Turkey Meatballs

These are from Bob Harper's "The Skinny Rules" book.  The way mine turn out, there are about 5 meatballs in each serving.  

Turkey Meatballs

Whether you have just a couple of meatballs as a snack or a larger serving for lunch or dinner, wrap them in lettuce instead of a bun.

Makes 4 servings.

Brown rice is a healthy substitute for the usual bread crumbs.

Ingredients

1 lb extra-lean ground turkey

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. finely chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 c. cooked brown rice, cooled

olive oil spray

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients except the olive oil in a large mixing bowl and shape into about 30 meatballs 1 inch across.

2.  Spray a large nonstick skillet generously with olive oil.

3. Cook the meatballs for 5-6 min, ,working in batches if your pan is not large enough to fit them all, occasionally moving them around to brown all sides.

Variation: Once all the meatballs are cooked, add a jar of low-sodium marinara sauce to the pan.  Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for 20 minutes.  These sauced meatballs are great by themselves or served over quinoa, farro, or whole-wheat pasta at lunch, or over spaghetti squash or other veggies for dinner.

Nutrition Information per serving:

213 calories, 24g protein, 8g carbs, 9.6g fat

Easy Tomato Sauce with Fried Egg

This is as easy as tomato sauce gets! I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Serves 4.

1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
5 tablespoons butter
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
salt to taste

spaghetti
Parmesan cheese
4 eggs

Put the tomatoes, onion, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a simmer, then lower the heat and keep it at a slow simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes and breaking them apart with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion (weird, huh?), add salt to taste.

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions; fry the eggs according to preference. Serve the sauce over the noodles topped with Parmesan and a fried egg.

Roasted Tomatillo Chicken Pasta

A friend made this for us after Isla was born and I thought it was so good. It's easy to make the sauce and chicken ahead of time. (In fact, I make a large batch of the sauce and freeze it in 3/4 cup containers to make half the recipe at a time.)

4 tomatillos, quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups fresh baby spinach (6 oz)
1 cup fresh basil
2 tablespoons chicken broth or water
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

12 oz dry pasta (penne or bowtie)
1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatillos, garlic cloves and oil in a baking dish; stir to coat. Roast for 30 minutes.
2. Place roasted tomatillo mixture in a blender or food processor; add spinach, basil, broth, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, sugar, and cheese and process until blended.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions (al dente). Drain and set aside.
4. Mix pasta, tomatillo sauce, chicken and Parmesan cheese and put into a 9x13 baking dish.
5. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Recipe adapted slightly from here.

Cajun Alfredo

I ordered an amazingly tasty cajun alfredo dish while I was in New Orleans and attempted to recreate it at home (with a few lower-fat changes). It came out tasting pretty close to the real deal.

INGREDIENTS

4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 (8 ounce) container of tofutti

2 c. milk

2 tsp crushed garlic or garlic paste
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp onion powder

1 c. corn
1 c. finely diced carrots
1/2 diced red bell pepper

5-6 c. cooked pasta

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add tofutti and stir with wire whisk until smooth and creamy. Add milk a little at a time while stirring with whisk. Stir in spices (garlic, parmesan, the three ground peppers, paprika, and onion powder).

Continue stirring over medium heat until sauce thickens. Add corn, carrots, and bell pepper. Toss with hot pasta and done.

My pasta was served with grilled chicken.