Spinach Bacon Pasta

Last time I posted (which has been a while, I know…and I’m sorry!), I posted a recipe for Spinach Dip.  That dip is super delicious with crackers or chips, but you can also use it as a pasta sauce!  How cool is that?  I threw together this pasta dish with that spinach dip, some bacon, and parmesan cheese.  That’s it.  Super simple, but so full of flavor!

Spinach Bacon Pasta

• 8 oz pasta of your choice
• 8 strips bacon, cooked crisp
• 1/4 cup Spinach Dip
• Fresh parmesan cheese, grated

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and toss with spinach dip.  Chop or crumble the bacon and toss with pasta.  Place into serving dishes and top with fresh parmesan cheese.

Serves: 4

Fire Island Pasta

This slightly spicy dish goes great with the Monterey Cheese Bread I posted about Wednesday! 

Fire Island Pasta

• 2 lbs plum tomatoes, halved
• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 uncooked ziti (or your favorite pasta)
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 lb. Italian sausage links, sliced
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more or less, to taste)
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Toss the tomatoes with 2 tbsp of the oil.  Place on a large baking sheet and toss with garlic and salt.  Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until tender.  Let cool and chop into bite size pieces.

Cook pasta according to package directions, adding broccoli during the last 4 minutes of cooking.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook sausage in remaining oil until no longer pink.   Add red pepper flakes; cook one minute longer.  Stir in tomatoes and heat through.  Drain pasta mixture; toss with sausage mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Skinny Pasta with Garlic Pesto

I love quick, no fuss dishes in the summer, and this one certainly fits that bill!  If you have basil growing in your garden, you probably have everything you need already!

Skinny Pasta with Garlic Pesto

• 14 oz spaghetti or fetuccini
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste
• extra parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
• meatballs, optional

Place basil, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, and garlic cloves in food processor and pulse until smooth.  With machine running, slowing add olive oil.  Taste, and add salt and pepper as desired.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.  Toss with pesto and top with shaved parmesan cheese and meatballs, if desired.

Somewhat Skinny Chicken & Pasta San Marco

I found this recipe while flipping through a cookbook I borrowed from the library (which, by the way, is a great place to get recipes…just check out the books, copy down the recipes you like, and return the books!).  I made a few changes to suit my family’s tastes, and to try and make it a little healthier.  It’s still not super low in points, but if you have a salad on the side, you’d have a nice dinner for a reasonable amount of points. 

Somewhat Skinny Chicken & Pasta San Marco

Servings:  6   WW Points Per Serving:  13

San Marco Sauce:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chcken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp flour

Vegetables:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cup julienned bell peppers (colors of your choice, I like to use a combo of red, green and yellow)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped broccoli florets
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried rosemary

Pasta:

• 6 cups cooked whole wheat spaghetti or fettucine
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Grated fresh parmesan cheese for serving

Cook pasta and drain.  Add 1 tbsp olive oil and toss to prevent sticking. 

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, preheat a heavy pot over medium high heat and add 3 tbsp olive oil.  When oil is hot, add chicken and saute for 5 minutes or until slightly browned on all sides.  Add onions and cook another 2 minutes.   Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.  Add chicken broth to the pot and stir to loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.  Add the tomatoes and the flour.  Lower heat to a simmer.  Cover and let simmer, stirring occasioinally, until the chicken is tender, about 5-10 minutes.  Add cooked pasta to the pot and toss to combine.

While the sauce is cooking, prepare the vegetables by adding 3 tbsp olive oil to a skillet over medium high heat.  Add the peppers and broccoli and cook just until crisp-tender.  Add the salt, pepper, and herbs.

To serve, place pasta in serving dish and top with vegetables.  Grate fresh parmesan cheese over top.  Serve immediately.

Skinny Stuffed Manicotti

The trick to making stuffed manicotti “skinny” is to use homemade, low point crepes instead of manicotti noodles.  The recipe for the crepes is included in this post.  But, it’s not just for manicotti – you can use it for many other things.  Breakfast, dessert, etc.

