REALLY Healthy Pasta with Tomatoes and Arugula

This is really healthy pasta, I mean it... 2 Weight Watchers points per cup of cooked pasta. (Compared to 4 points for normal).

A big thank you to Gourmet Mom on the Go, who sent me a package of this Fiber Gourmet pasta and some other goodies as a pick-me-up when I was having a rough week.

This stuff is good. I was a little afraid that the nutrition facts and therefore the Weight Watchers points would be, um, too good to be true.

Let's put it this way, when you see 18 g of fiber per serving on a package, you think you will most surely be "punished" for trying to skimp on points by overloading on fiber.

Honestly... it wasn't really a problem! Again, I was a little worried that I'd be overloading on fiber, since I typically eat a lot of fiber throughout my day anyway (fruit, fresh veggies, whole grains), but there honestly weren't any bad side effects. (This is a lovely conversation, isn't it?)

So, now that I know this is a low calorie, low point way to get some delicious pasta in the evenings when I'm craving comfort food and a glass of wine, I am addicted.

I've been making the tomato fettuccine pasta with grape tomatoes that I blister and roast in a pan with fresh garlic, then add a little spinach or preferably arugula. I drizzle about 1 Tbsp of olive oil, some salt, and possibly some grated Parmesan, and there ya go!


Honestly, it is really delicious. Just read this review at Slashfood. I just ordered a case of the spaghetti for 20 bucks (6 packages).

And if I eat this pasta the way I like it with some olive oil and a bit of parm, it's around 4 points total!

Honey mustard brussel sprouts with bacon

This recipe for brussel sprouts would probably count as an unhealthy dish, but since the brussels are leafy green healthful veggies, I still pretend the recipe is a healthy choice.



And while the recipe is tremendous, I'm sorry to say that I don't actually have a recipe for these. But, I think there's a Southern Living recipe out there somewhere for honey mustard brussel sprouts, because I believe that's where my mom got the recipe. So, ya know, let me know if you find it. It wouldn't hurt for me to start following a recipe too since I also think my mom mentioned her version called for a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce.

So here's how you make the ones I experimented wih one day:

Start with bacon...

(yes, I know I told you it wasn't that healthy of a recipe. Go with it).

1. Cook the bacon in a pan (around 2-3 strips). Remove the bacon, and drain any excessive grease from the bottom of the pan, leaving just a little for cooking.
2. Add fresh, trimmed brussel sprouts cut in halves to the pan to saute until they start getting tender, and to where they have been moderately roasted. Add a bit of kosher salt or pepper to the pan.
   
3. In a side bowl, melt half a stick of butter. (Yes, I know... the real healthie foodie would be disgusted by this amount of butter. In the meantime, I've taken over and think butter on brussel sprouts is absolutely delicious and necessary.)
4. Add about 2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard. Add sugar or honey to taste. Some might say you could also use honey mustard. That might be easiest.
   
5. Coat the brussels in the honey mustard sauce and crumble bacon on top.
   

And there you are! And PS, the butter is truly necessary in the sauce in order to cut the overwhelming taste of the mustard.

It is important to note that Ben loves these so much, he eats them like candy. He has been known to make them just for himself on a Tuesday night...

We made these with salmon and it was delicious!

Playing catch up: Classic Beef Pot Roast (for 300 calories!)

What month is it? Hmm.... April. Yeah.

What are you craving these days? Fresh produce like strawberries and asparagus that are finally in season?

Yeah, sorry - this recipe is out of season. But well worth noting, because back when I made it - it was above noteworthy!

I looked up pot roast recipes over the winter, simply because I was looking for a man-pleasin', stick-to-your-ribs kind of recipe for winter. This recipe really did the trick, and also reminded me that hearty doesn't always mean... fatty.

Put simply: this was awesome. I should have known by the ratings on myrecipes.com:


I was getting lots of compliments from all of the guys I was feeding that night, but more importantly, this was the kind of recipe where I said to myself: "This really is awesome! Go me!" I kind of couldn't get over myself... and shouldn't we all feel like this when we slave over a meal?

(And now you know why I felt it necessary to post about a meal I made 4 months ago...)

So, on with the recipe :)

Classic Beef Pot Roast

From Cooking Light, October 2006.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups coarsely chopped onion
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• Fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350º.

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chuck roast with salt and pepper. Add roast to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan. Add onion to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender.

Return browned roast to pan. Add the red wine, thyme sprigs, chopped garlic, beef broth, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a simmer. Cover pan and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is almost tender.

Add carrots and potatoes to pan. Cover and bake an additional 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from pan; discard. Shred meat with 2 forks. Serve roast with vegetable mixture and cooking liquid. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

Lentil and Arugula Salad with Pine Nuts and Goat Cheese

Sorry that it's been a while, but I have a lot of catching up to do on what I've been making. First off, is one of my new favorite salads.

