Warm Pasta Salad with Asparagus

I modified this Cooking Light recipe to include asparagus since it is so accessible this time of year. I also added some more flavor with balsamic vinegar and reduced the amount of oil used for the dressing. I served the dish warm, which was very well received by my guests.

The lemon and fresh thyme dressing give this dish a springy taste that compliments any grilled dish.

Warm Pasta Salad with Asparagus

8 ounces fussili, gemelli or other spiral pasta
3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 minced shallots

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 bunch petite asparagus

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or vinegarette
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest from one lemon
2 tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce shaved fresh Parmesan cheese

Boil pasta according to package instructions minus one minute. Saute shallot and crushed garlic in 1 tsp olive oil in a wide sauce pan or deep frying pan. Transfer onions to a small mixing bowl. I do not like to use raw onion or garlic in dressings, but you can omit this part if you want to save time.

Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces and add to hot pan with one tsp olive oil. Also add balsamic vinegar and cover for a few minutes or until asparagus is tender. Reduce heat to low. Meanwhile, toast pistachios in oven at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until fragrant.

Add lemon zest, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper to onion mix. Whisk in white wine vinegar and three tbsp olive oil. Add cooked pasta to asparagus and stir. Pour dressing over pasta and stir. Serve pasta with pistachios and shaved parm.

Power Snack

Snacks are difficult for calorie-cutters. Easy snacks are bags of chips or popcorn that provide instant gratification. Healthy snacks still require preping.

Any of my AppState alumn followers will remember AppWraps. One of them was an adult peanut butter and jelly, which has inspired my power snack that is ideal for post-workout relief, a lite dessert or even breakfast on the go.

Power Snack (makes 2)

one ripe banana, thickly sliced

2 whole wheat tortillas

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp pecan pieces

1 tbsp honey

This snack provides a lot of natural protein and fiber along with potassium for sore mussels. It still takes an effort for me to buy and eat whole wheat tortillas but that less-processed wrap does help in nutrition and ease of digestion. The homemade version at Trader Joes has a great texture.

I also love Trader Joes reduced-far peanut butter. Other commercial low-fat peanut butters replace fat with sugar, which does not aid in reducing unneeded fats and sugars. Trader Joes reduced-fat peanut butter actually de-fats the peanuts. You get a peanut butter that keeps its shape better than all-natural peanut butter and is super-tasty.

Spread one tbsp peanut butter onto a tortilla. Layer one half of the sliced banana and top with one tbsp pecans and half tbsp honey. Wrap tortilla, making sure the bottom is securely closed - honey will tend to drip out otherwise. The natural sweetness in the banana and honey make this power snack a satisfying dessert if you have a sugar craving. If you don't have or prefer pecans I recommend walnuts.

Repeat with other ingredients and share your power snack with a drowsy co-worker or workout partner. Enjoy!

Fancy Endive Salad

If you are anywhere near Valle Crucis, NC and want to spoil yourself to a night of divine, gourmet food and a relaxing atmosphere, you must visit The Inn at Little Pond. Gay and Frank host a beautiful bed and breakfast as well as sponsor cooking classes for their guests and send you away with your own glorious recipes to make the same dinner at home.

The last time I went there, I learned I liked endive. Endive looks like a tasteless heart of iceburg lettuce, but in fact it is quite nutritious and tender. On the ultimate vegetable list, it scores a 307, above green leaf lettuce. The most appealing part of the salad was the vinegar and walnut oil salad dressing.

I like using the word "fancy" because it makes me feel like I can show up overpriced restaurants and still make a presentation worthy of my husband and important guests. This salad is a great, light appetizer for a fancy meal or even as a large side dish to a simple main course. This is also a great recipe to getting rid of the last of your lettuce, specialty cheese or apple sitting in your fruit basket.

Fancy Endive Salad

Salad:

1/4 cup hazelnuts, raw and unsalted

2 heads endive, chopped

1 apple, cored and sliced

2 oz. gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Dressing:

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

coarse salt and pepper

7 tbsp walnut oil

Roast hazelnuts at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes. As soon as you smell them, take them out of the oven. Again, Trader Joes has the best selection of raw, unroasted nuts in bulk amounts at a discounted rate compared to other grocery stores. Once cool, chop nuts with a large knife.

Fill a bowl with water. Add sea salt. Sink chopped endive into bowl and let leaves rise to the top. This lets the dirt sink to the bottom. Pull leaves out of water, don't squeeze, and completely dry.