To make the crepe batter, you simply place 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup white flour, 3/4 cup skim milk, one egg, 1/2 tsp oil and 1/4 tsp salt in the blender.

Then, simply blend it up until everthing is smooth.

Heat a 6″ nonstick pan over medium-low heat.  Spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour 2 tbsp of batter into pan and immediately swirl the pan around slowly to coat the bottom of the pan with the batter.

Cook for about 30 seconds, or until the underside just starts to turn brown.  Run a spatula under the edge of the crepe and flip over.

Cook for about 10 seconds on this side – again, until the underside is just browned.  Remove to a plate and continue with remaining batter.

To prepare the Manicotti, combine the following in a large bowl:  8 oz ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozarella cheese and 1 egg.

Combine that and add 4-5 oz frozen spinach that has been thawed and drained well. You can stop right there if you want.  Or, you can add some meat for added protein.  I added 1/2 pound ground turkey, cooked. 

When you get all that stirred up reallly well, place 1/4 cup of this filling on each crepe and roll up.

Put some marinara (or spaghetti sauce, or, in my case, leftover pizza sauce) in the bottom of a baking dish- just enough to cover the bottom.  Place manicotti seam side down over the sauce.

Continue with remaining filling and crepes.  Top the manicotti with more marinara sauce and a little more mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and manicotti is heated through.

Skinny Stuffed Manicotti

Serves: 4 (2 Manicotti per serving)         WW Points Per Serving:  10 pts without turkey; 11 pts with turkey

 

Crepes:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp oil
• 1/4 tsp salt

Manicotti:

• 8 oz Part Skim Ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozarella cheese
• 1 egg
• 5 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
• 2 tbsp fresh marmesan cheese, grated
• 16 oz. marinara sauce (or spaghetti or pizza sauce)
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 pound ground turkey, cooked (optional)

 

Place all ingredients for crepes in blender and blend until smooth.  Heat 6″ nonstick pan over medium-low heat.  Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour 2 tbsp. of batter into pan and swirl to coat bottom of pan.  Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook another 10 seconds.  Remove to plate.  Repeat with remaining batter.

For manicotti, combine ricotta, 3/4 cup mozzarella, egg, spinach, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and cooked turkey in large bowl.  Place 1/4 cup filling on crepe and roll up.  Continue with remaning filling and crepes.

Pour some of the marinara sauce in bottom of baking dish.  Place rolled up manicotti over sauce.  Pour remaining sauce over all and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees or until cheese is melted and manicotti are heated through.

Skinny Shrimp Scampi with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

My husband and I absolutely love shrimp.  But, we usually only get to eat it when we go to a seafood restaurant (which isn’t very often) because we think our son minght be allergic to shrimp.  So, when dear son was invited to spend the night with a friend this weekend, my eyes lit up and I said “Oooooh, I can try that shrimp scampi recipe!”  And I did.  And it was amazing.  I could eat it every day.  And it is so easy.

We ate it on it’s own because we’d both eaten a pretty large lunch, but you could serve this over pasta for a more rounded meal.

First, thaw out about 1/2 pound of frozen, precooked shrimp (peeled and deveined) by running cool water over them for a few minutes.  I chose to go ahead and take the tails off at this point as well (after I snapped this photo).  But, if you like the look of the tails on, by all means…leave them on.

If you are going to serve pasta with the Shrimp Scampi, get that water boiling and start your pasta.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.  When butter is melted, add 1/4 onion, finely chopped.

Saute until the onions are almost tender, then add 2 cloves garlic, minced.

Cook another minute or two until the garlic is fragrant.  Add the thawed shrimp along with 1/4 salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Stir to combine and cook for 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat.

Add 5 tbsp chicken broth and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Finely slice about 4-5 pieces of sun dried tomatoes.

 

Add to pan.