I'm always looking for a new way to enjoy salads, because truthfully I most often prefer vegetables in another form. I've found that I like lentils and onion on salads because they bring a lot of flavor and extra texture to the salad without packing on too much additional fat and calories. I tried this combo on a previous version but I'm still experimenting on what I like.

So what's been missing? The right dressing. I've recently discovered that I would prefer a homemade vinaigrette over a bottled dressing, any day. In particular, Ive been taking some white balsamic vinegar and whisking it with olive oil, salt and pepper. Making it myself allows me to get the right level of tangy sweetness without being overpowering. In particular, some of the low fat dressings seem to rely too much on sweeteners to compensate for flavor, and end up turning me off of the salad altogether.

So - here's what's in the salad I've been loving lately:

• Arugula
• Goat cheese (or feta)
• Toasted pine nuts (or sliced almonds)
• Sauteed red onion
• Steamed lentils (precooked from Trader Joe's)
• White balsamic dressing

The goat cheese here was a little melted from the onions and pine nuts, which I had just taken from their respective pans on the stove, but it was still good!

I've also added chicken occasionally to make it an entree salad. Ben really like this salad, too so we've recreated it several times. I've tried using a regular spring mix of greens or spinach but looking back I think it was best with the arugula.

Please share any other salad recipes you have; I'm always looking for more!

Chicken, Potato and Corn Chowder

This recipe is a slight variation from Cooking Light's Potato and Corn Chowder (January 2006 issue). Like many other cooks, I'm now in love with MyRecipes.com, which is where I found this archived Cooking Light recipe. By finding the recipe online, I was able to benefit from a ton of great ideas for tweaking the recipe based on the reader reviews. See below for the recipe and some tweaks of my own in red!


Chicken, Potato and Corn Chowder
Based off of Cooking Light's Potato and Corn Chowder (January 2006) I added calories with the olive oil, chicken and broth, but saved a few on the fat-free half and half.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray (I used olive oil - I have a cast-iron dutch oven and prefer using real oil rather than cooking spray with it)
  
• 1 1/2 cups prechopped green bell pepper (I took this out based on the reviews)
• 1 cup chopped green onions, divided (about 1 bunch)
• A hefty handful of pre-diced celery and onion mix (I added this in to replace the bell pepper)
  
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/4 cups water
• About 1 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 pound baking potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I probably ended up using about 2 lbs. of potatoes.... oops?)
  
• 1 cup half-and-half (I used fat-free and it turned out reat, still. Less fat!)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (nope.... I don't really care about parsley)
  
• 1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped. (I got mine at publix.)
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (I added more because te reviews said it was a little bland, and because I added more volume to the chowder with the potatoes and broth)
  
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray (or about 1-2 tbsp olive oil). Add bell pepper and 3/4 cup green onions (I added the celery / onion mix here) , and sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned.

Increase heat to high; add corn, (I waited at this step and let the corn do a little bit of roasting with the veggies before adding the liquids - the reviews said roasting the corn gave it a little more flavor.) water, chicken broth, seafood seasoning, thyme, red pepper, and potatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender (it took about an additional 5-10 minutes since I had added more potatoes and broth). Remove from heat, mash the potatoes down using a potato masher or pastry fork so that the consistency thickens a little. Stir in half-and-half, chicken, and chopped parsley, and salt. Place about 1 1/2 cups soup in each of 4 bowls; sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons cheese and 1 tablespoon green onions.

Roasted Winter Veggies

When I'm being good, roasted veggies are what satisfy my cold-weather cravings for something warm, savory and filling. I posted about my favorite roasted veggies earlier last year, and truth be told, brussel sprouts onions and carrots remain my favorite. But this recipe is another alternative with butternut squash, turnips and yams.

I bought these root veggies already pre-cut from Trader Joe's, which was such a life saver! Truly, curring up a butternut squash is my version of a nightmare; it's harder than carving a pumkin!


I added some carrots to the medley and roasted the mixture at 425 with some olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and thyme. I think it took roughly 20-25 minutes to get the veggies to a roasted brown color.

Here was my finished product:

I was particularly happy that I could take this photo during the daytime, when lighting made it so much easier to take pictures. The veggies smelled delicioius, although I think I discovered that I like butternut squash and yams more when they are roasted with sweet flavors, like brown sugar. Personally, I'll probably stick to my original roasted vegetables. The bitterness of brussels sprouts is much more appealing to me with garlic and herb flavors.

