Chicken Sausage and Pasta

With warmer weather coming I am anxious to get some fresh veggies and lighter dishes on the table. This is a perfect warm weather pasta dish that is both easy and good for you.

Chicken Sausage and Pasta
1 - 1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian chicken sausage
8 ounces hot cooked whole wheat rotini pasta
1 large sweet Vidalia onion, chopped
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with no added salt, drained
5 ounces fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha
fresh ground black pepper to taste
grated Parmagiano Reggiano (optional)

Boil or grill sausage until done and slice into disks. Set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion in olive oil until just transluscent. Add garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, salt, seasonings and Sriracha, stirring to mix together. Add baby spinach and cook until just wilted. Pour over the pasta and toss together. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste and garnish with Parmegiano.

Spinach Frittata

This recipe is a new one that I have just started cooking on our "meatless mondays". What I like best about it is that I can make it ahead and pack a piece for lunch at work. Gently rewarmed in the microwave it is just as good as fresh out of the oven and very healthy.

Spinach Frittata
1 16-ounce carton of egg substitute (or 8 beaten eggs)
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 10-ounce box of frozen spinach
1 ounce shredded low-fat mozzarella
1/2 ounce shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 ounce shredded romano cheese
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper (about 10 grinds)

Preheat broiler and move rack to top of oven. Defrost spinach in the microwave until just warmed. Drain and squeeze out liquid and put spinach into a mixing bowl. Add egg substitute, cheese, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and mix well. In a medium sized oven safe non-stick skillet (10.5 inches) saute onion in olive oil until just translucent. Shake skillet to move all onion to the bottom of the pan and reduce heat to medium. Pour in egg mixture and cook over medium heat until bottom is crusty golden, and the edges of the frittata are beginning to set. Sprinkle a few drops of olive oil on the top and place pan under the broiler until the top is golden. If the frittata is solid, it is done and ready to slice. If it is still moving when gently shaken, turn off oven and move shelf to middle. Allow pan to sit in the warm oven for a few minutes until set. Slide out of pan and slice with a pizza cutter.

Farinata with Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella

For the past nine months I have been working on a complete overhaul of my eating habits. The result of these changes has been dramatic. While I miss many of the things I used to eat, I have learned some new recipes to replace them. Pizza was one thing I had pretty much given up on. I had been able to create a simulated pizza on a whole wheat pita, but it just didn't taste the same. I accidentally bumped into a recipe for chickpea flour pizza by Madhur Jaffrey. Her recipe inspired me to create my own pizza below.

Farinata with Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella
1 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 14.5-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and sliced
low fat mozzarella, shredded
fresh grated parmesan
fresh basil, chopped
red onions, sliced thinly
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper

Combine flour and water and mix well. Put in a covered container and let sit in refrigerator at least one hour and up to 24 hours. I had best results when I made the batter a day in advance. When ready to prepare pizzas, add salt and stir batter again as it may have settled while sitting. Preheat broiler and place on oven rack to the top and one in the middle. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the lower shelf. A baking sheet will work too. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in an oven safe non-stick skillet (a 10.5 inch non-stick skillet will make three 8 inch pizzas). When pan is hot, pour 1/3 of the batter in the bottom of the skillet to about pancake thickness and cook until edges turn golden brown. Use a toothpick to pierce any bubbles that form. When the edges begin to brown, place your choice of toppings on the pizza making sure that you keep them light. You don't want to overload toppings on the farinata as it will get soggy. Give the pizza a few quick lashings of olive oil and a grind of pepper and place skillet under the broiler until the top is golden. Gently remove pizza to pizza stone on lower shelf to crisp up for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil and Chili

(Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino)

This dish was inspired by one of my favorites from Luigi's Restaurant in Slippery Rock, PA. If a dish has garlic, I am intrigued. Heck - you can never have too much of the stuff. Take that as a warning all vampires and people with sensitive noses, I am chowing down the stinky cloves with joy!

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil and Chili

1/3 cup Canola/Extra Virgin Olive Oil mix
3 cloves Garlic sliced
5 cloves Garlic minced
2 dried Chile de Arbol peppers chopped
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente

Over medium low heat saute sliced garlic and chile in oil, adding minced garlic and salt at the end. Be sure not to over cook the garlic, it should just be starting to get a nice warm gold color. Remove from heat. Toss hot cooked pasta into the garlic oil. Garnish with Parmesan. I find that the whole wheat pasta seems to absorb the flavor better than regular pasta. It doesn't get as slippery either, and it is especially good left over and reheated. Either way, it is a tasty treat!

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup

Meatless Monday is a worldwide initiative to help people improve their health my cutting out meat for one day a week. As someone who has been hard at work overhauling her diet into something less refined and lower in saturated fat, the idea was something I was very interested in. The only problem - I adore meat and usually find anything other than a double cheese pizza or gooey grilled cheese as being meatless purgatory.

The rumors are true - I was the kid with the poodle who secretly ate all my vegetables. Beans had to be pulverized into creamy hummus before I would even look at them. And forget green beans - they squeaked when I chewed them. Yick! So how to do this? How to eat vegetarian and not feel punished? That my friends is the big question. If you are going to work hard and give up the unhealthy food, you need to be sure that each meal is spectacular and doesn't taste like a compromise. Into the kitchen I went, stocked with beans and veggies. With spoon in hand and full of trepidation, I took a bite. What's this? It tastes...delicious! Can you believe it??? I actually had seconds. Yes, Karen, the hater of the vegetable world has eaten beans and enjoyed them. Maybe you will too.

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup
5 cups kale, washed, ribs removed
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 carrot, sliced into thin disks
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups vegetarian broth (or three 14.5 cans of Swanson's Vegetarian Vegetable)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Bunch kale and shred into 1/2 inch slices and set aside. Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Saute onions, carrots and celery until softened and onions are barely translucent. Add garlic and saute for 5-10 seconds until fragrant. Be sure not to overcook the garlic. Add broth, kale, beans and seasonings and cook on low for about 30 minutes. Serve with crusty whole grain bread.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce

I was informed last week by cyber buddy Antonio that I had no recipes from Italy. His observation led me to much pondering. We are truly creatures of habit, even those of us who think we are experimental. Growing up and for the most part to the present, Italian food is pizza from a restaurant or Spaghetti with Ragu from the jar. Occasionally we might visit a restaurant and enjoy spaghetti or ravioli. But throughout my life, no Italian food was homemade. My sister Kathy was blessed with Italian in-laws who shared a few recipes, but still she and I tend to shy away from something we perceive as easier to cook from a jar. As my Mother's recipes were no help, I turned to my Grandmother and did find a good recipe to begin learning about this fabulous cuisine.

As the weather is turning warm, I prefer a lighter meal over one steaming on the oven. My lack of central air conditioning plays a big part here. Grandma's Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce was just the ticket to learn about fresh Italian cooking. There isn't a lot of messing around here. The quality of your ingredients make or break this delicious sauce.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil
1 cup fresh mozzarella or fresh buffalo mozzarella, diced
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt to taste
generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 pound pasta

Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them into rapidly boiling water for one minute and then dropping them into a bowl of ice water. Peel skins from the tomatoes and gently squeeze to remove the seeds. Chop tomatoes and place in large bowl. Combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil, mozzarella, oil, vinegar and salt and pepper flakes, to taste, and let stand, covered at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. To serve, cook pasta until it is al dente, drain well and add it to the sauce. Toss and serve immediately.