LOBSTAH PASTAH

Devoured in minutes. Super yummy. Such a decadent Friday night nom nom!

Ingredients
1 live lobster (1.5 to 2 pounds)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white wine 

1/2 cup chicken broth

4 tablespoons tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1 cup fresh arugula or baby spinach, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
Shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

In a giant pot (big enough to fit Mr. Lobster), boil salted water. Wait till it's a rapid boil, then drop in your lobster. Cook about 12 minutes or until he's bright red. A 2 pound lobster should boil for 13 minutes and a 1 1/4 pound lobster should boil for 11 minutes.

Carefully remove lobster meat from shells; cut into 1-in. pieces and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute garlic in oil until for 1 minute. Add the wine, tomato puree, salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat. Stir in lobster; simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until lobster is firm and opaque.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta; add to lobster mixture and toss to coat. Stir in the arugula, lemon juice and peel; cook for 1-2 minutes or until arugula is wilted. Garnish with cheese if desired.

Lamb and Eggplant Ragu

This dish makes you do a happy good food dance when you eat it. Crazy good. I can't believe this is good for you too. I plated more than 4 ounces of pasta, but that's okay. :)

Makes: 2 servings
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces whole-wheat rigatoni, rotini or penne
4 ounces ground lamb or lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
1 1/2 cups diced eggplant
1 8-ounce can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon pine nuts, toasted (see Tip)
1/4 cup crumbled feta, (optional)


PREPARATION
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions.
Meanwhile, cook lamb (or beef), garlic and fennel seed in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up the meat with the back of a spoon, until the lamb (or beef) is browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggplant; cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant browns, about 4 minutes. Add tomato sauce and wine; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in oregano, salt and pepper. Drain the pasta; serve topped with the sauce and sprinkled with pine nuts and feta, if using.

TIPS
Tip: To toast pine nuts: Cook in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

NUTRITION
Per serving: 422 calories; 10 g fat ( 3 g sat , 4 g mono ); 37 mg cholesterol; 57 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 20 g protein; 10 g fiber; 343 mg sodium; 795 mg potassium.

Sauteed Shrimp with Penne and Roasted Asparagus

These Patagonia shrimp reminded me of Icelandic lobsters! I ordered these off Fresh Direct and prepped them simply with a saute of mainly onion and garlic. The penne and roasted asparagus made it a meal. 12 points total.

Ingredients
2 cups Whole Wheat Penne
1 bunch asparagus, washed and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound jumbo shrimp (I used Wild Patagonia Shrimp)
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 shallots, finely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook 2 cups of penne. Heat oven to 400. Take cut up asparagus pieces and coat in 1 tsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 20 minutes. Spray a pan with cooking spray and put on medium heat and garlic and shallots. Cook and stir for 1 minute until soft. Add the lemon juice and chicken broth, give it a stir and let it cook down for 1 minute to thicken slightly. Put the shrimp in the pan and coat in the lemon sauce. Add pasta, asparagus and remaining EVOO and give it a good stir. Let sit one more minute to marry the flavors. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Mac 'n Cheese with Bacon

What can be better than macaroni with cheese? 

 Macaroni with cheese and BACON! I made this as a side dish for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Since my bird is hogging the oven all day, I thought I'd get this out of the way. And yes, I TASTE TESTED IT! haha It will do folks. IT.WILL.DO.

Ingredients:
1 lb. macaroni pasta
10 slices bacon (preferably thick-cut slab bacon), cooked and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 c. milk, 2% or whole
6 Tbls. butter
6 Tbls. all-purpose flour
Bay leaf
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper
2 c. sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 c. bread crumbs


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, make cheese sauce by heating milk in a saucepan over medium heat until hot, but not boiling. Pour into a pitcher (if you have a heatproof one) or a large Pyrex measuring cup and keep it standing by. Note: This prevents a lumpy sauce.

Grate cheddar and parmesan onto two separate plates.

