Leftover pasta bake and a baked sweet potato
This week I'm sharing one of my easy lunchtime tricks.... leftovers from dinner! Maybe you're in the "anti-leftover camp" (as I know some are) but for me they are a GREAT way to have a healthy lunch option on hand. This pasta bake is a recipe I came up with this week, and I was thrilled with all the ways to swap ingredients to kick up the protein, fiber and veggies. As much as I LOVE baked ziti, lasagna - or really any amazing pasta dish at a fab Italian restaurant, unfortunately they are starch heavy disasters as far as optimal nutrition. When I cook Italian at home I try to tweak things to health it up a bit. (Full disclosure: Italian is my favorite cuisine and I never miss a great Italian restaurant meal when I have the chance.) Sneaking in these diced peppers packs a major veggie punch, and I'm obsessed with this new veggie chopper. (If you don't have anything similar, this one's only $25 on Amazon.) I also find the texture and taste of chickpea and lentil pastas do better in a bake -- the consistency is more pasta-like and the extra fiber and protein is a win. Salud!
Prep Ahead: Ultra Healthy Pasta Bake
Ingredients:
3-5 assorted color peppers (any mix yellow, orange, red)
1 lb ground beef, ideally grass-fed
1 pack pasta of choice (lentil, chickpea or regular)
1 jar sauce of choice (I use Rao’s or Whole Foods organic)
3/4 cup of creamed cheese of choice (marscapone, chèvre, cream cheese, vegan)
1/2 block of Parmesan, fontina, or mozzarella, 1 cup grated
1/2 tsp each, garlic powder, Italian herbs, salt and pepper
Assembly:
Dice assorted peppers (I use that amazing veggie chopper and mix yellow, red and orange peppers based on what I have. A chopper helps immensely here.) Any vegetable could work, and I'm thinking I'll eventually try it with zucchini, squash, mushrooms and spinach.
Brown ground beef. Drain if needed. Add jarred sauce and diced peppers.
Cook pasta to 2 minutes under package time.
Add creamed cheese to microwave safe bowl and add grated cheese and garlic, herbs, salt, pepper. Soften 10 seconds in microwave to mix easier. Mix thoroughly with fork.
In 9x13 pan spread small amount of sauce mix in bottom of pan. Add one layer of pasta with half the total pasta. Layer half the remaining sauce on top of pasta. Sprinkle /crumble layer of the cheese mix in small pieces across pan. Add remaining pasta, remaining sauce and then remaining cheese on top. (Grate more Parmesan, fontina or mozzarella on top if you want more cheese.)
Cover tented with foil (I use toothpicks) and bake about 30 minutes at 350. Check after 25 minutes but allow last 5 min with foil off to brown a bit.
Grab and Go: Baked Sweet Potato
More than once I've been scouring the kitchen for something healthy for lunch and I've landed on a baked sweet potato with crumbled walnuts, ghee and cinnamon or sea salt. It's easy to pop in the toaster oven ahead of time as long as you're home.
Ingredients:
Sweet Potato (Trader Joes has bags of organic)
Ghee, Coconut Oil or Avocado Oil
Chopped or crumbled walnuts
Cinnamon or sea salt, for garnish
Optional quick pairing items: An avocado with olive oil/salt, two hard boiled eggs however you like them (I do with salt and pepper) or a Chomps grass fed beef stick (available at Trader Joes, Costco, Amazon or Whole Foods.)
Assembly:
Coat sweet potato in coconut oil, prick surface 5-7 times with a fork. Bake in toaster oven at 400 for 40-60 minutes depending on the size of the potato. Check at 30 minutes and fork will easily pierce potato when it's done.
The potato alone can be surprisingly filling but you need to add something else -- three of my favorite easy ideas are above (avocado, hard boiled eggs or Chomps beef sticks.) While walnuts aren't my favorite nut to snack on, they are the most nutritious nut -- full of antioxidants and omega-3 fats so I try to sprinkle them in wherever I can (on salads too.)
Stay tuned for two more ideas next week and please share these with your mom friends!