Fake Pasta Bake

Buon Giorno!

One of the things I like most about cooking is making fake junk food.  Food that sounds and looks bad for you (and therefore wonderful) but is actually full of good stuff you need to live long and healthy.  Of these recipes, a nutritious pasta dinner cleverly disguised as comfort food is one of the easiest and yummiest.  It's technically not "fake" - the pasta is real and so is the baking - but I like rhyming so the blog title stays!

The reason I call it fake pasta bake is simple - I use whole grain pasta, veggies and fat free cheese.  Not exactly what most of us picture when we think of comfort food for a cold fall night (not that LA is every really "cold").  But this healthy baked pasta tastes nearly identical to the indulgent real thing.  I promise....and I have pictures to prove it.

The only concern I have about this recipe is my need for canned tomato sauce.  Most times, if I'm cooking pasta, I'm cooking sauce from tomatoes I mushed in my own kitchen, but baked pasta requires a lot of extra sauce to stay moist and I haven't mastered the quantity side of sauce yet, so I add in canned stuff.  Canned stuff is high in sodium, so if salt is something you need to watch, make sure you look for low (or no) salt options and still check the label.  I compared labels and some organic brands contain more sodium than their non-organic counterparts, so beware.

Now, with no further rambling, I present to you the recipe for:

Baked Whole Grain Pasta

You'll need the following ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 White Onion (diced)
4-5 Cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 8 oz package Baby Portabella Mushrooms (sliced)
3 Roma Tomatoes (diced)
1 12 oz package Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti or Angel Hair
3 8 oz cans NO SALT ADDED Tomato Sauce
1 8 oz package Fat Free Shredded Mozzarella
Sea Salt & Black Pepper

I like to start any prep/cook session by getting all the chopping out of the way first.  Once the chopping is complete, saute the onion and garlic with 1/8 cup of olive oil on a low heat for approximately 5 minutes (until onion softens) then add in the tomatoes, mushrooms and remaining oil and let everything saute for another 5 minutes.  Then, add the sauce and S&P to taste and bring to a boil.

While the sauce is doing that (and by that, I mean boiling), turn the oven on to 350 so it begins preheating and boil your pasta.  The thin spaghetti or angel hair should boil to al dente in 5-6 minutes, but keep a close eye on it.  Over-cooked pasta equals mushy mess.  Drain & cool pasta, then mix with the sauce.

Mixed and ready to be covered in cheese

Next, pour the now sauce coated pasta into a 9 x 11 inch baking dish, try to evenly distribute the sauce and mushrooms and cover the top with a nice layer of cheese.

Before

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes (or until cheese is beginning to brown), let the dish cool for 5-10 minutes and stuff your face.

After

Simple, healthy and great leftovers.  I love this recipe.  Let me know if you try it and like it.

Happy Stuffing!
Mel

**Footnote: When I have fresh basil in the fridge, I put a layer of basil leaves under the cheese to bake.  It adds AMAZING fresh flavor to the dish.

Save a Cow, Save the World

Hey foodies,

Meatless Mondays are gaining more and more momentum recently and I want to do my part to spread the word.  Going without meat one day a week is great for many reasons.  First, it's better for your health. Meat can be a nutritious part of a balanced diet, if consumed correctly, but meat is also high is cholesterol and too much of anything ceases to be beneficial.  Plus, it would stand to reason, if meat isn't the main star of the day, you'll have to substitute in something else - like maybe extra veggies or grains.  You spend one day consuming less fat and cholesterol and upping your dose of nutrients & vitamins.  Doesn't that sound nice?

The second advantage to a meatless day (Monday is optional btw) is it's really good for the planet!  These movements are rather new and there is already evidence that the support of part-time vegetarianism is helping to reduce harmful greenhouse gases.

There are numerous advantages to supporting a meatless campaign one day (or a couple) per week.  You can learn more about the movement at the Meatless Monday & MFM websites.

Now, since this blog is, in part, a source for finding recipes to stuff in your face, I will provide you with one of my favorite meatless recipes.

Quinoa Salad


Quinoa is a little grain that is very high in a lot of the good stuff your body needs.  You can learn more about it on the interwebs, including here.

For my particular salad, you will need:

1 12 oz package of Quinoa
1 8 oz can of black beans (rinsed)
1 8 oz can of kernel corn (rinsed)
1 large & ripe avocado (diced)
1 large vine tomato (diced)
1 small onion (diced - dealer's choice on color)

The prep for this dish is probably fairly predictable, but I'll walk you through it anyway.  It is highly recommended that you rinse the quinoa seeds before boiling to rinse away all residue.  For a 12 oz package, boil in 3 cups of water.  It should take approximately 15 minutes to cook thoroughly. Drain the now cooked grains and let cool.  Once cooled, combine in a large bowl with the black beans, corn and diced veggies and add sea salt and black pepper.  It's ridiculously simple and so full of nutrients, your mother will weep with pride.

