients. Then mix in the yogurt/sour cream. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 15–20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Topping: Once the brownies are out of the oven, cool for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, add the peanut butter and microwave for 45 seconds, or until warm and melted. Add the powdered sugar and stir until dissolved. Spread carefully on top of the brownies. Let cool. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar to finish.

Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

14 years ago Short URL

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07

May

Lowfat Carrot Cake?

Do you ever read those monthly features in Cooking Light magazine? You know, the ones where they take a cream puff that would normall have 1550 calories and 89.7 grams of fat, and they transform it into a delicious cream puff with 22 calories and .5 grams of fat? Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the chefs and contributors at that company do come up with some pretty tasty dishes that are pretty healthy, too.

I remember one month’s feature was carrot cake. Traditional carrot cake with cream cheese frosting had something like 1000 calories and 85 grams of fat, more fat than your daily allowance. And, if you’re a lover of carrot cake or any cake, is it really humanly possible to eat just one slice? Doubtful. So they transformed the cake into 430 calories and 17 grams of fat, or something like that. Better, but not exactly healthy-ish. So I found a Martha Stewart recipe (of all places) that was a little more reasonable, and I’ve kicked up the “healthy-ishness” up another notch.

Lowfat Carrot Cake
Adapted from Martha
This moist cake is easy, simple and quite delicious. If you must devour more than one piece of carrot cake goodness, this is the one that won’t make you feel so guilty afterward.


1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled into the measuring cup
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon or 1/2 t. cardamom
1 large egg + 1 egg white
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup + 2 TB plain lowfat yogurt
2 TB canola oil
1 cup finely shredded carrots, packed (about 2 carrots)
Glaze: 2 TB milk + 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon/cardamom. In a second bowl, combine eggs, sugars, yogurt, and oil.
step 2: Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fold in carrots. In an 8-inch round cake pan, spray with non-stick oil and dust with flour. (line the bottom with parchment paper if you like) Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 minutes.
step 3: Let cool in pan on a baking rack for 10 minutes, then transfer cake to cooling rack for 20 minutes. Drizzle with glaze and serve proudly.



















This cake                                        Starbucks’ Carrot Cake Bar

I apologize that I had to break the news about the Starbucks bars. But, on the bright side, you can make something a little less bad for you! 🙂 Happy baking!

Laurel

~Laurel~

14 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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