Whisk together salad dressing ingredients.

Combine endive and chopped apple. Slowly stir in dressing until produce is modestly coated. Serve salad topped with hazelnuts and cheese. You can use alternatives such as pear, romaine lettuce, baby spinach, blue cheese, walnuts, etc.

Side Salads

Alright, fess up, how many vegetables do you actually eat a day? You are supposed to get from 6-9 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. A serving is roughly the size of your fist. I will absolutely admit it. As much as I feel I try to add multiple vegetables to every meal, even breakfast, I still need vitamins to supplement my lack.

One easy solution is side salads and appetizers to help fill you up before you overeat a rich meal. I love salads, LOVE them, and they are primarily made up of mostly fruits and vegetables. The problem? Everyone else's salad tastes better. I love to eat salads when I go out to eat, but making them at home is not the same. Maybe it's the dressing?

Here are a few side salad recipes I have found to be quite rewarding and easy to make. I mostly enjoy salads with baby spinach and romaine, but I have recently found that I like endive and a wide variety of romaine lettuces. Use what you like. Iceberg lettuce is useful for some recipes, but it does not score very high in nutrition for a vegetable. Stick to greens that are, well, green!

Tomato and "Mozzarella" salad

fresh basil leaves, Julianne cut

2 large heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced

sliced cheese e.g. white American, provolone or other low-fat white cheese

hearts of romaine, finely chopped (optional)

balsamic vinaigrette, low-fat (not fat free)

Half the cheese slices into triangles. I have also seen a version using goat cheese slices but my favorite is white American. Trader Joes actually sells mozzarella slices made with goat's milk. It's actually delicious. Do not use fresh mozzarella if you want to avoid expensive and fatty cheeses.

Heirloom tomatoes make this dish because of their beautiful color and few seeds. Layer tomato slices and cheese triangles, alternately, over a bed of finely chopped hearts of romaine. I normally just serve the tomato and cheese slices, but I tried a version over lettuce, and it was very satisfying. Top layers with basil and vinaigrette. Fat free dressings are made with water and very dissatisfying. Low fat varieties still offers some heart-healthy olive oil and filling fats while still cutting calories.

Mediterranean salad

romaine lettuce, chopped

cherry tomatoes, halved

1 pita picket, torn into tiny pieces

feta cheese crumbles, flavored or plain

chickapeas (optional)

Mediterranean dressing e.g. balsamic vinaigrette or black olive with feta

On a medium cooking sheet, layer pieces of pita. Spray with oil and bake on 400 for 5 minutes or until crisp. These light "crutons" give this side salad a little crunch. I like to use the mini pita pockets sold at TJs because the pita is thinner. The black olive with feta dressing is offered by Kraft, and it is one of my absolute favorites. Be sparing, but a little goes a long way on taste.

Baked goat cheese salad

12 oz. goat cheese e.g. plain, lemon citrus, or herbed

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup bread crumbs or Panko

dried fruit e.g. cranberries, currants or raisins

spring greens or baby spinach (stemmed)

sliced almonds

sweet vinaigrette e.g. pomegranate, poppyseed, raspberry (full fat)

The first time I tried this recipe I accidentally bought a citrus-flavored goat cheese log, but it is by far my favorite version. I would not use a peppercorn variety on this dish though. Make sure cheese is cold and cut log into half-inch rounds. Drench rounds in egg and bread crumbs and layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray rounds with oil and bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until cheese starts to brown.

Layer greens with dried fruit (I prefer cran-raisins) and almonds. Top each salad with two or three cheese rounds and serve with a side of dressing. I do not recommend low-fat sweet dressings because of the artificial sugars and colors. Buy organic to avoid artificial ingredients. Or dress your salad with simple olive oil and vinegar.

Savory Manicotti

Since my last low-fat Italian disaster with the vegetarian lasagna, I was skeptical about posting another pasta dish. However, this recipe is fool-proof for tasting good.

This recipe came from a combination of Martha Stewart and William Sonoma, although I cannot find where I got either recipe. I swapped a few hearty ingredients and added roasted pine nuts to give this lighter dish a savory flavor that stands up to any meaty competition.

The only disappointing part of this meal is that its not very plentiful. This recipe makes enough servings for maybe three people and more likely two hungry people. So I do not recommend this recipe for serving company.

