Pesto Chicken Pasta with Brussels sprouts

I love pretty much any dish that incorporates Brussels sprouts... this is a quick and easy pasta recipe that brings sprouts and pesto into the mix!

Servings:  4

Size:  ¼ of pasta dish

Points Plus: 11pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  35 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 lb. chicken breast, skinless, boneless

12 oz. pasta, farfalle or orchecchiette (both work well for this recipe)

¹/₃ cup pesto

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, toss Brussels sprouts with 1 Tbsp. olive oil.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle salt and pepper on top.  Roast the sprouts for 20-25 minutes, or until browned and crisp.  While the sprouts are roasting, you can prepare the chicken and get the pasta water started.  Cut the chicken breasts into smaller, bite-sized pieces – cook in a medium skillet with a bit of olive oil.  In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain the pasta water, but reserve about ¼ cup to add to the assembled pasta dish for additional moisture if needed.  Add the chicken, pesto, Brussels sprouts to the pasta and mix well.  Serve in bowls and top each serving with a pinch of shredded Parmesan cheese.

Tip:

There are a lot of extras you could add into this recipe – try some sliced almonds, or sun-dried tomatoes!

XOXO Megan

Senegalese Peanut Stew with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes

Do you have a bunch of sweet potatoes in your fridge like I do, left over from your summer CSA?  This is a great recipe to use those up, and better yet, the recipe has peanut butter in it!  This is a pretty rich stew, but is also filling and has a unique flavor.  Originally a Weight Watchers recipe found here.

Servings: 6

Serving Size: 1 2/3 cup

Points Plus: 5pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: about 40 minutes

Rating: 5 stars - Excellent

Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 medium Onion(s), uncooked, chopped
1 medium Pepper, green, chopped
½ pound(s) Potato(es), sweet, raw, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
2 medium Carrots, uncooked, peeled and thinly sliced
2 clove(s) Garlic, fresh, minced
2 Tbsp Ginger root, raw, fresh, minced
½ tsp Cloves, ground
½ tsp Salt, table
¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
4 cup(s) Broth, vegetable, reduced-sodium
6 Tbsp Peanut butter, natural, creamy-variety
8 cup(s) Spinach, uncooked, leaves, stemmed, packed, chopped

Instructions
Coat a large saucepan (Le Creuset!) with cooking spray and warm. Add onion and bell pepper, cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato, carrots and garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the ginger, cloves, salt and cayenne and cook for 30 seconds.

Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly, stirring once in a while, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add the spinach; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Tip

There is nothing worse that gross, overcooked spinach.  Anytime I have a recipe that calls for spinach I don’t actually cook it with the rest of the soup.  I pull out my fav soup cup, fill it with spinach, and pour my soup over that.  The hot soup cooks the spinach and I don’t have to be scared of how my spinach will hold up for the leftovers!

Portuguese Kale Soup

What better to do when it is 100 degrees outside than make soup!  I am not sure what I was thinking besides that I needed to try my hand at duplicating Au Bon Pain's Portuguese Kale Soup ASAP.  So I did! I love this soup (at any time of year apparently).  We got kale in our CSA last week and this afternoon the wheels in my brain got turning.  I realized I had all the ingredients for this (very) hearty soup on hand, so completely made up this recipe which turned out to taste really similar to my chain favorite.

Servings: 4
Size: 1 cup
Points Plus: 5pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4 stars - Very Good

Ingredient List:
1 medium size rustic potato, chopped small
3 cups raw kale, de-stemmed and rinsed
1/2 cup red onion, chopped small
1 cup navy beans, rinsed
2 links Trader Joes garlic turkey sausage, cut into small pieces
1 T. olive oil
32 oz. chicken stock
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
1 T. fresh garlic, chopped
Dash of red pepper flakes, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat 1 T. olive oil in a large stock pot.  Add potatoes and onion and sautee about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sausage, stir. Add kale and cover for 2 minutes, allowing kale to slightly wilt.  Add stock, navy beans, bay leaf, red pepper, salt and pepper to taste.  I added an additional bouillon cube because I like salt and I don't love the taste of canned or boxed stock.  Bring to a slow boil, set a lid on so that the pot is covered but not sealed.  Cook about 45 minutes, until kale is cooked through. Put in your favorite soup bowl and enjoy!