 Now, put butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat. Add flour, turn up heat and stir with a wooden spoon to make a roux. Keep stirring for minute or two while it sizzles and turns slightly brown. 

Pour about a quarter of the milk into the roux and stir. Gradually add rest of milk whisking gently until it is all mixed in.

 Add bay leaf, a pinch of salt, pinch of cayenne, and freshly ground pepper. Bring to boil then turn down to low. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.

 Add grated cheddar and cooked bacon to the sauce and stir.

 Meanwhile, cook pasta in lightly salted boiling water for about 2 minutes less than time on package. Drain in colander over sink. Add pasta to cheese sauce and stir to combine. Grease a large casserole dish or a cast-iron skillet with butter or olive oil. Add macaroni and cheese to dish.

Sprinkle with grated parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake for about 15 minutes, then move to under the broiler to brown the top. Perfection! 

Meat (Hidden Vegetable) Lasagna

If your household is anything like mine, you probably have some picky eaters. My sous chef doesn't like squash, zucchini, or big chunks of onions or peppers. But he likes this lasagna and all those things are in it. My trick is to mask the veggies by shredding them in a food processor and mixing into different layers of the dish. The result: a wonderful dinner full of vegetables. I put meat into this lasagna but you could make it without and just double up on the veggie sauce.

Ricotta mixture: 15 oz part skim ricotta, 1 egg, 3 tbsp parmesan cheese, 1 yellow squash, shredded using food processor. Combine in a bowl and set aside.

 Veggie Mixture: Sautee 1/4 c yellow onion, diced. One green pepper - chopped finely and one zucchini chopped finely (again-I used the food processor). The pepper will be very watery if done in the processor. If you can- chop it finely. If your making this for someone who's not the hugest fan - then process it.

Add one container of high quality tomato sauce. Stir and set aside.

 Meat mixture: half pound italian sausage (ground without casing) and about half a pound of ground beef. I used 90% lean sirloin. 

 Add another jar of high quality tomato sauce. Set aside. 

 Now we do our layers. I like to put a bit of water in my tomato sauce jar and dump the watered down leftover sauce into the bottom of my baking dish. This is a trick my mom taught me. It helps to keep the lasagna from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of lasagna pasta.

 Top with the veggie mixture then add another layer of pasta. 

 Top with ricotta cheese mixture and then add another layer of pasta.

 Add meat mixture...no more pasta.

 Top with one package of part skim mozzarella cheese and sprinkle parsley on top.

  I made one normal sized lasagna and one small sized lasagna with this recipe. You can freeze one and cook it later. Woo hoo!

Shells and Goat Cheese

This mac and cheese is really yummy and really mild. I liked it because it was different. The goat cheese flavor was prominent and the pasta was really creamy. My favorite pieces of pasta were the crispy ones from the sides of the pan. Mmm...

Ingredients:
1 box pasta shells (or macaroni)
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 green onions, diced (I didn't have this)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
2 cups reduced fat milk
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/4 c plain bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
4 pieces crumbled bacon (optional)

To make it bad for you, add crumbled bacon!

Let’s Cook:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, green onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Set green onions aside.

2. Cook pasta shells according to directions on package, then drain and set aside.

3. For the sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour while stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Then slowly add in milk until combined well. Reduce heat to medium low and let the mixture simmer until it thickens, stirring occasionally (about 4 to 5 minutes). If the mixture isn’t quite thick enough, sprinkle in some more flour and mix until the sauce reaches a consistency that you like.

4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the sour cream, goat cheese, salt and pepper to taste and green onions. Stir until cheese melts, then stir in pasta shells.

5. Transfer to pan and top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Top with bacon if desired. EAT!!!

Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce

I found this on simplyrecipes.com. This sauce will work with any pasta, but I used whole wheat penne.  The sauce is unique - unlike anything I've had before. I really enjoyed it. I also made this and ate it while being on the phone the entire time. Hahaha!