Cook just until heated through – you don’t want to overcook the shrimp!  Stir in the juice of half a lemon.

Stir in about 1 tsp dried parsley (OR 1 tbsp of chopped fresh parsely).

That’s it, my friends.  You just make a low-point Shrimp Scampi!  If you are serving with pasta, drain pasta and place in serving dish.  Top with Shrimp Scampi.  Grate a little fresh parmesan cheese over the top.  I topped our dishes with a lemon slice for pizzazz, but that’s totally optional, of course.

Skinny Shrimp Scampi with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Serves: 2    Points Plus Per Serving: 8 points alone (if serving over pasta, be sure to add those points!)

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound frozen precooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

5 tbsp chicken broth

1/4 cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes (about 4-5 peices)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Half lemon, juiced – reserve other half for garnish

1 tsp dried parsley OR 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

Place shrimp in strainer and run cool water over until thawed, about 4-5 minutes.  Place butter and olive oil in skillet and heat until butter is melted.  Add onion and cook until onion is almost tender.  Add garlic and cook untril fragrant.  Add the shrimp, salt, and pepper.   Stir to combine and cook for 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken broth and cook another 2-3 minutes.  Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and cook just until heated through.  Stir in the juice of half the lemon and the parsley.  Divide between two serving dishes and top with fresh parmesan cheese.

Chicken Penne Rustica

I stumbled upon this recipe while searching for something totally different, and just knew I had to make this!  I made a few changes to make it a little healthier (it originally called for TWO CUPS of heavy cream!), and to suit my family’s tastes.

If you scroll down and look at the printable recipe first, don’t be scared off by the long list of ingredients.  This is really an easy dish to prepare.  Just gather all your ingredients before you start and you won’t even notice how many are going into the recipe.   This dish is certainly restaurant quality…it was rich, creamy, and decadent!

Start by seasoning two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or in my case, 4 chicken tenders) with salt and pepper.  Cook in a skillet until cooked through and browned on both sides.

Slice chicken and set aside.  Prepare the sauce by melting 1 tbsp butter over medium-low heat.  Add 2 cloves minced garlic and cook until the garlic is tender, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup heavy cream, 1-1/2 cups milk, 1/2 cup chicken broth , 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp cornstarc, 1 tbsp mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp thyme and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper.  Whisk to combine.

Bring to a simmer and cook until thick – about 10 minutes.  Cover and remove from heat.

While the sauce is thickening, cook 1 lb. of penne pasta to al dente.

Start building your dish.  You can do this in individual oven proof serving dishes, or in one big casserole dish.

Place about 3 cups of pasta into each dish and top with 3/4 cup sauce.  Sr gently to combine. 

Top with 1/4 of the chicken slices.

In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 tsp paprika.  Sprinkle over the pasta.

Broil until golden brown and bubbly.  Serve immediately.

Chicken Penne Rustica

1 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 ½ cups milk

½ cup chicken broth

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp mustard

½ tsp salt

½ tsp thyme

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb. penne pasta, cooked al dente

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Topping:

3 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 ½ tsp paprika

　

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in skillet on both sides until done. Slice chicken and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, prepare sauce by melting butter over medium-low heat in large skillet. Add garlic and cook about 5 minutes. Add cream, parmesan cheese, milk, broth, cornstarch, mustard, salt, thyme and cayenne pepper, whisking until smooth. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally; cook until thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Preheat broiler. Build each serving in individual oven proof dishes, or assemble in one large casserole dish.

To each dish, add 2-3 cups pasta, top with ¾ cups sauce and stir lightly to coat. Top with ¼ of the chicken slices.

Combine parmesan cheese and paprika and sprinkle about 1 tbsp of mixture over each dish. Broil until the top starts to brown and gets bubbly.

Serve immediately.

