Creamy Pumpkin Penne

Creamy Pumpkin Penne

8 oz penne pasta

4 tsp olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

about 4T chopped fresh sage, or 1/2 to 1 T dried sage (to taste)

4 links cooked chicken sausage, sliced, or 1 turkey kielbasa, sliced

1 cup low fat cottage cheese (1% milk fat)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup nonfat milk

pinch of nutmeg

10oz torn spinach, thick stems removed

grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese, optional

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook gently for about 10-15minutes, until softened and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic, sage, and chicken sausage; continue to saute.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

In a blender, combine combine pumpkin, cottage cheese, and milk. Blend until no lumps are present. Add to sausage mixture in skillet and continue to cook over low heat. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.

Drain pasta and return to pot over low heat. Add sausage mixture and baby spinach, and toss together. Cover for a few minutes to let the spinach wilt. Serve with parmesan cheese, if desired.

Summer Squash Pasta Salad

A friend of mine recommended this recipe to me, so, after pilaging someone else's garden today (since mine isn't producing much, or at least not much is ripe yet...) I decided I needed to try this one out. However, me being who I am, I couldn't help but mess with the basic recipe. I think it turned out well, it's a recipe that could be used as a side dish, a vegetarian dinner, or a meat dinner depending on your mood, it can also be served warm or cold...see how versatile it is?! I added cooked chicken and some cheese to make mine a complete meal in one bowl.

Summer Squash Pasta Salad

13-16 oz. Whole wheat pasta, cooked and drained
1 small zucchini, cubed
1 yellow squash, cubed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp. garlic, separated
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
handful of fresh basil , chopped
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
3 stems of cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper
1/2 lb. cooked chicken, chopped (opt.)
3 tbsp. feta cheese (opt. - could also use parmessan)

While pasta is cooking, saute garlic in 2 tbsp. olive oil, 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar and salt and pepper until garlic is golden. Add cubed zucchini and squash and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped herbs and continuing cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add halved tomatoes and cook until skins start to peel away.

Toss cooked pasta with with 1 tbsp. olive oil, sauteed vegetables and cooked chicken. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Pasta Salad with Baby Spinach

This recipe was conceived over IM. It was my night to cook dinner and I had thawed out a whole chicken and had it seasoned up and in the crockpot before I left for work. The only problem was that I was feeling very "uncreative" with a side dish or vegetable. So, I IM'd my sister and asked her what I should make with my chicken for that night. What followed was a back and forth conversation that eventually turned into this recipe.

Pasta Salad with Baby Spinach & Mixed Greens
5 oz. Baby spinach
8 oz. Whole wheat pasta (i.e. penne, bowtie, etc.)
12-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 tbsp. sliced black olives
2-3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1.5 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese

Cook pasta in salted water, drain and rinse under cold water. In a large bowl, combine pasta, spinach, mixed greens, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss well. Top with shaved parmigiano reggiano.

Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Here's another one of my pasta creation dishes. I like being able to just throw things together and have them come out as a tasty meal! I had taken out some Italian Sausage to make a casserole and realized that it was more of a brunch-type casserole so I had to adjust my dinner for tonight. But, I think it turned out quite well, and everyone in the house, and my boyfriend, cleaned their bowls so I take that as a sign of a good recipe!

Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta

1/2 lb. Italian Sausage
2 cups pepper strips (I used the frozen kind)
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic, crushed
1/2 red wine
1-1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
28 oz. diced tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh basil
8 oz. whole wheat pasta (I used the corkscrew pasta, or fuseli)

Cook Italian Sausage over medium heat, using a wooden spoon to break apart, for 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Heat olive oil in same pan, cook onion and pepper strips for 5 minutes, add in garlic and red wine, cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the cooked Italian Sausage, diced tomatoes and crushed red pepper. Lower heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. While the sausage sauce is simmering, cook whole wheat pasta, drain and put back into pot. Add chopped basil to sausage sauce and then pour sauce over the pasta and combine.

