Lowfat Mac and Cheese!

Ok, so I really need to stop using tri-colored noodles, especially the green ones. This photo doesnt necessarily look tasty, but I promise you that it was. This is a really yummy, healthy alternative to boxed mac and cheese that even a kiddo enjoyed! This excellent recipe was created by the Moosewood Restaurant.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups lowfat cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups nonfat or lowfat buttermilk

1 tsp grain mustard

1/2 tsp cayenne or chili pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup shredded or small cubed extra sharp cheddar

1/2 pound UNCOOKED macaroni or farfalle

2 tbsp granted parm cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs or panko

Directions

Oven to 375. Prep a 9 inch baking pan with olive oil or cooing spray.

In a blender or food processor, combine cottage cheese, buttermilk, mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper and pulse until smooth.

In a large bowl, combine puree with macaroni and cheddar. Mix well. Pour mixture into prepped pan.

Sprinkle the parm cheese on top of the macaroni mix, then top with panko.

Bake 45 minutes, or until the top is brown and center is firm.

Nutrition

Oye! We have totally forgotten how many servings this is for :0( Sorry we dropped the ball, but I do not have nutrition for this dish.

Enjoy!

Portobello 'Pizza'

This is a SUPER easy, quick meal to make for lunch or dinner. I literally ran home over a break during class, did about 5 minutes of prep and ate a delicious (and healthy!) lunch less than 20 minutes later. Awesome!

Ingredients

1 Portobello mushroom cap

2-3 Tbl Spaghetti sauce, whatever you have on hand (I used a traditional tomato basil)

A good sprinkle of shredded mozzarella cheese

(I also added a little sprinkle of a parm mix I had on hand)

Directions

Lightly wipe down the mushroom cap with a damp napkin. Trip out the stem.

Oven to broil.

Place upside down mushroom cap (stem portion up) on baking sheet. Spoon in spaghetti sauce, and top with choice of cheese.

Broil for abut 10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and bubbly and you're confident that the mushroom is cooked throughout.

Nutrition

This recipe is for 1 serving.

Est WW points: 3

Calories: 120

Fat: 5.3g

Sodium: 274

Carbs: 4.5 g

Fiber: 1.2 g

Sugar: 3.1 g

Protein: 8.5 g

Notes:

If you happen to have a little oregano or basil laying around dont be scared to cut it up and toss right on top. This dish makes an excellent lunch, especially when paired with a nice crusty bread and a little olive oil!

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

Ooohh this is good. And easy. And healthy. What's not to love?! This would be an excellent dish for you meat eaters to serve on your next meatless Monday.

And seriously yall, this was a lot prettier in person. I need to figure out how to take a prettier picture in the evening without it looking all green. 

Ingredients

1 large eggplant

1/3 pound freshly sliced mozzarella

a little parm cheese

a little garlic salt

1 egg

a drizzle of olive oil

panko or bread crumbs

flour

tomato sauce

Directions

Preheat oven on broil. Wash the eggplant, then slice into 1/4 inch rounds, skin on.

Set up 3 dredging stations:

1 with a handful of flour

1 with a beaten egg and a little olive oil

1 with the panko, a little garlic salt and a little parm cheese

Place 1 eggplant round into the flour to coat evenly, flipping to get both sides. Using a fork, dunk the same eggplant round in egg mixture and then coat in the panko mixture on each side.

Place coated eggplant on lightly greased baking sheet and repeat steps with each eggplant piece. It sounds like it will take a while, but it'll go very fast.

Once all the eggplant pieces are ready to go, pop them under the broiler for a few minutes. Keep a close eye on them, and allow the panko to brown just a little.

Remove the pan from the oven, flip each eggplant piece using tongs and return to the broiler to brown the other side.

Remove from oven, and change the temperature to 450.

In a large rectangular pyrex, pour in about half of the tomato sauce (of course you can use more or less to taste). Arrange the eggplant pieces in the dish. Top each eggplant with a proportional size of mozzarella.

Pop in the preheated oven about 8 minute, or until the cheese melts and the tomato sauce just bubbles.

Nutrition

This will depend on the size of your eggplant, but ours made 10 slices, which is about 4 servings when you include a side. This is for 1 serving.

Est. WW points: 7 

Calories: 352

Fat: 14.8g

Carbs: 40.5g

Fiber: 6.6g

Sugar: 7.8g

Protein: 14.5g

Notes

Why use panko? While not perfect, I mean, you're still breading something, panko is often seen as the healthier cousin of breadcrumbs. They are lighter, stay crispy longer and have fewer calories than their heavier handed brethren. Plus I like the taste :0)

We served this with homemade mashed potatoes, but it would also be delish with a side of whole wheat noodles and a bit more sauce. 

Rataouille

This dish is very rustic Italian. It's super easy, loaded with fresh veggies and perfect for dipping with crusty bread. This is great for feeding a large crowd and it's not short on taste!

warning: please excuse the crappy lighting photo. It does not do the beautiful colors justice

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 chopped medium onion

2 minced garlic cloves

3 cups cubed eggplants (peeled or not, we like them skin on)

1 chopped medium green bell pepper

2 cubed medium zucchini

1 cup chopped hearty mushrooms, such as baby bellas or cremini

1 14oz can Italian Seasoned tomatoes or regular chopped tomatoes with a good dash of italian seasoning

A little mozzarella cheese to top

Your favorite crusty bread

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic, heat until tender.