Savory Manicotti

1 package manicotti, cooked and cooled (in luke warm water)

1 (15 oz) container of ricotta cheese - as always, I recommend TJs but Sorrento's low-fat is a close second choice

1 egg, beaten

dried thyme

dried oregano

1/2 cup shredded parmesan

minced garlic

1 pint baby bello mushrooms

3 cups favorite tomato sauce

9 oz. baby spinach

3 tbsp. pine nuts

I've never found whole wheat manicotti pasta, but after my lasagna disaster I am going with the safe white flour pasta. Be sure to handle with care when transporting from the grocery store to home - manicotti pasta breaks easily and it's unusable after that. Also be sure to not over boil. Over boiling pasta will cause it to crack and tear and make stuffing manicotti much more difficult than it already is. Let noodles cool in luke-warm water until filling is prepared.

Sauté minced garlic (about a tablespoon or less) in olive oil. Once garlic browns, add mushrooms until softened. Stir in pine nuts. Once nuts have browned slightly and they have a strong aroma, add spinach and stir until spinach wilts. Remove vegetables from heat.

Preheat oven for 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, egg, oregano and thyme. You can substitute Italian seasoning. Stir in 1 tsp salt and pepper. Once vegetables have cooled slightly, stir vegetables into cheese mix. If the cheese is not cool enough, the mixture will melt the plastic bag. Using a rubber spatula, spoon mixture into a one gallon ziplock bag. Cut a small triangle from the bottom of one corner to use as a filler for the manicotti.

Spoon about one cup of pasta sauce into the base of a large baking dish. Cupping the manicotti to ensure the bottom is covered, squeeze the cheese mixture into the open end of the manicotti pasta. Do not overfill or the manicotti will break, or worse, leak cheese all over the place. Layer the manicotti together in the baking dish. Top prepared manicotti with remaining pasta sauce and parm cheese.

Bake manicotti for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbly. This recipe uses about 1/3 the amount of cheese normally called for in manicotti. I've also adjusted the recipe to bring more vegetables and hearty fillings. I high recommend a side salad since this is such a light meal. The pine nuts make the true difference in taste. If you are short on pine nuts, roast walnut pieces.

Chocolate Mexican Soycream

I just discovered a delicious and reduced-guilt ice cream treat. Trader Joes sells Soy Dream (ice cream made from soy milk) in a variety of flavors. I love the cherry with chocolate chips but the fat content was still too high (7g fat per serving). But when I looked at the chocolate soycream I was floored by the reduced fat - just 3g for a 1/2 cup serving!

Ice cream is very difficult to exude discipline because the serving size is so small. One half cup is equivalent to about two golf balls. I serve all my ice cream in small ramekins to keep myself in check. And with only 3g fat per serving I can allow myself more yummy toppings.

Another fabulous TJ's product that allows me reduced guilt sundaes is Organic Midnight Moo Chocolate Syrup. I am not a big fan of fat free chocolate because it normally tastes like kaka, but some how TJ's has come up with a fat-free recipe that is actually appetizing. I use the syrup for homemade mochas, milk shakes and ice cream topping.

Another thing I love about Trader Joe's is the massive bags of nuts you can get for relatively cheap. At regular grocery stores I have to buy 1/2 cup or 2 cup, which are normally used in one setting. However, TJ's offers pounds of nuts in a variety of options e.g. roasted, dry, salted, reduced salt, etc. I use them for my granola, desserts, meal toppings and even as snacks. And per pound you are getting a much better deal with TJ's than other grocery stores. Although nuts are naturally rich in protein they do carry a lot of unsaturated fat so be sparing.

Chocolate Mexican Soycream Dessert

1/2 cup chocolate Soy Dream

Organic Midnight Moo Chocolate Syrup

1 tbsp dry hazelnuts, slightly crushed

1 tbsp sweetened coconut

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Other Mexican ice cream combinations include coffee or dulce de leche ice cream and peanuts or nut brittle.

Light Carrot Cake

Because of a grocery store mishap I found myself with a ton of carrots and no planned meals for them. Carrots are a rock star on the vegetable list, although I don't care for them much, so I needed to find a way to use them. Racheal Ray has a reader recipe section and recently came out with a great carrot cake recipe.

Carrot cake is not the worst cake for you, but it does have a lot of sugar and oil. This recipe substitutes the texture and juice with pineapple for a lot of the oil. The sour cream also helps to enrich this cake without having to depend on fats as much. I was able to substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream inside the cake, but the icing definitely requires real sour cream. Daisy makes a good lite sour cream.

