Zucchini Pasta

I feel like the incredible shrinking woman lately. I'm losing all my baby weight fairly quickly. I wasn't able to get the breastfeeding boost. It's all due to diet and exercise. One of the things I have been missing is pasta. So, when I came across the idea of zucchini pasta I jumped on it. My husband had been repeatedly requesting to have Cajun Chicken Pasta. I kept turning him down because I couldn't afford to eat the calories in the sauce AND the pasta! So, I made my zucchini pastas and made a dish out of that instead. Delicious! It totally fulfilled my craving for "pasta" and didn't scream zucchini either. I bet if you mastered the art of shaving off the "noodles" you could trick kids into eating a green veggie.


Zucchini
Olive Oil

1. Use a vegetable peeler to shave off strips/noodles of zucchini. Peel down the zucchini until you get to the core (that's the part with the seeds). Discard the core.

2. Saute the "noodles" in a little olive oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes until they begin to get translucent.

3. Serve with whatever sauce you'd like.

Butter Sage Sauce

This is a delicious, mild cream sauce you can use over pasta or meat.

Ingredients

- 4 tablespoons butter
- 10 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat; add the sage leaves and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Whisk corn starch into butter.

3. Pour in the heavy cream and chicken broth and cook until it begins to thicken; about 3-5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

Quick Pasta

Sometimes I don't want to make dinner. I'll admit it. This is one of those dishes I throw together on those nights. It is quick and simple. 15 minutes from start to finish and healthy to boot! In fact, this pasta is so quick I failed to snap a picture of it.

1 package whole wheat thin spaghetti (I recommend Healthy Harvest, your kids will never know it is whole wheat)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 package of mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tomato, diced (or a can of diced tomatoes)
2 lemons, juiced

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan saute onion, zucchini, and mushrooms in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add in crushed garlic and continue to saute for another 2 minutes.

3. Add in tomato, lemon juice, and cooked pasta. Stir up and cook another 2 minutes so that everything heats through. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.


***Other vegetable ideas: artichokes, sugar snap peas

Cajun Chicken Pasta

8 ounces linguine pasta
2 chicken breasts
2 tsp cajun seasoning
2 T butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
6 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 c heavy cream
Cajun Seasoning to taste (1 Tablespoon-ish)
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Place chicken breasts in a baggie with cajun seasoning (see recipe below). Shake until covered.
3. Cook chicken in frying pan over medium to medium-high heat or cook chicken on a grill over high heat until cooked through. Remove chicken, slice into strips, and set aside.
4. Melt butter in frying pan used to cook chicken (no need to clean it). Saute bell peppers, mushrooms, and onion. Return sliced chicken to pan.
5. Add cajun seasoning to taste. You can add more later as the sauce thickens.
6. Add heavy cream. Allow to cook until sauce thickens (about 5 minutes).
7. Add freshly grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

*** You can mix up the veggies in the pasta. I love to add zucchini to mine when the mood strikes.


Cajun Seasoning:
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper (if you have it, if not, don't fret)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or less depending on how much heat you can handle)
4 1/2 tsp paprika
2 1/2 tsp salt

Make a batch and save it in a little jar or baggie. This can be used on tons of different stuf

Asian Greens and Noodle Stir Fry

I got a mix of Asian leaf vegetables from my co-op. The mix included bok choy, choi sum (Chinese flowering cabbage), kai-lan (Chinese broccoli), and gai choy (Chinese mustard greens). What better way to use them than to come up with a stir fry! This turned out quite delicious and was definitely a hit.

Ingredients
- 1 lb Spaghetti noodles (you can use asian noodles, but spaghetti will do just fine)
- Favorite mix of stir fry vegetables
- 4 T Corn Oil
- 4 T Sesame Oil
- 4 T Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 to 1 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how hot you want it)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

1. Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a wok or large skillet heat oils and soy sauce. Add in stir fry vegetables. If you are using a mix of Asian greens cook them until they wilt and soften up. If you are using more americanized stir fry vegetables (carrots, broccoli, etc) cook until they soften up a bit, but remain crisp. Stir frequently.

3. After vegetables are cooked, add in ground ginger, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Cook 2-3 more minutes, stirying frequently.

4. Add cooked noodles to the wok/skillet and toss everything until well mixed.

Spinach Lasagna

1 8 oz package lasagna noodles
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
8 oz frozen chopped spinach
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (I recommend Wild Harvest Organic Pasta Sauces)
2 cups ricotta cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

3. Meanwhile, in a sauce pot over medium heat saute onion in the olive oil. Add the garlic and continue to saute for another minute. Add oregano, basil and spaghetti sauce (reserve a little to put in the bottom of the pan) and the spinach; simmer 10 minutes.

4. In a large bowl mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and egg. Reserve some of the mozzarella to top of the lasagna.

5. Place a small amount of reserved spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Place 4 cooked noodles on top of sauce and top with layer of spinach mixture. Add 4 more noodles and layer with half of the cheese mixture, put more of the spinach mixture on top of that. Add 4 more noodles and repeat with the cheese mixture and spinach mixture. Add 4 more noodles, add the spinach mixture and top with mozzarella.

5. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes.

Spicy Thai Pasta Salad

I love this dish. People either love it or hate it. I like to bring it to Potlucks because it is unusual. People always seem scared to try it because of its uniqueness. Once they do 90% of them love it. To love it, you have to love spicy thai type food. If you don't like thai, you'll hate it.


2 pkg (12 oz) bowtie pasta

2-3 tsp crushed red pepper

6 TBSP corn oil

3/4 c sesame oil

9 TBSP honey

7 1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c chopped cilantro

1 1/4 c honey roasted peanuts

3/4 c chopped green onions


Cook pasta and drain well. In sauce pan stir red pepper and oils over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add honey, soy sauce and salt. Mix well and pour over pasta, coating evenly. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.* When ready to serve, add chopped cilantro, peanuts and green onions.


*You can refrigerate it for 4 hours, but it gets better the longer it sits so it's really much better if you let it sit overnight.

Stuffed Shells

I love pasta, but my husband doesn't enjoy having Spaghetti or Lasagna for dinner. He will eat these stuffed shells though. Good thing because I love them! Pasta and cheese, two things that were meant for each other.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Do not overcook! Soggy shells are hard to work with.
3. In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together pasta sauce, and reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Pour over stuffed shells.
5. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, until edges are bubbly and shells are slightly set.