INGREDIENTS
1 butternut squash weighing about 2 1/2 pounds
1 pound pasta
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/3 cup of chopped shallots or onions
1/4 cup of packed, freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt (I used fat-free sour cream)
1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Water as needed to thin the sauce, about 1 cup (I didn't use this much - maybe used 1/2 a cup)

handful fresh sage leaves

2 tbsp butter

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Cut the butternut squash lengthwise in half* and scoop out the guts and seeds and discard them (or save the seeds and toast them). Pour 1/4 cup of water into a pyrex or ceramic baking dish and place the butternut squash halves cut side down. Bake for 40 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the squash. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Scoop out the squash flesh from the skins and put into a blender. Discard the skins. Tip: If you see a package of already chopped up butternut squash buy that and save yourself 30 minutes. All you need to do is boil with a little bit of water and drain the water when done. Takes about 10 minutes.

2. Saute the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat in a small skillet until just beginning to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Add the onions to the blender. Add 1 cup water, the parmesan, 2 teaspoons salt and nutmeg and puree. If you need a little more water, add it. Pour the sauce into a small pot set over low heat. Mix in the sour cream and warm it through. Do not let the sauce boil.

3. Fill a pot with water and salt (1 tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water). Set over high heat to bring to a hard boil. Add the pasta and cook at a hard boil, uncovered until al dente. When the pasta is ready, drain and put it into a bowl. In a small pan, melt butter with sage. Do not let butter burn. Remove leaves and rest on paper towel. Spoon sauce over the pasta and add your sage. Amaze!

Sausage Pasta with Walnuts and Sage Butter

I've made a dish similar to this before. It's super yummy and serves up nicely as leftovers the next day.

What you need:
1/2 box ziti or penne pasta
1 package of sweet sausage - about 6 to 8 links (casing removed)
1/2 cup walnuts (toasted)
4 tbsp Asiago cheese, shredded
1stick butter
1/2 c fresh sage, chopped or about 2 tbsp powdered sage
1/2 yellow onion, diced

What you do:
Boil your pasta. In a frying pan add diced onion and 2 tbsp butter. Saute a few minutes until onions are cooked then add the sausage. Try to crumble the sausage as you add it to the pan. You can also break it up while it's cooking. As pasta is finished drain and set aside. Add toasted nuts to the frying pan. Mix. In a separate pot melt remaining butter with the sage. Cook for 2 minutes then combine everything - butter into the sausage mixture first, then pasta. Mix well. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

S'mac

I had some friends over the other night for a "Crafts and Cocktails" evening of fun. We drank margaritas, we made mobiles (which were more complicated than they seemed) and we ate Sarita's Mac and Cheese. We order the 4 cheese: Cheddar, Muenster, Gruyere and a touch of Pecorino and then we added slab bacon. MAN! Is it good. We ordered the Mongo size. That thing is as big as a pizza and could feed an army!

Pasta Soul

A coworker of mine created a pasta dish once called, "Pasta Soul". It was basically wheat pasta with healthy additions. So, I liked the name so much I decided to make my own.

What you need:
1/2 box whole wheat penne
6 oz chicken breast, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 cup of spinach
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 small shallot
1/4 c EVOO
1/4 cup fresh parsley
6 basil leaves
salt and pepper

What you do:
Get a pot of salted water up to a boil and add your pasta. Cook 7-10 minutes until tender. Separately, add 1 tsp of olive oil to a big frying pan. Add garlic and pine nuts and cook for about 1 minute then add the chicken. While chicken is cooking, put the shallot, basil, parsley and about 5 teaspoons of oil in a blender. Blend it. When pasta is done cooking drain (do not rinse pasta - EVER!) and add it to the chicken. Add zucchini and remaining EVOO, cook for 1 minute. Add your shallot mixture and mix well. Add spinach last and stir until wilted. Serve!

Pasta with marscapone, bacon and walnuts

I had nuts in pasta last week and now it would seem I'm adding them to pasta every time I make it! I would say that if you haven't boarded that train yet then you need to! It's such a great way to get added protein to your meals without having to cook one!