Tuscan Pasta & Beans…and a big announcement!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have been a Weight Watcher for a year now.  I met my goal in October, and have been maintaining my loss since then.  But I have to admit…it was MUCH easier to stay on plan in the summer when you have all those fresh fruits and veggies available!  So, lately, I’ve been trying to come up with ways to incorporate more vegetables into our meals.  One great way to do that is to add them to main dishes!  And that’s just what I did with this simple pasta dish. 

To start, bring a pot of water to boil.  Once it’s boiling, add 3 cups of whole grain pasta.  Cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Add 1 medium onion, finely chopped, and 2 cloves of garlic, chopped.

Let this cook until tender.  Stir in one can of diced tomatoes.  I love these fire roasted tomatoes with garlic…I may be addicted.

So, like I said…stir those in.

Add in about 1/2 cup chicken broth.

Now, at this point we’re going to add some herbs.  If I had fresh herbs, I’d add some basil, rosemary, and thyme.  But, since it’s January and snowy here right now…it’s dried herbs.   I added some dried versions of those herbs.  Italian Seasoning would work well here too.

Stir that together and let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes. 

Stir in 2 cups of fresh spinach OR 1 cup of frozen spinach.  Again…I didn’t have fresh on hand, so I’m using frozen.  It works.  You don’t even need to cook or thaw it first!

Simmer another 3-4 minutes and stir in one canof Cannelini Beans that you have rinsed and drained.

Cook until the spinach and beans are heated through.

Now, your pasta will be done by this point, so drain that, stir it in and serve it up!

This recipe serves 6, and each serving is just 9 Points Plus with Weight Watchers!

Now, did I mention something about a big announcement?  Hmmm?  Yes, I think I did.  I’m not going to give you all the details today, but here’s a little ‘teaser’… If you want help planning healthy meals, be sure to check back here on MONDAY!!  You won’t want to miss it!  I’m so excited about this!

Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad

I love pasta.

I love sun dried tomatoes.

I love Ree (aka Pioneer Woman).

The three come together in this amazing pasta salad recipe she shared a few weeks ago.  It looked sooo good. It looked easy.  And we had a Bible Study meeting to go to, so I thought I’d try it out.  I have to admit that I adapted it just a bit (mainly because I didn’t have a couple of the ingredients called for), but it’s all good.  It’s cooking…not rocket science!  There’s room for experimentation!  So, if you wanna see P-Dub’s Original version, clicky here.  Hers is wonderful, I am most certain (I haven’t tried a single PW recipe that I didn’t like!), but like I said, I was missing a few things so I just kinda went my own way a bit.  

Here’s how it went down in my kitchen one lazy Sunday afternoon. 

While hubby is sawing logs in the recliner and the kids are playing Wii, you march your little self into the kitchen and put a big pot of water on to boil.  Once the water comes to a full rolling boil, pour in about a pound of your favorite shape of pasta.  I almost always have rotini on hand, so that’s what I used.

Throw in a good amount of salt and give it a stir.

While the pasta is cooking, we’ll get our sun-dried tomato dressing made.  At my grocery store, I’ve only found the sun dried tomatoes in a plastic container in the produce section.  But you may find them in a jar, packed in oil.  If you buy the jarred kind, be sure to drain them well before proceeding.

Place about a 10 or 12 pieces of sundried tomatoes into a food processor bowl. 

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Toss in a couple cloves of garlic.

Now, here is where I first went astray from PW’s original recipe.  And for a couple of reasons.  One…it called for red wine vinegar and I didn’t have any in the pantry.  Two…remember the Chicken Bryan recipe?  It had a nice sauce of sun-dried tomatoes and lemon juice/zest.  Mmmm…what a nice combination.  So, to replace the acidic vinegar, I used lemon juice.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon right into the processor bowl (being careful not to let the seeds slip into the bowl!)

Add in a pinch or two of salt and pepper and blend until the tomatoes are chopped pretty well.  Take a peek and if it looks too dry, add some more olive oil and blend a bit more.  You’re finished when it looks something like this:

 

Here’s another point where I went astray…I was out of olives, fresh basil AND cherry tomatoes.  What?  Quit looking at me that way…it was time for a grocery trip, okay?  So, I diced up a couple slices of bacon that were hangin’ out in the fridge and cooked them till they were nice and crispy.