Tip:
I LOVE this soup cup! (as seen above)

XOXO - Katie

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi

The combination of shrimp and lemon is so refreshing, and so spring. Even though we are on a very long rain streak here in MN, I would still like to hope spring (and maybe even summer?) is on it's way. I mean it IS Memorial Day and all.  This dish is really simple, pair it with a salad and you have a quick and decadent meal.

Servings: 4
Size: 1/4
Points Plus: 10pp
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 4 stars - Very Good

Ingredient List:
Kosher Salt (yum!)
Fresh ground pepper
8 oz. whole wheat linguine
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
3 T. minced garlic
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3/4 c. fresh parsley
Grated zest of one lemon
1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
Pinch of shredded Parmesan

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add a pinch of kosher salt and linguine and boil according to package directions.

In another large pan (dutch oven), melt butter and heat oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and saute for one minute. Add shrimp, another pinch of salt, and pepper.  Saute until shrimp has just turned pink (about 2 minutes per side). Remove from heat, add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Toss with  pasta and serve! Add a pinch of parm if you would like.

WARNING: The lemon proportions for this recipe make the lemon flavor pretty strong.  If you would prefer a more subtle lemon flavor cut the juice and zest in half.

Tip: I like to buy deveined shrimp, mainly because the concept of veining shrimp grosses me out. I do however like to peel my own shrimp, I think the kind you have to peep seems fresher than that kind that is already peeled.  Happy Memorial Day!

XOXO - Katie

Fresh Basil & Spinach Salad

Making your own dressing makes such a difference, and is usually easier than you might think. This is my favorite salad of all time, combining spinach, warm egg and fresh basil and green beans.

Servings: 4

Size: 1/4

Points Plus: 4pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Rating: 5 stars - Excellent

Ingredient List:

Salad:

1 1/4 c. 1-inch pieces of green beans

3 cups baby spinach

1 cup torn basil leaves

2 hard - cooked eggs, coarsely chopped

Dressing: 

3 T. olive oil

1 t. balsamic vinegar

1 t. fresh lemon juice

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground pepper

Directions:

Heat 1 inch of water to boiling, add beans. Cook 7 minutes and drain. Mix all dressing ingredients in a shaker and chill until ready to serve. Place beans, spinach and basil in a bowl. Add vinaigrette, toss until evenly coated.  Add eggs and then dressing, toss gently.

Tip:

Try buying a basil plant from the store, using the leave off it, and then setting it in your window.  The plant should regenerate soon and you can enjoy fresh basil all the time (if you are good at keeping plants alive :) Enjoy!

Baby Shells & Asparagus in Marinara

This week has been a busy one and has left me with little time to dedicate to the kitchen.  I found this recipe on Skinnytaste and knew it would be a quick meal to bring together.  The recipe can easily adapt into more servings if need be – just increase the amount of pasta you boil as well as the marinara sauce.  If you love asparagus as much as I do, I would even increase asparagus spears if you are making this for more than 4 servings.

Servings:  4

Size:  1 ¼ cups

Points Plus: 7 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time:  15 minutes

Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

8 oz small pasta shells

1 bunch thin asparagus, tough ends removed

1 ½ cups marinara sauce

¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring about 4 inches of water to boil in a large pot.  Once your water is boiling, add asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes until the spears are just tender.  Drain the asparagus spears and chop into small, bite-sized pieces for the pasta dish.  Bring another large pot of water to boil, make sure to salt the pasta water.  Cook the pasta until al dente.  Meanwhile, heat up 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce in a small saucepan.  When your pasta is done cooking, reserve a ¼ cup of pasta water.  Return the pasta to the large pot, toss in the heated marinara sauce and asparagus pieces.  Use the reserved pasta water as needed to help loosen up the sauce.  Serve in pasta bowls and top with fresh salt and pepper and grated cheese.