Ingredients:

1/2 box curly pasta

3 to 4 tbsp marscapone cheese (which did you know has less calories and fat than butter?!)

3 pieces of bacon

1/2 c walnuts

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley for garnish

Get a pot of water to a rapid boil and add pasta. While that's cooking, cook the bacon and set aside to cool. Arrange nuts on baking sheet and toast at 250 for a few minutes. Nuts can burn quickly so set a timer and keep your eye on them! Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add back to pot. Add marscapone cheese stirring until well mixed. Crumble bacon into pasta and crush the nuts before adding. Mix once more then plate. Top with salt, pepper and parsley.

Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sausage and Walnuts

This is pretty much Emeril's recipe except I made some minor tweaks...err, improvements. :)
If you want the original, it's at the above hyperlink. Also, tip for you nut buyers - look for the $2.00 bag of nuts at check out instead of buying the $15 container you found in an aisle. You know what I'm talking about. That generic candy stand that they have in the check out lanes usually includes such winners like circus peanuts, sugared orange slices and butter mints, but you can find nuts up in that mix too! Get the plain ones - no honey-roasted if you're using them for cooking.

1. 2 1/2 pounds butternut squash—peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice
2. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3. Salt and freshly ground pepper
4. Freshly grated nutmeg
5. 2 tsp powdered sage
   
6. 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
7. 4 tablespoons I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (or 3 tbsp normal butter if you must)
8. 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
9. 1 pound fusilli or other curly pasta (I used Campanelle - like pretty little flowers!)
10. 1/4 cup freshly grated aged Parmesean cheese, plus more for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. On a large rimmed baking sheet, drizzle the squash with 2 tablespoons of oil and toss. Arrange in an even layer and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bake for about 30 minutes, until just tender.
2. Meanwhile, put the walnuts in a pie plate and bake for about 4 minutes, until toasted.
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the sausage to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, breaking up the sausage, until no pink remains, 7 minutes.
4. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the sausage and melted butter, ( put the powdered sage in with the melted butter) and gradually stir in the cooking water over moderate heat. Gently fold in the squash, walnuts and the 1/4 cup of cheese. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl. Top with more cheese. Eat it.
   

Skrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

2 c Pasta (linguine used here)

String beans (fresh) - about 2 good fistfuls (not sure how much that is)

1/4 c Cherry tomatoes

2 c cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp

1/4 c EVOO (a lot - I know)

1 tbsp crushed garlic

1/4 c white wine

1 tsp parsley

salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

I boiled my string beans for 5 minutes then set aside. Then I started cooking the pasta. When pasta had a few minutes left I sauteed the garlic in EVOO in a frying pan and then added the beans. After 2 minutes of stirring the beans I added the shrimp. Stir it up - try to get that EVOO over everything. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook 2 more minutes. Kill heat. Drain pasta - do NOT rinse pasta under water! Drop it into frying pan. Mix it all. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve. Mmmm....so fresh and yummy.

Beef "Stir Fry" with Chinese Noodles

Sorry for my hiatus. I've been really bad about keeping this updated. I'll try to be better at that, folks. :) Funny thing is I'm taking photos of my food all the time - I just forgot to blog about it!

So, here we have a yummy beef dish. I call it a stir fry because it has all the makings of one but the way I prepared this was I actually roasted the veggies in the oven first.

