Hi! It's me Lauren bringing you my recipe of the week (and a couple of little fitness tips too!)
If I had to pick one type of meal to eat for the rest of my life, pasta would be it...hands down. I love me some pasta. The only problem is that the words "pasta" and "healthy" are most often not synonymous.
Enter THIS pasta recipe:
ORECCHIETTE WITH SAUSAGE, PEPPERS, AND FETA
*Note: I substitute the orecchiette pasta for wheat penne pasta, because it's a little bit healthier.
YIELD:
*4 servings (serving size 1 1/2 cups)
INGREDIENTS:
*8 oz. uncooked orecchiette pasta (about 2 cups)
*1 tsp. olive oil
*3 cups chopped or sliced red bell pepper
*1/2 tsp. salt, divided
*8 oz. turkey Italian sausage (*we like to buy spicy, but you can buy regular if you like)
*1 tsp. dried oregano
*1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic (or fresh if you prefer)
*3/4 cup (3 oz.) crumbled feta cheese (*they make a reduced-fat version that's quite good)
*1/4 cup sliced pitted kalamata olives (*I don't like olives, so I leave these out...less calories too!)
*1/4 tsp. black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain pasta over a bowl and save 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and 1/4 tsp. salt; saute 2 minutes.
3. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage, oregano, and garlic to pan; cook 4 minutes or until sausage is done, stirring to crumble.
4. Add pasta, reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 tsp. salt, cheese, olives and black pepper; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.
NUTRITIONAL INFO:
*Calories: 393
*Fat: 12.8 g
*Protein: 21.6 g
*Carbs: 48.6 g
*Fiber: 3.6 g
*Cholesterol: 67 mg
This is one of our favorite recipes. And although the hubs is a red meat lover through and through the Italian turkey sausage (spicy of course...that's how we cook most things at our house) gets the thumbs up from him. ALSO...I've forgotten to save the cooking liquid from the pasta before and completely left it out and it turned out just fine. And, if you want to include more of less of any ingredient, feel free. You can't really screw this up :).
Fitness Links of the Week:
*Here is my fitness link for the week: http://www.exercisetv.tv/
*Also...if you have a Lululemon Athletica near you, check out their free yoga class offerings. They offer them on weekends and all throughout the month of January they're offering free classes every evening! It's a great way to try out yoga on the cheap.
6 comments:
I hadn't heard of Lululemon before, Lauren. Thanks!
And the recipe sounds really yummy. But I'd leave the olives in. Yum, yum. Those are healthy calories (in moderation, of course) with good fats. The kalamata olives are way more interesting to the taste buds than plain black olives.
This looks really yummy!
pasta sounds yummo lauren! i'll be writing this down and adding it to my recipe box!
Lauren! that looks AMAZING. i am so going to try this. i just got paid today, so now i can finally buy real food and i want to make this first thing!
Thought I would share with a fellow noodle lover :) I saw this featured on the Rachel Ray show (Jan 8th)http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/roccos-top-foods-2010/
Please let me know if you find these at a local grocery store - her site gives the following website you can buy them from. Shirataki Noodles (Available at MiracleNoodle.com)
If you're trying to cut out carbs by giving up great-tasting noodle dishes, these are noodles that have NO CARBS and NO CALORIES! On the show, Rocco declares about Shirataki noodles. "When they come out of bag, you just have to rinse off the water they come in and just throw them into a big pot of hot broth with whatever garnishes you want. They don't need to cook, they're already cooked, and they never overcook!"
Aubrie - join my online network at http://portland.citymommy.com/?q=user/register/libramedia
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