Add remaining veggies and tomatoes (with juice) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Uncover and cook for about 5 minutes or until most liquid is evaporated.

Nutrition

This makes 4 servings (it can be easily doubled), this is for 1. This does not include bread.

Est. WW points: 2

Calories: 127

Fat: 3.9 g

Carbs: 22 g

Fiber: 5.7 g

Sugar: 8.6 g

Protein: 3.9g

Enjoy!

Perfect Pesto

Ooohh how we love pesto in our house! Although the picture is not the greatest here, pesto made with fresh basil is bright green in color and incredibly fragrant. It is perfect to keep on hand to throw on otherwise uninspiring plain pasta, or in this case a little cheese ravioli. AND because it can be frozen into small cubes using a ice cube tray it's the perfect make ahead condiment that spruces up any meal even in winter.

Ingredients

3/4 cups olive oil, again the best you can find

3/4 cups fresh grated parm cheese

1/2 cup pine nuts

3 whole garlic cloves

4 cups chopped fresh basil leaves

1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse until desired consistency. If you have a smaller food processor, or are using a Magic Bullet, it is probably best to loosely split the recipe into 3rds to make it easier to chop/mix.

Nutrition

This recipe makes about 9 pretty generous servings. This is 1:

Estimated WW points: 8

Calories: 329

Fat: 27 g

Cholesterol: 6.6 mg

Carbs: 21 g

Fiber: 13.3. g

Sugar: .8 g

Protein: 9.2 g

Notes: Seriously this dish is super easy to freeze- just evenly pour the pesto into ice cube tray and allow to set. Transfer to freezer safe bag or container. If adding to a recipe, simply add to heated skillet. If adding to cooked pasta, allow to defrost at room temperature about 1 hour. Should keep 6-8 weeks with no problem.

Enjoy!

Caramelized Onions, mushrooms and gruyere pasta

So the hubs is out of town running some crazy 60 mile run in sub-arctic temperatures and I decided to make a quick dinner that I KNOW I could never get him to eat. Although he will eat onion rings, he has a serious aversion to anything that resembles an actual onion. I on the other hand happen to love onions, especially when they are sauteed into glorious, gooey brown strips known as 'caramelized onions'. If you're looking for something super tasty with a nice grown up flavor, this one is for you!

Warning: this recipe makes 1 serving since I came up with it on the fly and it only had to serve myself. It is also not for the faint of heart or dieters.

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat or quinoa based pasta

1 1/2 tsp butter

1/2 tbl olive oil

a pinch of sea salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2-1 tbl flour

1/4-1/2 cup milk

1/4 thinly sliced white or red onion

4 roughly chopped baby bella mushrooms or about 1/2 of a regular portabella mushroom

2/3 cup freshly grated gruyere cheese

Directions

In a large skillet, heat your butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add in thinly sliced onions, a pinch of salt and sugar. Allow the onions to brown, stirring frequently.

After about 5 minutes, add roughly chopped portabella mushrooms. Continue to saute.

Cook pasta according to directions as you continue to cook the onion/mushroom mix. When pasta is finished, drain and set aside.

Once onions are nicely browned and mushrooms are cooked through, reduce heat to low. SLOWLY add in the milk, quickly followed by the flour. Stir to make a nice thick mixture (but not lumpy) mixture. If the mix is too lumpy, simply add more milk or butter. If the mix is too watery, simply add a touch more flour. Once gravy is thoroughly mixed, slowly add in grated gruyere cheese, stirring until incorporated and melted.

Transfer pasta into a bowl and spoon onions, mushrooms and sauce on top. Top with a small amount of grated cheese.

Nutrition

This is assuming 1 serving.

Estimated WW points: 15

Calories: 630

Fat: 40.6 g

Cholesterol: 105.1

Carbs: 42 g

Fiber: 5.6 g

Sugars: 5.3 g

Protein: 29 g

Rustic cheese ravioli with walnuts and apples

I'll admit, when I first found this recipe on Real Simple Foods I was a little cautious, I mean apples and ravioli??!!! But honestly it was SO good. The combination was fresh and filling without being heavy like a traditional ravioli with sauce. It's definitely high on my list of easy to make, tasty last minute meals. 

Ingredients 

1 pound cheese ravioli (fresh, frozen, homemade, whatever)

2 Tbl olive oil- we use the best olive oil you can purchase at our local Greek food market

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

1/2 to 1 crisp red apple cut into thin matchsticks

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley 

A pinch of salt 

Parmesan cheese to taste 

Directions 

Cook the ravioli according to directions and set aside. 

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts and stir often to lightly toast, 4 minutes or so. Careful not to burn! 

In a large bowl, combine ravioli, apple matchsticks, parsley, pinch of salt, and walnuts. Plate and sprinkle with Parmesan. 

Notes

This recipe serves about 4 people, however it's very easy to scale down to a single or double portion for a simple weeknight dinner. Simply cook the appropriate amount of ravioli, and adjust walnut/apple quantities to taste using the same amount of olive oil. 

You can make a lower calorie version using reduced fat cheese ravioli. This recipe used Bertoli 4 cheese ravioli (not the reduced fat kind). 

Nutrition

This is assuming 4 servings, and represents the amount per serving 

Estimated WW points: 11

Calories: 440 

Fat: 33.6 g 

Saturated fat: 9 g 

Cholesterol: 35 mg 

Sodium: 506 mg

Carbs: 24.3 g

Fiber: 3.2 g 

Sugar: 1.6 g 

Protein: 12.8 g

Enjoy!