Tip:

The original recipe calls for homemade marinara sauce.  I can only imagine how much better this would have tasted had I made my own sauce.  However, I was short on time and decided to just grab a jar of the store-bought kind instead.  I used Newman’s Own marinara which was quite good!  As leftovers, the pasta had absorbed a lot of the sauce so I would recommend you add some extra marinara to your leftover servings.

XOXO Megan

Sausage and Pepper Chili with Baked Polenta

I love a good one dish dinner, especially when it helps you clean out your cupboards and fridge.  This dish is super easy, filling and has the right amount of spice.  It is sort of a cross between a really thick chili and chowder and the polenta adds an additional interesting texture.  Think of your favorite side to chili = Cornbread!

Servings:  4
Size:  ¼ of pan, size will vary depending on how many peppers you add
Points Plus: 6 pp
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time:  20 minutes
Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

1 t. olive oil

Peppers! (I used about 6 small sweet peppers in varying colors, you could also use one red and one yellow pepper)

½ cup white onion

2 jalapeno turkey sausage links from Trader Joes

1 can diced tomatoes with chilies

1 cup sliced polenta (1/2 log, sliced in circles)

1 can pinto beans

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce!

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Dice peppers and onion into small pieces. Heat olive oil in a skillet until hot, then add peppers and onion and sauté for about 8 minutes until cooked. Cut up sausage links in ¼ inch round pieces.  Add sausage to veggies and cook until warmed through.  These sausages are pre-cooked, so if you are using different raw sausage sauté until cooked through.  Rinse and drain pinto beans, and add them to the mix along with the canned tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Move mixture to an oven safe dish.  Slice polenta into ¼ inch round slices and later on top of chowder mixture.  Loosely top with a piece of tin foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove, add a little hot sauce and enjoy hot!

Tip:

If you are lucky enough to own a Le Creuset (or any stove to oven safe dish with a lid), use that dish instead to save some dishes! 

XOXO Katie 

Italian Sausage Soup

Soup is one of Katie and my favorite meals!  It’s a great for chilly winter nights, but can easily be expanded into fall and spring based on the recipe.   Here is one of my favorite soups to make – and the best part is that it comes together very quickly.  Perfect for a weeknight dinner, or it’s good enough that you could serve it to company to impress them with the delicious Italian flavors.

 

Servings:  4

Size:  1 1/3 cups of soup,  1 ½ tsp cheese

Points Plus: 5 pp

Level of Difficulty:  1

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Rating: 5 starts - Excellent!

 

 Ingredient List:

8 ounces of hot or sweet Italian turkey sausage

2 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano

½ c. uncooked small shell pasta

2 c. bagged baby spinach leaves

2 tsp. grated fresh parmesan or Romano cheese

2 tsp. chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Remove casings from sausage.  Add sausage to pan, cook about 5 minutes or until browned.  Drain if needed; return to pan.  Add broth, tomatoes and pasta to a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Once the mixture comes to a boil add the sausage.  Cover the pot and reduce the heat; simmer for 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.  Remove from heat; stir in spinach until wilted.  Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.

Note: This recipe makes quite a bit – a serving is 1 1/3 cups, but I typically only have 1 c. servings which leaves you with more leftovers.  If you won’t be eating all of the soup at one time I would recommend putting the spinach leaves in each serving bowl and pouring the soup serving over the top to wilt the spinach.  The wilted spinach in leftover soup lessens the time your leftovers will be good for!

Tip:

Experiment with different pasta shapes for this recipe!  Although it calls for shell shaped pasta, I have enjoyed this soup with orchecchiette (ear shaped),  gemelli (twists or spirals) or one of my personal favorites farfalle (bow-ties).

XOXO - Megan