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

Bearnaise Shrimp Pasta Salad

I am a huge fan of Bearnaise sauce.  If I could, I'd eat it with everything.  Or plain.  It's that good.  I'm crazy about it.  Sooo I decided to use it as the base for a cold shrimp pasta salad.  Now if you have the time/energy to sit down and make a homemade Bearnaise sauce from scratch, let me suggest a recipe here from Emeril Lagasse that's out of this world awesome.  If, on the other hand, you're feeling a bit lazy (no judgements here) - the Knorr flavor pack available at most grocery stores works juuuuuust fine.  It takes 2 seconds to make and today I used skim milk instead of whole milk and 3 tbs butter instead of 4 to lighten it up a bit.  I combined it with Greek yogurt which made it super creamy and gave it a bit of a tang while still maintaining the tarragon flavor.  Result = yum.  Bearnaise sauce 2.0.

This dressing combined with crunchy fresh veggies, macaroni, and shrimp is absolutely delicious BUT its also open to lots of variation based on what works for you.  I used onions, bell peppers, carrots but that can obviously be swapped out for whatever veggies you want.  My advice is to use the parsley sparingly - add a little at a time and test taste because sometimes the flavor can be a bit overwhelming.

Best of all, this took me MAYBE 15 minutes total to make.  I had leftover macaroni from my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese and I thawed frozen cooked and deveined shrimp.  This was meant to be a side but is filling enough to work as an entree if you'd like too.

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

•  1/4lb. (about 12 lg) cooked shrimp, tails cut off (save yourself some time and thaw frozen cooked shrimp)
• 2 1/2 cup macaroni (or pasta of your choice)
• 1 1/3 cup Bearnaise cooled to room temperature (for quickness I used the Knorr pack - with skim milk and 3 tbs butter - but if you have the time, Emeril Lagasse has a reeeeeally good recipe here)
• 3 tbs fat free plain Greek yogurt (ex. Chobani)
• 1/4 of a bell pepper chopped small
• 2 baby carrots chopped fine
• 1/4 of an onion chopped fine
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• a quick sprinkle of chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, Old Bay seasoning to taste

Recipe: 

1.  Boil the pasta, drain, set aside until room temperature.
2. Combine Bearnaise sauce and Greek yogurt and mix well.
3. Add the chopped bell peppers, onions, carrots, and parsley and mix well.
4. Add the spices to taste.
5. Add the shrimp and mix well.
6. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour for flavors to combine. 

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Calories: 331
• Fat: 9.5g
• Protein: 15.5g