Turkey & Spinach Meatballs

I bought a spaghetti squash at the store this week, it's one of the first squashes that I ever actually enjoyed eating, but now, really love. I wanted to use it up for one of my dinners this week, but did still want to include some sort of protein so I found this recipe for Turkey and Spinach meatballs. I actually made the meatballs up the night before so all I had to do was heat them up in some sauce and cook the spaghetti squash and my quick dinner was ready to go!

Turkey & Spinach Meatballs

1 lb. ground turkey
2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup chopped fresh spinach leaves
1 small onion, grated
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs (if I'd had whole wheat, I'd have used that instead of regular)
1/4 cup parmessan cheese
1 splash of milk
non-stick spray

In a large bowl, combine the onion, egg, bread crumbs and parmessan and milk to form a sort of paste. Add the turkey, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and spinach. Gently combine all ingredients together. Roll into 1-2 inch balls, place on a pan sprayed with non-stick spray, spray top of meatballs with non-stick spray as well. Cook 20-25 minutes in a 375 oven. Flip half way through so both sides get slightly brown.

Add to spaghetti sauce and heat through. Serve over your favorite pasta or spaghetti squash.

Salisbury-ish steak

So, I tried out another new recipe last night, I have a few tweaks I'd make to the recipe if I did it again, but I think it still tasted good and was very filling. I'm calling it Salisbury-ish Steak, but really since I'm not sure that I've ever eaten Salisbury Steak I'm not sure how close to the original it tastes!

Salisbury-ish Steak
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup Fiber One cereal (ground up) (I think I might only use 1/4 cup next time)
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 eggs (this is where I'd make a tweak...I'd use at least 3 eggs, or 4 egg whites)
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. dried parsley
3-4 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce (separated)
2 10-oz. cans low fat Cream of Mushroom
6-12 oz. whole wheat egg noodles

Ground up the cereal in a blender or food processor.

Prepare the noodles according to package. (I only used 6 oz. but had more patties left over than noodles so if you want left over noodles make more now, although you may want to wait and make them fresh.)

While boiling the water, combine the beef, ground cereal, quick oats, egg or egg whites, 1 ½ - 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried parsley.

Form the mixture into patties, each a little more than 3 oz.

Brown the patties in a large frying pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray over medium high heat about 3-4 minutes a side.

Whisk the soup, 1 1/2 cans of water (the soup can) and the remaining 1 ½ -2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce. Pour soup mixture over patties. Lower the heat to simmer and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Once the noodles are done, remove the patties from the skillet and set aside. Drain the noodles and add to the skillet. Stir to coat the noodles in the soup mixture.

Friday Night Pasta

This is what I might also call a fridge cleaner pasta. I had a tough workout at the gym tonight, and I wanted to top off my week with a nice homemade dinner that was extra filling but easy. So, I looked through the fridge and freezer to see what we had. I started chopping and cooking away and this is what I came up with.
	Friday Night Pasta 2 tsp olive oil 2 clove(s) garlic clove(s), finely chopped
	1/2 cup(s) onion(s)
	1 cup(s) mushroom(s), sliced
	1 cup(s) zucchini, quartered and sliced
	1 cup(s) canned diced tomatoes
	6 oz cooked shrimp
	4 cup(s) cooked whole wheat pasta
	1 oz romano cheese, shredded finely
	1 tbsp Italian seasoning Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and onions, saute until clear and tender. Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add can of diced tomatoes and Italian seasoning and let simmer for 5 minutes. If the sauce seems to thick add a small amount of water. Add in shrimp and continue simmering until shrimp is cooked through and sauce is at a consistency that you want. Serve over cooked pasta, and sprinkle some of the shredded romano cheese over the vegetables and shrimp mixture. I think there are enough vegetables in the sauce to count as your "vegetable" for this meal, but I enjoy salads, so I served this pasta with a side garden salad and it was a very satisfying meal! This would also be an easy vegetarian option, just leave out the shrimp.