I hope you'll try this and other meat free options once (or more than once) a week.  Be good to your body and the planet and be excellent to each other (thanks Bill & Ted).

Love your 85% vegetarian blogger,

Melissa

Ode To A Dressing....

Trader Joe's is not paying me to endorse the following product (unless you want to?):

The Tuscan Italian salad dressing from TJ's is the bomb.  I like to make my own dressing, but if I'm going store bought, that's the one.  It's my favorite.  Another thing I love is salads.  If you remember not to fall into a boring salad routine (same ingredients every time), salads can be a quick, delicious & healthy lunch and/or dinner.

It was for me.  Here is what I used:

1 package of mixed greens
1 diced avocado
1 thinly sliced orange bell pepper
1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 giant handful of feta cheese (plus a little extra)
Trader Joe's Tuscan Italian dressing.

It was an amazing dinner and an amazing lunch the next day.  You want to see pictures don't you?  That's the only thing that makes reading worth it....pictures of food.

Okay, here we go:

That's my salad!

That's my salad with glorious dressing!

That's my salad with glorious dressing and a delicious beverage!

....and then it all disappeared and life was happy.

Eat veggies!

Mel

Heirlooms in Heaven

Hey y'all,

Tell me you don't love pasta and I'll tell you to suck it.  No, no, that would be wrong...I would never say that, but I would be shocked and look at you like this:

Uh....What?!

Okay, sorry, monkey tangent.  But now, getting to my point: Heirloom Marinara Sauce!!  It's delicious and makes my house smell awesome.

Here's the deal, heirloom tomatoes are rare little seasonal treasures and you should use them in as many dishes as possible while they grace you with their magnificent presence.  My love of heirlooms and my love of eating brought me to making red sauce at home.  Here's the breakdown for this particular batch of heirloom marinara:

1 lb roma tomatoes

1 lb heirloom tomatoes (I like the mini heirlooms, but any will work)

1 small yellow onion (diced)

1 head garlic (finely chopped)

6 oz tomato paste

1 cup chopped basil

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 TSP sugar

S&P 

**Disclaimer:  Sauce is never exact, so add salt, pepper, wine, love, etc until the sauce is enjoyable for you.  Just remember to never add too much of something when tweaking.  Nothing worse than too much salt...or love. 

First, we boil the tomatoes.  I like to cut them in half to boil as it makes peeling the skin easier.  Boiling times vary, but I let this batch go approximately 15 minutes AFTER water was boiling.  Next, pour the tomatoes into a large strainer to cool.  While the tomatoes are cooling, simmer (in same sauce pot) 1/4 cup olive oil with the onion & garlic.

Once tomatoes are cool, peel the skin as much as you can (optional, but I think it's easier/tastier to work with just the tomato pulp).  Combine in pot: onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, another 1/4 cup olive oil, a splash of red wine and salt & pepper.  While that's cooking, chop approximately 1 cup of basil to add to the sauce.  Next, let the sauce simmer on low for approximately 2 hours to give the flavors plenty of time to blend.  At this point, add the 1/4 TSP sugar to the sauce to cut the acidity.  Once we've done all that work, I like to add a little more S&P, olive oil and the rest of the red wine and let it cook about another hour.

It's important to not rush when cooking sauce.  The tomatoes need plenty of time to cook down and blend with the other ingredients and the longer you give it, the more flavorful it will be.

You start with this:

Ah, delicious & fresh!

And end with this: 

Ah, sauce I want to mate with!

For this dinner, I served the sauce over orechiette with crumbled Italian sausage.  This particular pasta works well with a thicker sauce and the spiciness of the sausage was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the tomatoes.

Here's the finished dish:

Eat it, you'll like it.

So, that's my sauce.  It's a labor of love but totally worth it.  Cooking from scratch in your own kitchen is a wonderful, wonderful thing.  Let me know if you try it, if you like it and what you do with your own sauce.  Favorite recipe?  Ingredient, tip?  Lemme know!

As always, thanks for reading and happy stuffing!

Mel

I'm in Love...

I love garlic.  It's wonderful and good for you and scares away vampires.  It's one of the best things about eating. 

Know what sucks though?  Peeling that sh**!! 

But now, oh, but now....this champ has shown me a better way and it would be horribly unfair to keep this knowledge secret.

If you already knew this secret, please don't brag.  Nobody likes that.

Enjoy!!