Light Carrot Cake

2 big carrots, cleaned and shredded

1/2 cup pineapple (4oz can, drained)

1/2 cup walnuts (toasted are better but you can use raw)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream ( or 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup sour cream)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

ground cloves

ground cinnamon

ground ginger

3 tbsp butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

If you are toasting your nuts, preheat oven at 400 degrees and toast nuts for 7-10 minutes. As soon as you smell them, take them out of the oven or they will burn. I skin my carrots before shredding them to get as much of the moist carrot as I can plus you get the cleaner carrot. Mix nuts with pineapple and carrot.

Mix flour, baking ingredients and spices. Recipes always underwhelm me with spices, so I don't use measurements for spices in my recipe. Average about 1/2 tsp, but I sprinkle until I get a good color in the flour mix. I don't believe you can over-spice carrot cake, but my sister has a great story about confusing 1/4 tsp of cloves for 1/4 cup of ground cloves. Those were some black cookies.

In a large mixing bowl cream sugar with 1/4 c sour cream, oil, vanilla and egg. Stir in carrot mix and then flour mixture. I made this cake in my new bunt pan for a prettier presentation, but you can also use a regular cake pan. Bake on 350 for 55 minutes. Be sure the cake is cooled before trying to get it out of the pan.

When mixing the icing, be sure that the butter is soft. The butter and sour cream (1/4 c.) will dissolve the sugar so be patient when trying to get a cream consistency. Let cake cool before pouring the icing on the cake. I kept the icing in a separate container to use later. The cake will stay moist for most of a week.

Vegetable Pad Thai (Quick Meal)

This is a recipe I found in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. I was actually somewhat disappointed in the description of "vegetable" which only consists of three scallions. So we had to fix that.

Continuing my excitement over my CSA vegetables, I picked up a pound of pak choi, which is a kind of baby bok choy with more leafy greens and less stalk. They could be related, but I am not sure. I also picked up some summer onions, which look like over-sized green onions. The ones I picked up even came in red onion. So cute. So this was my first real CSA dinner.

Vegetable Pad Thai

8 oz (half a box) of linguine pasta or flat rice noodles

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 bunch spring onions (more or less depending on the size)

1 tsp garlic or one minced garlic clove

1 pint whole mushrooms

2 eggs, beaten

1 lb bok choy or pak choi (about 2), lightly chopped

cilantro

cashews or peanuts, roasted and salted

Wisk together brown sugar, lime juice and soy sauce and let sit. Boil pasta or noodles until aldente. Drain and keep covered to retain moisture and heat.

Heat oil in skillet and add garlic and onions. I used six spring onions and about 4 scallions I had leftover in the fridge. I had a good bunch of onions. Trader Joes sells huge scallions so you can get a lot of onion from those too. The State Farmer's Market sells big spring onions as well.

Stem and half the mushrooms. A trick a friend told me was to keep the mushrooms rather big so they have a meatier texture to them. Add mushrooms to pan and sauté. Once vegetables look soft add beaten eggs and slowly stir until eggs are almost set, maybe 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan and keep in a bowl. Add another tsp of oil to pan and add leafy bok choy to pan. I did not chop very deep into the root so I had just the tender leaves. Sauté until vegetables are reduced to 1/3 original size. Add bok choy to vegetable bowl.

Add warm pasta to pan and pour soy sauce mix over pasta, mixing well. Make sure pasta is coated with sauce and add vegetables back to pan. Mix thoroughly but remove from heat quickly. Leaving the meal on stove top too long will dry out the pasta. Serve with roasted nuts and cilantro. I don't keep peanuts in the house (one of the few nuts/legumes I don't keep in stock), but I did have cashews, which I think matched the meal better.

I have seen versions of pad thai with chicken and shrimp. You can also garnish with chives from your green onions, but I think that is a tad too much onion for me. I thought the mushrooms and the eggs gave this meal a meaty taste. I was really surprised how much I liked it. I only made it because pak choi was with my CSA and it looked like it would be a good add-in.

Not to mention how fast this meal takes. I was rushing to cook for some company coming in and it was done in 15-20 minutes. The pasta took the longest at 9 minutes. Everything else sautés fast and then you just mix.

Homemade Granola Breakfast

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday magazine for Maple-Nut Granola. This is one of her easier granola recipes because it uses cabinet staples and you don't have to dig around some healthfood store for barley flakes and wheat bran.