The recipe itself is really not brain surgery, and I've seen lots of great foodies make these veggies with some variation. Here are a couple of good recipes to try as well:

• Roasted Winter Vegetables from Ina Garten
• Herbed Roasted Winter Vegetables from Bon Appetit via Epicurious (I really want to try this recipe because it roasts beets, acorn squash, and rutabegas among others - all of which I haven't worked wth much before!)
• Roasted Winter Vegetables from NYT's Bitten Blog
  

An overdue holiday baking post (and an unofficial tribute to nutella)

I made a lot of baked goods toward the end of 2009 that were delicious and worthy of sharing (even though I'm a couple of months late!) The two that I'll feaure now had nutella on the ingredients list, which means I was SOLD as soon as I saw them in Cooking Light.

The only downfall was, while these recipes came from Cooking Light, I discovered they are not actually "light" by my own definitions, but really just an example of a "responsible portion" of a full-fat food. Some people would practice the "everything in moderation" mantra when eating sweets, but I just can't have a 1 inch square of baklava for 300 calories and call it a day....

Generally if I know I can't have just one of something, I try not to set myself up for disaster, but in this case, I did not follow my own advice. These recipes were pretty high calorie for the serving size, so, please know that while they were super delicious, these recipes are NOT your best bet for a conservative calroic alternative.

Chocolate Baklava from December 2009 issue Cooking Light

This baklava probably ranks among one of my favorite kinds of desserts, because it has all of my weaknesses. Delicious nuts like almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios that give it texture and crunch, with buttery flaky phyllo dough... and nutella!!!

As I mentioned, I have an unhealthy love for Nutella. Ben looked over into the kitchen at one point in my baking process, and saw me elbow-deep in nutella and gladfully licking it off of every finger. Not my finest moment...

The whole process was a little frustrating the day I made it. First off - the grocery stores in the area were working against me, and it took me forever to buy everything I needed. I even had to buy a glass baking dish, since Ben's apartment is not quite as stocked for baking as mine...

Then , of course we all know how difficult it can be to work with phyllo, but once I finally got everything assembled, I accidentally poured the honey solution over the dish BEFORE baking (what was I thinking?!!). Fortunately, the consistency was still spot on, except for pieces in the middle of the dish which were a little too gooey.

All in all, this recipe was completely delicious, but I'll have to wait awhile before making it again, since I'll be inclined to eat 1/3 of the pan in a sitting...


Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 1 piece = 238 calories)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 1 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread (such as Nutella)
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup blanched toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped (I subbed the walnuts, which I'm allergic to, for more almonds))
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 24 (14 x 9–inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Preparation

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat; stir until honey dissolves. Increase heat to medium; cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 230° (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat; keep warm. Discard cinnamon stick.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Place hazelnut-chocolate spread in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or until melted. Combine hazelnuts and next 5 ingredients (through salt). Lightly coat a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Working with 1 phyllo sheet at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), place 1 phyllo sheet lengthwise in bottom of prepared pan, allowing ends of sheet to extend over edges of dish; lightly brush with butter. Repeat procedure with 5 phyllo sheets and butter. Drizzle about 1/3 cup melted hazelnut -chocolate spread over phyllo. Sprinkle evenly with one-third of nut mixture (about 1/2 cup). Repeat procedure twice with phyllo, butter, hazelnut-chocolate spread, and nut mixture. Top last layer of nut mixture with remaining 6 sheets phyllo, each lightly brushed with butter. Press gently into pan.
4. Make 3 lengthwise cuts and 5 crosswise cuts to form 24 portions using a sharp knife. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until phyllo is golden. Remove from oven. Drizzle honey mixture over baklava. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cover; store at room temperature.

Next up....

Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprints f rom December 2009 issue of Cooking Light

Truthfully, I was sick as a dog when I made these, but I was determined to do some holiday baking, and wanted to bring these for a Christmas party with close friends from college. They were a delight to make, although I found that this was a particularly cakey dough, so it wasn't as easy as I had thought to roll the cookies in chopped hazelnuts.

Aaaaand just like the baklava above, I truly could not resist snacking on the nutella straight from thejar, and sneaking bits of dough while I was cooking. So if I am being honest, this was really a healthy cooking FAIL.

Yield: 28 cookies (serving size: 1 cookie = 104 calories)

Ingredients

• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
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• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread (such as Nutella)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt; stir with a whisk. Place butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Stir egg yolks with a whisk, adding espresso, if desired. Add the yolk mixture and vanilla to butter; beat well. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed just until combined.
3. Turn dough out onto a sheet of wax paper; knead 6 times or until smooth and shiny. Shape dough into 28 (1-inch) balls. Roll sides of balls in nuts, pressing gently. Arrange balls 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation. Bake, 1 batch at a time, at 350° for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon hazelnut-chocolate spread into center of each cookie.