Grate yourself about a cup each of parmesan and pecorino romano cheese.  I like the combination of the flavors, but feel free to just use 2 cups of either one instead.

 

By now, your pasta should be done.  Drain it and rinse it with cold water until it’s cool to the touch.

Place your pasta in a large bowl.  Toss in the bacon, about 1-1/2 cups of the cheeses and some of the dressing, stirring gently to coat.  At this point, you’ll also want to add in some basil and/or parsley.  Sadly, my parsley plant has just about seen it’s last days, so I had to use dried.  Same with the basil.   Although the salad tasted fine, I know it would have been even better with fresh herbs.  *Sigh*

As you’re stirring it all together, add more dressing until it reaches the consistency you like.  If you like your pasta salad a little more ‘dry’ – more pasta, less dressing, don’t add much.  If you like your pasta salad all goopy and drippy with loads of dressing, add it all.  Or, if you’re like me (and Goldilocks) and you like it in the middle, use just enough to get it “just right” for you. 🙂

Then, sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of cheese over the top. 

And finish it all off by putting a couple of lemon pinwheels on top!

Yummalicious! 

PRINTABLE RECIPE FOR SUNDRIED TOMATO PASTA SALAD

Taco Pasta

The other night I had thawed out and starting cooking some ground beef to make tacos.  I didn’t check to make sure we had everything we needed for tacos because, well, we always have what we need for tacos.  Always.  Except that night.  I opened the fridge to grab the tortillas and…um…hello??  Where are my tortillas?  I could have sworn that we had some, but no.  No tortillas.  Dug through the cabinets and found no hard taco shells either.  I was really in the mood for something of the mexican persuasion, so I was really bummed and agrivated.  And I had already started cooking the ground beef, so I had to do something with it.  And at that time, my friends, Taco Pasta was born.  I just made it up on the fly, and it turned out really good.  My husband says it was too much like “Hamburger Helper” for him, but he’s just weird, so I told him to bite me.  The kids and I thought it was great. 

So, to make this quick and easy Taco Pasta, you simple brown a pound of ground beef in a pan, throw in a can of black beans (rinsed and drained well), some tex-mex seasoning (I make my own – recipe below – but you can also use packaged taco seasoning), a little lime juice and some salsa – I just added until it looked moist enough.  If you didn’t have salsa, you could just add some choped onions, peppers, garlic and cook it along with the ground beef, then add some canned tomatoes.  That would work perfectly fine too, I’m sure. 

Then,  just boil some pasta until it’s al-dente (which means:  until  it’s done but still has a little bit of a ‘bite’ to it…it shouldn’t be total mush…mushy pasta…eww.)

Add the pasta to the meat mixture…

Then add a couple handfuls of shredded cheese…

Just cook through until the cheese melts and spoon it into serving bowls and top with a little more shredded cheese and some diced tomato.  (If we’d had an avocado, I’d have diced that up and put on top too.  But alas…no avocados in the house either)…

 

Like I said, the kids and I really like this and I thought it was a great quick-fix meal.  I may even try it using spanish rice instead of the pasta sometime…and maybe that would appease my Hamburger Helper-fearing husband.  He’s weird.  Did I mention that already?   And you could also do this with chicken instead of beef.

 

And here’s how I make my own Tex-Mex Seasoning.  You can adjust these spices to your tastes…

Combine the following in an airtight container:

2-1/2 tbsp chili powder

1-1/2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

1 tbsp garlic powder

1-1/2 tbsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (omit or use less if you like it mild, use more if you like it hot)

1 tsp salt

For one pound of ground beef, I use about 2 tablespoons or so of this seasoning.

 

If you have certain recipes or types of things you’d like to see here on my blog, please let me know…I’m always willing to experiment!