To make this you'll need:

4- 5 cups assorted veggies (I used cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, celery, tomato, onion, carrots)

Beef Cubed (You know the stuff you see for stews - I took that and diced it up much smaller)

Ponzu Sauce

Chopped Garlic

Olive Oil

Stir - Fry Sauce (Unless you want to make your own, I just bought some)

Chinese Noodles (I got mine in the produce section. They were already cooked and I just reheated with boiling water but they sell dry ones too. Either are fine)

Directions:

Roast the veggies first. I put one tablespoon of EVOO and try to coat as much of the vegetables as I could. Sprinkled with salt and pepper and then blasted them for about 25/30 min at 450. (I like them to brown). After you cut up your meat into tiny bites sauté it in a pan with garlic and Ponzu sauce. When the meat is almost done cook the noodles and the turn the heat off the meat. In a big bowl combine veggies, meat and cooked noodles. Add a little stir fry sauce and mix. Everything is hot so the stir-fry sauce will get hot too. (It was kinda hard for me to separate the noodles - they like to clump together. I tried to separate them as I was mixing in the stir-fry sauce).

Enjoy!

Penne with Red Cabbage

I found this recipe online but decided to modify a few of the ingredients. It's healthy and it's vegetarian!

1. 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2. 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
3. 4 garlic cloves, minced
4. 1 small red cabbage, thinly sliced
5. 1/2 pound whole wheat penne
6. Salt and freshly ground pepper
7. 1 cup low fat cottage cheese (this sounds gross, but the original recipe calls for feta - cottage cheese can be savory! It's salty and mixes well - it works - I promise!)
   
8. 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
9. 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes
   

1. In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the sliced onions, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the sliced red cabbage and vinegar, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne until it is al dente. Drain the pasta well. Return the pasta to the pot.
3. Scrape the cabbage over the pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cottage cheese and mix well. Serve.

Lasagna with Zucchini

I made some yummy lasagna the other night and I snuck in veggies to make it healthier! 85% lean ground beef (about 8 ounces), garlic, chopped zucchini.

Ricotta with finely chopped fresh parsley and one egg.

Of course I added lots of good quality tomato sauce then made my layers. I didn't put a lot of cheese on top and to be honest, I didn't even miss it! I also made two batches. One for now...

One for later (maybe next week).

So yummy! (And my honey didn't even complain about eating vegetables!) :)

Seafood Marinara

I was inspired to make this dish from my recent trip to Cancun (yes) we had Seafood Marinara in Cancun! Unfortunately for you, you get the photo of the leftovers because I forgot to take one when I was cooking! This wasn't quite the same (I was missing a giant prawn head - but it was very good nonetheless!) This dish is super easy to make: Take 1 Tbsp of olive oil and saute 1/2 large onion (finely chopped). Add 2 cloves garlic (also finely chopped) and let simmer till onions look cooked. Then add 1/2 c white wine. Let it simmer for 2 minutes then add about 3 cups of good quality tomato sauce, 1/4 ts red pepper flakes, and then your seafood!
I bought a bag of mixed seafood from Trader Joe's that had shrimp, sea scallops and squid. I defrosted it, then tossed it in. It takes about 5 to 6 minutes to cook in the sauce - not long at all. I let it simmer for a few more minutes then I served this over spaghetti noodle pasta. Mmmm....good. WW folks - one cup of sauce (with the seafood) and 1 cup of pasta = 13 points.

Smac

I'm surprised I'm not 100 pounds heavier than I am. I eat SO bad sometimes. But sometimes, you can't help it. Sometimes cheesy concoctions call out to you and you have no choice but to give in. Smac in NYC is one of those things you just have to give in to. All they do is mac and cheese and they do it sooooooo good!

Side by side comparison. My dinner (right) versus Curtis's dinner (left). They look the same but don't be fooled -- they are different. Curtis got the 4 cheese: Cheddar, Muenster, Gruyere and a touch of Pecorino. But he also made them add slab bacon to his. This isn't like crumbles of bacon - no, no, no. This is like little hammy bacon nuggets - nestled in a bed of warm cheese pasta.

Here's mine! I almost got the same thing - kinda. Mine was called the Alpine. It's a "Swiss Mac that keeps you coming back for more. Gruyere coupled with its partner in crime, slab bacon. Hard to resist!" Yes - it was hard to resist. And at about $7 a pop you'll find it very hard to. Not all their macs had bacon - their menu is pretty inventive. Do yourself a favor and eat here. Thanks.