Veggie Lasagna

Who says veggie lasagna has to be boring! This is one of my FAV go to dinners, and it is so tasty, you will never miss the meat. This hearty meal is great reheated and can be thrown in the freezer and warmed up for a quick weeknight dinner!

Servings: 8
Serving Size: 1 piece or about 1 cup
Points Plus: 8pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes + 15 minutes of 'stand' time

Rating: 4 Stars - Very Good

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles, no cook

1 lb. mushrooms, chopped

3/4 cup green pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups pasta sauce

1 t. dried basil
1 cup part skim ricotta
1 cup 1% cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup parm
2 cups part skim mozzarella
Cooking spray

Directions: 
Preheat your oven to 350! Spray a dutch oven with cooking spray Add mushrooms, green pepper and garlic. Sautee for about five minutes. Add pasta sauce and warm. In a separate bowl mix basil, ricotta, cottage cheese, eggs and parm. Scoop a small amount of sauce mixture into the bottom of an 8 by 11 inch pan. Top sauce with 4 noodles. top noodles with 1/2 of the egg and cheese mixture, the 1/2 of the pasta sauce mixture. Repeat with noodles, cheese mixture and sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Tip:
I can think of a TON more types of veggies that would work well in here.  Experiment!

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

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

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

Veggie Cajun Pasta

Have you every heard of a SLURRY??!?!?!  It is a way to thicken up stuff (soup, sauces, exc.) without adding heavy cream, massive amounts of flour or cornstarch.  Slurry's are the bomb!  Anyways, this recipe calls for a slurry made with a just 1 Tablespoon of flour, cream cheese and milk.  It makes for a really creamy pasta sauce.  I altered Skinnytaste's recipe by omitting the meat and kicking up the veggies.  This is a great dish when you are craving spicy pasta!

Servings: 2
Size: about 1 1/2 cups
Point Plus: 8pp
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 4 stars - Very Good

Ingredient List:
3 ounces uncooked whole wheat pasta
2 tsp Cajun seasoning (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium red bell pepper
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
1 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoon light cream cheese
2 shallots
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder

Directions:
Prep all veggies. In your small food processor make slurry by combine milk, flour and cream cheese. Set aside.  Prepare pasta in water according to package directions.  Add olive oil to a large skillet and sautee bell pepper, onions and garlic, about five minutes on low heat.  Add mushrooms and tomato and suatee 3-4 more minutes.  Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Add stock and pour in slurry.  Stir and let boil, about 3 minutes.  Sauce should thicken slightly.  Add Cajun seasoning.  When pasta is cooked add to veggie slurry mixture and mix together.  Let simmer until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.  I added a sprinkle of parm (see photo) but I don't think you need to.  The flavor of this is so GOOD!

Tip: 
If you don't have a blender, food processor or anything that you can mix the slurry in, I would suggest using room temp cream cheese and putting three slurry ingredients into a dish with a lid.  Mix with a fork and then shake so that the slurry gets a little bubbly.  Then, go buy a food processor, blender or other mixing item.  I have a food processor obsession, and I would highly recommend this tiny four cuper for dishes such as this!

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