Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen

Despite being extremely preoccupied with the latest addition to our family, I did manage to get food on the table a couple of nights this week!  I haven’t had much time to read through the latest issue of Cooking Light, but this recipe did catch my eye and I put it on our weekly menu.  I really liked the flavor of the turkey sausage and the cherry tomatoes were a great fresh addition to this dish.  Photographing food with a puppy in the house is my latest challenge, he is into EVERYTHING!

Three-Cheese Baked Penne (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne (about 8 ounces tube-shaped pasta)
Cooking spray
2 (4-ounce) links sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
10 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 garlic clove, minced
Dash of salt
1 (8-ounce) can garlic-and-herb tomato sauce
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add bell pepper and next 6 ingredients (through salt) to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until bell pepper is tender. Stir in tomato sauce. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add pasta to pan, tossing gently to coat. Spoon pasta mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Stir in mozzarella and goat cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until bubbly and top is browned.

Serves 6

WW pts per serving=7

I don’t think I cooked a single meal last week, I was in another cooking slump. Tyler thankfully stepped in to make dinner last night (don’t ask me what we ate Monday-Friday last week, it’s honestly a blur of cereal and take out). I had been in search of a healthier lasagna recipe for awhile. I love cheese and Italian food and I love big dishes of it that you can eat for days, makes for good lunches! This lasagna was very good, although I can’t say it was as flavorful as the last lasagna I made.

Hearty Lasagna (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
1 pound 93% lean ground beef
Vegetable cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup (1 ounce) finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 (15-ounce) container nonfat ricotta cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten
12 cooked lasagna noodles
2 cups (8 ounces) part skim mozzarella cheese
Fresh oregano sprigs (optional)

I’ve made stuffed shells before, but this time I wanted to make a more WW friendly recipe. I had a tub of fat free ricotta cheese that needed to be used up so that was my inspiration. In general, I think fat free cheese is terrible. The shredded stuff certainly is. When “melted” (I use that term lightly) it often comes out waxy. I can’t stand it. Ricotta is a different consistency, but I was a little nervous about the taste, so I made sure to add plenty of other things to this mixture to give the filling a great taste. I think I succeeded!

5 Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Shells (made up by me!)

12 oz package pasta shells
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 of a small onion, chopped
1/3 cup Kraft grated parmesan and romano cheese
1/4 cup grated asiago cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dry
1 egg
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (26 oz, I use Tyler’s favorite Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese or italian cheese blend

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place shell pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 glass pan.

Mix ricotta, garlic, onion, spinach, parm/romano, asiago cheese, oregano, salt and pepper, and egg in a bowl.

Stuff the cooked pasta shells with the cheese mixture (I used my medium Pampered Chef scooper, made stuffing them quick and very easy!) , and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover evenly with the 2 cups of marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-25 minutes in preheated oven, or until bubbly.

Serves 5 (4 shells per serving)

WW points per serving= approx. 8
(kind of high, but they are very filling. You could decrease the points by decreasing the amount of parm/romano and asiago you use, I plugged in all the info into etools to approximate the pts. value.)

Although it hasn’t quite been a year yet, our very first blog entry was our Easter meal from 2007. We celebrated just the 2 of us in our little 1 bedroom apartment in D.C. This year we are back in Kansas, near family and in a slightly larger apartment much better suited for entertaining. My parents came over for lunch today, and we’ll be having dinner at Tyler’s parents home tonight. For lunch we wanted a meal that we could prepare quickly after church. We also wanted to try at least one new recipe, so we picked a bruschetta appetizer to tide us over until the rest of the meal was ready. It was all delicious and it was so nice to celebrate Easter with family!

Easter Menu:
bruschetta
chop salad w/chicken
mushroom rigatoni bake
asparagus with balsamic browned butter
texas sheet cake (recipe now updated w/WW points)
and pink lemonade!

