Mediterranean Pasta Salad

 

Where I come from in North Carolina, this is the time of year when your yard starts to look like the jungle in Jurassic Park. By the time you finish mowing the lawn, the grass is already back up past your ankles, and every plant in the garden is supersized thanks to the blazing days and almost daily afternoon thunderstorms. I am not exactly short, but it's safe to say there are tomato plants in my mom's veggie patch right now that are taller than me. In the humid heat of July, everyone and their mother starts to wonder if they planted too many "tamaters." The kitchen counter is covered with them and you have to think fast or toss all that precious goodness into the compost pile. Canned homemade spaghetti sauce is always a go-to option, but this salad is a great way to enjoy them while they are still fresh.

Juicy cherry tomatoes, salty feta, spicy baby arugula and savory sun-dried tomatoes with a few handfuls of pasta. This summer salad is quickly becoming a favorite at our house, because its fresh, filling and fast! Unlike most pasta salads that are heavy on the pasta, mayo and Miracle Whip, this one is packed with veggies that won't leave you feeling bloated or sluggish. It's a great option for those who want to go easy on the carbs without cutting them out all together. I like to think of it as happy middle ground that can please the pasta-lovers and the carb- or gluten-conscious alike.

To make this a gluten-free meal, just use a gluten-free penne. The Food Babe has a list of the healthiest gluten-free pasta options here. If you are feeling adventurous, replace the pasta with two spiralized zucchini. It makes for a totally different texture, but is still delicious! If arugula seems a bit too spicy for you, just reach for baby spinach instead. Make sure to wait until you are ready to eat before dressing the salad with lemon juice, since spinach does not seem to hold up as well against the acid.

Besides having fewer calories than your traditional pasta salads, this dish has a few other exciting things to offer:

• Arugula: Eating this leafy green is great way to strengthen your bones. One cup contains almost half your daily recommend value of vitamin K and it has just as much calcium as spinach. You can also absorb this calcium better than in spinach thanks to lower levels of oxalates, a substance which inhibits calcium absorption. Few people realize that arugula is also a cruciferous vegetable right alongside broccoli, cauliflower, kale and your other nutritional powerhouses. Just like all of them, arugula contains glucosinolates that mix with the enzyme myrosinase to produce isothiocyanates. This compound neutralize carcinogens in the body and has anticancer properties. Oh yeah, 1 cup = 5 calories. Unreal.
• Tomatoes: Vine-ripened tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, vitamin A and B complex vitamins (boosts immune system, cell repair and metabolism). They contain the carotenoid lutein, which supports healthy vision and may help against macular generation. They contain three antioxidants, zero-carotene, phytoene and phytofluene, that help fight disease and prevent cell aging. The phenolic acid in tomatoes also helps fight lung cancer. When cooked (like in speghetti sauce :), tomoatoes are a rich soure of cancer-fighting lycopene.
• Red pepper: In terms of nutritional value, red peppers have a lot in common with tomatoes. They are also low in calories, a good source of vitamin A and C, and contain the cancer-fighting compound lycopene. They also contain the carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin, which is believed to lower risk of developing lung cancer. Try to buy organic bell peppers when you can though, because this vegetable is considered one of the most pesticide-contaminated foods.

Cold Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad

Out of nowhere full-on, sweaty summer has arrived: temperatures in the 90s, soaring humidity, don't-even-bother-bringing-a-sweater kind of weather.

All I want when I come home is something cool and fresh. This salad is exactly what I was craving. Tangy, spicy and sweet Asian flavors coating succulent noodles and crisp snow peas – chilled to perfection with a hint of sesame.

Added bonus: you can whip out a batch ahead of time and it makes for superb leftovers. In fact, it’s best when left in the fridge for a while so the noodles and chicken really soak up the gingery, garlic dressing. It is one of my go-to dishes for summer potlucks.

If you are trying to cut down on carbs, just change the pasta to veggie ratio. When I want a lighter meal, I reduce the pasta by half and add more cabbage and snow peas. I also recommend adding bean sprout for an extra crunch!

What I love, besides the cool crunch, is that it is an all-in-one kinda meal. You don’t need a side or a salad, because everything is packed into one.  

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Wilted Spinach Casserole

Until this year, Thanksgiving and Christmas were the only occasions sweet potatoes made it into my life. I would dutifully try the orange dishes year after year, not wanting to seem ungrateful or immature. But if I’m honest, I didn’t particularly enjoy eating them. Somehow the way they straddled that line between sweet and savory made my palate cringe. I couldn’t wrap my head around eating anything covered with marshmallows alongside green beans and meat. It just felt so wrong.

