Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Fall Flavor

My sister-in-law and I have very different food tastes. For example, she loves all things lemon, whereas the thought of lemony anything makes my tastebuds hurt. So when I discovered her love of pumpkin, I kind of categorized it in the lemon-coconut-sister-in-law-icky-taste category, but was I wrong (just don't tell anyone!).

While I'm not a big fan of pumpkin spice lattes or overly sweet pumpkiny flavors, like cooking and baking with it. And, according to my friend Google, pumpkin has a lot of nutritional benefits, including a good source of dietary fiber, low in calories, no cholesterol or saturated fats, loads of anti-oxidants, etc. Bring on the pumpkin!

Pumpkin Pasta Surprise
Source: Clean Eating, May/June 2010

Ingredients:
  • 1 13-oz package of whole grain pasta
  • 1 lb lean ground turkey
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped (used minced)
  • 1 large carrot, shredded
  • 1 roma tomato, chopped (used 1/2 can no-salt added diced)
  • 1 small zucchini, diced with peel on
  • 1 roasted red pepper, chopped (didn't roast)
  • 15 oz. pumpkin puree
  • 1 tbsp low-fat plain cream cheese
Directions:
  • Cook pasta according to directions. Undercook slightly or it will get mushy later.
  • Meanwhile, brown turkey until no longer pink. Drain fat, return to pan and add onion and garlic. Saute turkey mixture until onions are translucent. Add carrot, tomato and zucchini and saute for 3-5 mins until tender.
  • Add red pepper, pumpkin puree and pasta sauce. Cover and simmer for 7-10 mins, until zucchini is soft. Add cream cheese, then turn off heat and let cream cheese melt.
  • Add pasta and mix, cover and let stand for 2 mins.
Yield: 6 servings (1 c. per serving)
Per serving: 402 calories; total fat: 3.5g (0.5g sat); 62g carbs; 6g fiber; 29g protein; 72mg sodium (!); 36mg choles

Reviews:
Clean plate club all around! Even though the hubs complained it appeared to have too many veggies, every single one of us chowed down - including the kid. I've made this one in the past, so I knew it was going to be good. Plus, it makes a ton, so the hubs has leftovers while I'm tripping the light fantastic (i.e., traveling for work).

Ranking:
Four Forks! I love that this has tons of nutritional value but kind of feels like pasta with meat sauce. It was very easy to prepare, didn't take too long to throw together - a great dish for a busy weeknight. Try it!

Surprise - it's pumpkin!

1 comment:

  1. MMM - this looks delicious! I was skeptical at first, thinking, pumpkin puree and PASTA? But you're right. It would add something hefty w/out a lot of overwhelming flavor - plus a boatload of nutrition. WIN!

    Happy travel!

    ReplyDelete