A few things to note: I used more nuts than was recommended, about 1/2 cup each. I prefer more protein in the morning to keep me awake and full before lunchtime. I do use pecans and almonds, but you can also use walnuts. Be sure to use the raw, unsalted, unroasted kind. Otherwise they will taste overdone when baked with the granola. I also add a few sprinkles of cinnamon pieces or grated cinnamon stick. If you have it in stock, pour 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds in the mix. The good fat is great for your heart and helps you stay full in the morning.

And DO NOT cook granola for 30 minutes as recommended. I bake for about 15 minutes, stirring once when the granola smells very fragrant. Seriously, stay close to the oven when you bake this because it will burn easily. As your granola cools, it will get crisp.

I use about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of fat free Greek yogurt - Fage is my favorite but kind of expensive; Oikos is also good. Honestly, I would never recommend fat free anything, but this yogurt is so rich and the granola so flavorful, you really don't need the extra calories. If you try the fat free and don't like it, go with the 2% instead. Beware there are Greek yogurt brands that are VERY fatty; always check the label.

Stir in one packet of splenda or 1 tsp of honey (nature's sugar) in the yogurt. Top with a handful of granola and 1/2 - 1 whole banana, sliced. I am not one to eat the same things often, but this has been my daily breakfast for weeks at a time. It has the protein from the yogurt and nuts; whole grains from the oats and a whole serving of fruit. And it is very easy to transfer this breakfast to work or assemble at work if needed.

If you do tire of the same yogurt and granola breakfast, use the same ingredients to make Crunch Berry Pancakes. I know it sounds like a kid's cereal, but they are fantastic and not bad for you. Instead of blueberries and raspberries, I used fresh strawberries. I think this recipe will go with any kind of berry you have in stock. Just make sure you do chop the fruit to avoid lumpy pancakes. I did not use the butter or powdered sugar and they were sweet enough to eat without syrup. A perfect Sunday morning breakfast.

Pasta with Zucchini and Almonds - Cooking Light

Pasta with Zucchini and Toasted Almonds - Quick and Easy Italian Recipes - Photos - CookingLight.com

I know I am already wearing you all out on zucchini and tomatoes, but this was an awesome recipe! The linguine was the real treat here. I found a lemon pepper linguine at Trader Joes that goes so perfect with this dish. It's cheap ($2) and the thick ribbons absorb a lot of the flavors in this spring/summery dish.

I did not include the mint, but I think it would be a great additive. I would love to have a fresh mint plant. Not only is it great for adding flavors to summer drinks and desserts, but my cat loves the plant and it is a great way to "mello" her out. Dried mint is another herb I would not substitute for fresh. If you have some fresh, use it (or better yet plant your own) but otherwise it is just as yummy without.

The almonds also did it for me in this dish. It adds a crunch that really changes the flavor compared to other summer pasta dishes. I buy Trader Joes raw, unroasted almonds. Almonds are a great source of good fat but the roasting and salt add unneeded calories. In a trail mix you can surely taste the difference, but in this kind of meal it is worth saving the calories.

Another tip I have learned is to buy in the bulk aisles at grocery stores. This is of course not the case for Trader Joes, but the "scoop and fill" bag aisle can save you a lot of money if you are not the kind of person who keeps nuts in the house often. I have a crate of nuts so I don't mind buying in bags, but if you know the majority of the bag will go bad before you use them, just buy the amount you need in the bulk aisle. It's an ingredient worth having in this dish.

Omit salt and fat: Cooking Light is big on omitting salt and oil when boiling pasta. I am not. I don't use the oil or the salt to "season" the pasta. Adding salt to water before boiling will help water boil faster. Hardly any of the salt is absorbed by the pasta itself. I add oil to the water if I am boiling large/long pasta such as linguine or spaghetti to keep the noodles from sticking together. However, when I drain the water the pasta is without the oil. Use only the amount needed to separate pasta noodles (1 tbsp) or boil water (1 tsp salt) but the added salt and oil will not affect your daily allowance.


Don't forget: cherry tomatoes over grape for a more tender, juicy tomato. Use fresh lemon juice to get the real effect. Top dish with parm instead of mixing it in. Also, I love shallots and think they are far superior to red onion. However, shallots are small and more often used in one sitting. Red onion can linger around waiting to be used. If you have leftover red onion and a recipe calling for shallots, finely chop the red onion and use as a substitute to get rid of onion and save yourself a spare trip to the store.