It wasn’t until I had the pleasure of trying deliciously crisp, salty sweet potato fries that I realized I might need to reassess this whole aversion thing. At first, I was solely fixated on them in fry form. And why not, they are just sooo freaking amazzing. Sweet potatoes became my saving grace while I did my 40 days of no processed sugar and carbs. But I also couldn’t help thinking… there has got to be more I can do with them. So, slowly but surely they are finding new ways into my diet. This recipe happens to be one of them. I made a vegetarian version, but you can easily throw in some chicken for more protein. I would just bump up the eggs to 4 and add a bit more milk and cheese to coat everything.

Lemon Shrimp Pasta with Artichokes & Capers

So it's been a while. I promise I've been eating, but getting around to posting everything has been a struggle. Allergy season hit in full force when winter abruptly ended and gave way to beautiful summery temperatures. You'd think after the eternal winter, I could shut up and be grateful, but everything that can bloom did. All at once. Oo the pollen. The pain. And since life likes to hit you when you're down, I promptly got a cold that has left me emptying boxes upon boxes of tissue for the last week. Today, I have finally gathered the strength to catch up on the blog.

This recipe is one I made to celebrate our first meal on the balcony. My mom used to make it, but I tweaked a few things. It's fresh, summery and fast. You only need about 25 minutes. Rachel Ray would be proud.

Mean Green Carbonara

Spaghetti carbonara. Pasta, parmesan and eggs. Pure comfort food. What's not to like? Well for one thing, it's rich, heavy on carbs and doesn't give your body much to work with in terms of vitamins and minerals. 

Just take a look at this BBC recipe. One serving contains around 900 calories, roughly 100 grams of carbs, 40 grams of fat and less than 4 grams of fiber. Yikes. While traditional recipes don't include cream like this one, it's a popular addition to the dish in many homes, restaurants and frozen dinners.

But you don't have to load up on empty carbs to enjoy pasta, cheese and egg. Adding fiber-filled veggies not only cuts the calories per serving, you'll find that you are full sooner and stay that way longer. Better still, your body gets more bang for its buck. This version includes broccoli, zucchini and mushrooms. 

Broccoli is pretty much one of your heavy weights in terms of the healthiest foods. It’s rich in fiber, vitamin A, C, E, K and B6 as well as potassium, folate and riboflavin. It has a LONG LIST of health benefits: promotes detoxification (phytonutrients), helps regulate blood sugar (fiber and chromium), prevents heart disease (lutein), fights high blood pressure (potassium) and lowers cholesterol, boost your immune system, improves eye health (carotenoids), act as an anti-inflammatory agent, which helps against cardiovascular diseases and allergies, and can decrease your risk of cancer (read more, here).

Zucchini is particularly great for those looking to manage their weight. It's a high volume, low calorie food that provides a lot of vitamin A & C to stimulate your immune system. One cup of it cooked is under 30 calories and gives you 40% of your daily vitamin A and a good dose of fiber. 

Asian Noodle Salad

This salad is addictive. Like addictive in the same way that Pringles are addictive. Like once you start, you won't want to stop until you have literally finished everything and licked your fork... and maybe the bowl.

This may seem meaningless coming from someone who clearly already loves salads (see my other salad posts) so I'll put this in perspective: I packed my rugby-playing boyfriend this salad for lunch and the first thing he said when he came home today was "We've gotta make that salad again." A true sign that this salad has magical powers of being deceptively healthy.

The recipe was inspired by one posted by The Pioneer Woman. I've kept the main ingredients largely the same, but my version adds eggs, peanuts, sesame seeds, Sriracha, rice wine vinegar and fish sauce and uses considerably less oil, soy sauce and sugar. So you can feel that much better about eating it.

And it’s already ridiculously healthy to start with! You are getting a huge boost of vitamins A, B6, C, E and K as well as fiber with the baby spinach, napa cabbage, red cabbage, bell peppers, sprouts, grated ginger and garlic. This is strengthening your immune system, bone development and vision as well as helping regulate your blood sugar. All that with only a handful of calories. The red cabbage also contains the antioxidant flavonoid anthocyanin. They are the same dark pigment, which gives blueberries and other dark berries their antioxidant properties. Antocyanin has shown to fight oxidation of cells, which leads to cell aging, cancer and inflammation. This makes it great for improving cardiovascular health.