Skillet Cheesy Pasta and Sauce

It's a rainy, stormy day and I'm in the mood to just stay in and watch the thunderstorms with Rocky while munching on some comfort food.  I wanted something simple and quick - and to be very honest, this is the ultimate in lazy girl meals.  The whole recipes takes less than a half hour total from start to clean-up and I'm sure would be fabulous with a salad and some crusty bread if you had some sort of last minute hostessing crisis or whatever. 

In the future, I would like to use my own sauce instead of going prepackaged - maybe something with ground turkey to up the protein content a bit.  I used Dreamfields pasta - anything else will probably alter the nutritional content and skyrocket the carbs a bit.  I used all lowfat/skim cheeses - however I'm sure anything a little more full-body will up the awesomeness factor.  All in all, the end result of this particular recipe is an incredibly creamy, gooey, tasty pasta dish that has definitely satisfied my craving for comfort foods on this rainy day.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (6 servings - about a cup/pp):

• 6 oz. elbow macaroni (I used Dreamfields)
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce (I used a jarred four cheese sauce)
• 14.5 oz. drained diced tomatoes (Italian)
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1/2 cup skim ricotta
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 1/4 cup parmesan
• 1 large onion
• 1 red/orange bell pepper
• fresh basil leaves (I used about 5)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. Boil pasta according to instructions and set aside.
2. Dice the onion and pepper and sautee in a large skillet until tender and somewhat translucent.
3. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, chopped basil leaves.
5. Stir well and allow to thicken for about 3 minutes.
6. Add the pasta and mix well.
7. Add the 3 cheeses and mix well until melted and evenly distributed.
8. Serve immediately and enjoy :)

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Calories: 192
• Carbs: 26g
• Fat: 6g
• Protein: 10g

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

 

Yesterday I got back from a trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic which was absolutely amaaaazing to say the least.  Perfect weather, white sand, turquoise water, lots of snorkeling, and killer fresh fish and fruit.  I can't rave about this vacation enough. 

But alas, all good things must come to an end and unfortunately that meant suffering about a 70* temperature drop upon arriving back in the frozen wasteland of Boston.  My body has officially gone into freakout survival mode and I'm desperately avoiding the outdoors at all cost.  My way of handling this?  Make some good comfort food, curl up with a book and my dog (I missed my sidekick) and pretend I don't have about 18 hundred loads of sandy laundry to do. 

This corn chowder is a bit different because it mixes yams and butternut squash (one of my staples) with regular yukon gold potatoes.  It's a heavy soup but since its thickened by pureeing about half of the potatoes and squash instead of adding heavy cream, its considerably healthier than a lot of other chowders.  If you have picky kids that get bent out of shape when they see veggies in their food, just puree the whole thing instead of half and add the corn after.  Voila!  No more visible veggies!  Serve this with a nice chunk of crusty bread and you're good to go!


Ingredients (4 to 6 servings - makes about 3 quarts):

• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper (preferably red)
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 sweet potato/yam
• 2 yukon gold potatoes
• about 5oz. butternut squash
• 7 or 8 baby carrots
• 17.5 oz corn (2 standard size cans)
• 2 cups chicken broth (or maybe vegetable broth if you're looking to go vegetarian)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 tbs sugar
• salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
• chopped scallions to garnish

Recipe:

1. Add a little olive oil to a large pot over medium heat and allow to heat up.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are somewhat browned and tender.
3. Add the peppers and carrots and sautee until the peppers are tender (~5 minutes).
4. Slowly stir in the chicken broth, water, potatoes, yams, and butternut squash and kick the heat up a bit.  Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
5. Lower the heat and remove about half (1.5 quarts) and puree in a blender until smooth.  Pour back into the pot and mix in the corn.
6. Add the half and half and the sugar and stir to equalize the temperature.
7. Taste test and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving (4):

• Calories: 270
• Fat: 7g
• Protein: 8g

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ugh.  It's just been one of those days.  Despite me having an insane amount of work to get done by upcoming deadlines, the lab building was locked and apparently I'm the only one who didn't get the memo.  We're hitting a serious cold front up here, and I'm surrounded by sick people.  I put a hole in my brand new shirt after I just took out the tags, the package I'm expecting got lost in the mysterious realms of USPS, and I ran out of my favorite bubble bath.

Where can someone turn in clearly dire situations like this?  The obvious answer: a classic comfort food like macaroni and cheese.  For well over a year I have tried countless mac and cheese recipes looking for the perfect one.  Unfortunately, the Kraft blue box (don't judge!) remained the undisputed champion.

Until today.

Inspiration came from a Rachel Ray recipe I saw awhile back for Pumpkin Cheddar Mac and Cheese.  I'm not crazy about pumpkin (I prefer butternut squash) and the recipe seemed a little heavy for my tastes so I set about trying to reinvent mac and cheese in a slightly healthier form while still maintaining all those things that make it so damn good.

I think this recipe was pretty close to success.  It's significantly lighter than a majority of mac and cheeses yet still WAY creamier than any healthier versions that I've tried.  This was the first time I tried something like this though so if you try this and can think of ways to improve it, help a girl out and let me know!

Butternut squashy cheesy goodness

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 1 tbs butter
• 1 clove of garlic (I used minced)
• 1/4 tsp of red chili flakes (this definitely gives a kick - use less or more to your liking)
• 1/2 tsp of dry mustard
• 3 or 4 fresh sage leaves roughly chopped
• 1/2 of a small onion roughly chopped
• 2 red bell peppers chopped small
• 10oz (~1.5 cups) butternut squash cut into smallish pieces (I used the pre diced)
• 1/2 tbs flour
• 1 1/8 cups skim milk (I used skim but I bet whole would take this to a whole new level)
• 1 cup shredded fat free cheddar cheese (substitute full fat if you'd like)
• 1/2 cup fat free ricotta (substitute as above)
• 1/2 cup of reduced fat blue cheese crumbles (substitute, substitute, substitute)
• 2 cups macaroni
• a scallion or 2 for garnish

Recipe:

1. Boil the macaroni until they are tender but still somewhat firm, drain, and place to the side.  The idea is that you want them cooked, but strong enough to hold their shape when mixed around in the sauce.
2. Set your oven to 375.
3. In a pot melt the butter and add the onions and just one of the bell peppers.  Sautee until the onions start to brown a bit and the peppers are tender.  
4. Next add the garlic, sage, dry mustard, and chili flakes making sure to keep mixing for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the flour and mix so everything is evenly coated.  Keep mixing until the flour starts to brown.
6. Lower the heat and SLOWLY add the milk, mixing all the while.  Bring to a simmer.
7. Add the butternut squash to the pot and simmer until the squash is fork tender.
8. Scoop the entire mix into a regular blender and puree.  
9. Scoop the mix back into its original pot over low heat.  Slowly mix in the ricotta, cheddar, and blue cheese taking care to properly melt the cheeses.
10. Before you mix in the pasta, taste test the sauce!  See if you need more cheese, salt, whatever.  Some people are iffy about blue cheese so add a little at a time until you find what works for you.
11. Combine the macaroni, sauce, and the remainder of RAW bell pepper pieces and move the whole deal into some sort of casserole dish.
12. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
13. Slice up a couple of scallions and sprinkle on top for garnish.

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Calories:  290
• Fat: 4g
• Protein: 22g