Sunday, July 29, 2012

Arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, goat cheese and penne!

I went searching on pinterest for a pasta dish that I could make with the big jar of sun-dried tomatoes I just bought at Costco, and came across Skinny Ms blog. She has some great low fat recipes. The one I made is called Mediterranean Penne, and although I'm weary about trying recipes I've found on Pinterest, I've made a lot of yucky ones, I went ahead and gave it a shot. It was freakin' delicious! Like, I had two bowls and considered a third delicious! But seeing how I'm getting in a wedding dress in less than 3 weeks, I opted to save the third for lunch tomorrow. I can't wait to wake up!




Ingredients
  • 5 cups cooked whole-grain penne pasta, cook until al dente
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 2 cups baby spinach (I used 1 cup organic spinach, 1 cup organic arugula)
  • 1 cup fat-free feta cheese (I used 1 cup goat cheese, and it wasn't fat free)
Directions

Cook penne according to package directions. Add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil to a large skillet, and saute garlic over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add to skillet the sun-dried tomatoes, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes, and continue to saute 5 minutes or until tomatoes are soft. Add cooked penne and remaining tablespoon of oil; toss to coat, cover, and cook on low an additional 2 minutes. Add pine nuts and baby spinach, toss to combine. Turn off heat, cover and allow spinach to slightly wilt, about 2 minutes.
Sprinkle on feta cheese and serve.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Random, healthy, delicious salad.

Don't you just love it when you throw whatever you have in the fridge into a bowl, and it turns out amazing?! Well, that's what happened to me the other day. I got lucky, real lucky.

The result of what I had in my fridge, was a delicious, healthy salad. Since I just threw everything into a bowl, I'm not sure about exact measurements, but here are the ingredients...


Spinach or some type of greens
Fresh mozzarella balls
Beets
Jicama
Avocado
Mandarian oranges
Sunflower seeds
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Dash of olive oil
Dash of aged balsamic vinegar