Portland Fit Club

May 20, 2011

"Good" Pasta

I think every household hits a point in time when they feel like they are eating the same old thing over and over and over.....and over.  Well, this household has been going through that for a while.  When Bryan and I were going over the meal plan for the week, we hit a roadblock after 5 meals.  I refuse to go shopping without a plan and specific items on a list, otherwise I will wind up spending a whole lot more money and wind up not really having complete meals for half the week.  I put my thinking cap on and came up with a pasta creation that I hoped would fly with the kiddos.  We had it for dinner tonight and the results were interesting!  See the judges results at the bottom of this post.  (The picture below is not a full serving...it is a kid sized serving)




                 Ingredients:

        1 box whole grain penne pasta
        1 container of cherry tomatoes
        Olive Oil
        3 cloves of garlic finely chopped or sliced
        1 cup of chopped fresh zucchini
        1 cup of chopped fresh summer squash
        1 bag of Kraft Italian Five Cheese
        Italian seasoning 
        Salt & Pepper


Boil the pasta until cooked.  Set aside.
In a small pan put 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil and two cloves of garlic and simmer on low heat.    Add a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper and a dash of Italian seasoning to the oil & garlic.

In another pan place zucchini and summer squash and the other clove of garlic.  I used a zero calorie butter spray to saute the veggies, but you could also use a little bit of olive oil.

Mix pasta, olive oil mixture and sauteed veggies together.  

Place 2 cups of pasta mixture in a bowl.  Add 6 halved cherry tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese.  ENJOY!

Chef's comments:  I really like coolness of the cherry tomatoes mixed with the hot pasta. As well as the fresh raw flavor against the cooked flavor of the garlic & zucchini & squash.  If you prefer, the tomatoes could be sauteed with the other veggies.  Approximately 500 calories per serving.  Perfect for my husband, but probably 1 and 3/4 cup would be more appropriate for me.  I think I will add grilled shrimp next time and cut back to 1 cup of pasta.

Judges:

Tabitha:  Enjoyed thoroughly.  Went back for seconds
Ember:  Enjoyed until she got a rather potent slice of garlic....then it was all over
Rory:  Ate the tomatoes and pasta, but picked out the zucchini & summer squash

Oh...and if you are wondering...the other meal we decided on was an omelet.  Another one of our favorite "go to" meals.  So we only changed up one meal this week, but it is a step in the right direction.  

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