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil (from delish)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs tomatoes (we used a mixture of roma and hot house, the ripest we could find)
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
5 large leaves basil, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh chopped parsley
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
coarse salt & black pepper, to taste

1 baguette loaf
3 Tbsp olive oil, or more as desired
1 clove garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove seeds and juice from tomatoes; dice. In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Add basil & parsley. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Set aside.

Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down and bake 5-6 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and rub each piece of toast on the olive oil side using a clove of garlic, allowing the juices sink into the bread (Ok I confess I tried this but got impatient and gave up, we were in a hurry!) Serve immediately with prepared tomato & basil mixture.

Yields: approximately 2 dozen.

I am frustrated this week, but trying to stay positive as well. I just wish I had a book of recipes that are tried and true, because I am sick of the duds! I got up early this morning and got the teriyaki pork in the slow cooker and came home to a blackened, burnt mess. I *thought* there wasn’t enough liquid in it this morning, but decided “Hey, this recipe came from an official WW cookbook, I’m sure they test these out and that the recipe won’t steer me wrong.” Mmmm no. There was a not enough liquid and I’m kicking myself for not throwing in a cup of water. So Chick-fil-a to the rescue!

Last night I made a Cooking Light recipe with much better results, although I am not in love with the pizza crust recipe. I prefer the one I used before. The CL one was just far too sticky. I liked the flavor combination of mushrooms, red onion, and gorgonzola. I got a little too generous with the gorgonzola though, and it ended up overpowering the other flavors. In this case I should have followed the recipe more closely! I can never win Ah well, practice makes perfect, and Chick-fil-a is right next door when we have a kitchen disaster on our hands.

Shiitake Mushroom and Gorgonzola Cheese Pizza (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe Pizza Dough
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced button mushrooms
1 1/3 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 cup vertically sliced red onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup (3 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue cheese

Serves 4, each serving is 2 slices

WW points per serving = 6

I really love pesto and can’t wait for summer when I can grow a few basil plants on our deck so I have it free for the taking! This pasta was so simple to make, unfortunately it didn’t reheat very well for lunch the next day, not really sure why, but it lost the strength of it’s flavor. So make it in small batches and eat it fresh I bought fresh pasta at the store and it was good, but not so much better than the dried stuff that I was blown away. It did shave about 10 minutes off the cooking time though, which is always nice when you’re in a hurry! We’ll definitely be making this again, and I’ll hopefully make a double batch of pesto so I have more for later!

Fresh Fettuccine with Homemade Pesto

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2 T pine nuts, toasted
2 T low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/4 t salt
1 (9-ounce) package fresh fettuccine (I found it in the produce section at HyVee, but I’ve also seen it in the dairy section at other stores)
3 T shredded Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. To prepare the pesto, puree the basil, pine nuts, broth, oil, garlic, and salt in a blender or food processor until a smooth paste is formed.

2. Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine according to package directions, drain, and transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Add the pesto and the parmesan, toss to coat. Serve with the pepper.

Serves 4 (one generous cup of pasta)

WW points per serving: 5

Source: Take-Out Tonight: 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make At Home, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2002

Finally got around to making our pizza today! I was surprised I was able to find fresh, ripe, and tasty roma tomatoes in February but the produce gods smiled upon me I am already getting the itch for fresh summer produce and Saturday mornings at the farmer’s market, I have big plans for the summer! HyVee’s produce will have to tide me over until then. We deviated some from the original Cooking Light recipe, using a Boboli whole wheat crust (which wasn’t as good as I hoped it’d be, shoulda gone for the regular one!) and part-skim mozzarella cheese. The ripe tomatoes and fresh basil were key to the flavor of this pizza, it *almost* didn’t even need the cheese! (this from a cheese addict, so you know it was good!) Maybe next time I’m feeling ambitious I’ll make the crust from scratch.

Quick Pizza Margherita (original recipe from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

1 Whole Wheat Boboli thin pizza crust
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, halved
3 large plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Tyler took charge this year, planning out a nice menu, shopping, and doing the cooking!  I’ll admit I did help a bit with a few things though, but I was careful not to take charge or boss him around the kitchen.  He thanked me for not going all Gordon Ramsey a la Hells Kitchen on him :)  By working together we got dinner on the table by 7:15!  I was prepared for another 3 hour cooking ordeal but this went much faster!  Our dinner menu:

chicken stuffed with garlic and herbed goat cheese
garlicky green beans
spaghetti tossed in red pepper pesto
bruschetta with red pepper pesto
chocolate dipped strawberries (same as last V-day!)

Bruschetta with Red Pepper Pesto (from Weight Watchers)

Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 loaf of french bread/italian bread/baguette sliced into 24 pieces and toasted
1 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved

1.  Preheat the broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil; place the bell peppers on the baking sheet.  Broil 5 inches from the heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until lightly charred, about 10 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

2.  Thinly slice 1/4 cup of the basil leaves; set aside for garnish.  Puree the bell peppers, the remaining 3/4 cup basil, the garlic, pine nuts, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor.  Transfer the pesto to a small bowl.

3.  Spread 1 scant tablespoon of the pesto on each toast slice; top with a few of the reserved sliced basil leaves and a shaving or two of the Parmesan.

Serves 8 (3 pieces of toast per serving)

4 WW points per serving

Source: Take-Out Tonight: 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make At Home, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2002 

I’ve been in search of a good lasagna recipe since we got married.  I’d tried several and just wasn’t pleased.  Either they took too long to make or the sauce was bland or all I could taste was spinach or the cheese was weird or whatever.  I gave up and switched to ziti for the weeks I wanted a big dish of Italian food we could take for leftovers all week.  Then I saw this recipe over on Annie’s blog and decided I’d give it one more try.  She has never led me astray so I figured it was worth a shot :)  I was a little nervous when I saw the recipe originally came from allrecipes.com.  I was reminded of the time I made a lasagna while we were dating and I followed the allrecipes recipe that called for 5 tablespoons of Italian seasoning.  I thought the recipes could not be wrong so why would I deviate from it?  The sauce turned black from all the seasoning and it was DISGUSTING.  Tyler ate it all plus the leftover sauce, what a trooper.  So I was a bit hesitant, but I’m so glad I gave allrecipes and their lasagna another chance because this one was so delicious!  Definitely a keeper!  I’ve got the recipe and my shortcut technique below!

Deep Dish Lasagna (original recipe from allrecipes.com, you can see Annie’s version here)

• 12 no boil lasagna noodles
• 1 pound hot ground Italian sausage
• 2/3 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1 pound part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dried
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage with the onions, garlic and 1/2 the parsley; drain. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil; mix well. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes; stirring occasionally.
3. In a bowl, combine remaining parsley and Ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, eggs, garlic salt, and pepper; mix well.
4. In lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish, spread 2 cups sauce mix. Begin layering with 4 noodles, 1/2 cheese mix*, 1/3 remaining sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat this layer again and the last layer will be noodles, sauce and mozzarella cheese. (*to simplify the layering I hold the no boil noodle in my hand and spread the cheese mixture on it.  Makes the layering go much quicker and it’s not as messy as trying to do it in the pan with sauce everywhere, see picture below.)
5. Bake covered in a preheated oven at for 45 minutes. Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

I was a little unsure when I first saw this recipe (recommended by another Cooking Light fan!) because the ingredient list is so basic.  I’m glad I gave it a shot though, it is delicious and will definitely replace our old “go-to” baked ziti recipe.  It fills a 9×13 pan, we’ll be eating it for lunch all week!  So glad I don’t have to take a boring old turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow!

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

1 (1-pound) package uncooked ziti (or any short tube-shaped pasta, I used rigatoni)
1 pound hot turkey Italian sausage (I buy the already ground Johnsonville sausage)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
 Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese