You guys, I found pasta that's GASP....HEALTHY!

kshama2001 wrote: »

Tomorrow night I'm trying an ATK version of Pasta Bolognese from their "Cook it in Your Dutch Oven" cookbook, which I am test-driving from the library. I've made the JOC version a few times and was not wowed by it; fingers crossed that I will like this version.

I'm using Whole Foods organic fettuccine.

I'm amused that the recipe is called "Weeknight Pasta Bolognese" and the total time is listed as 90 minutes, which means closer to 2 hours, and who has time for that on a work night?

I love ATK, but their idea of a reasonable amount of time and effort for most people to put into a dish is...skewed just a bit. I hope the Bolognese is worth the effort, though!

I bought this also! I also bought the edamame pasta and the chickpea penne - I love pasta and I don’t dispute whether it is healthy or not but this is just a different and fun way to change up different recipes!

Kale is good in some things. I've had some tasty kale salads. It's okay in an omelet, but you can't use as much as you can spinach or chard, and it's just as good as spinach in a smoothie. I don't think I've used it with pasta yet, however, whether that pasta be soybean flour or semolina.

I have had the kale noodles at a poke place and they were good, but sadly about the same cals as noodles in general.

I love kale in bean-based soups and stews -- forgot to mention that. For some reason I never use pasta (other than orzo) or other types of noodles in soup (even though I enjoy a chicken noodle if someone else makes it).

apullum wrote: »

I make a kale salad that involves kneading/“massaging” the kale in dressing and then letting it marinate at least overnight, which softens the kale a lot.

Yeah, this works, or else--depending on the type of salad--doing a quick blanch.

I'm going to a gathering of friends (connected through a mutual friend) for dinner tonight, and one of the people coming normally brings a massaged kale salad that's really good. I hope she brings it again.

pinuplove wrote: »

I've tried to like kale, I really have. I just don't. Not in salads, not in soups, not baked into chips (I've never tried it in a smoothie because I don't like to drink my calories). I figure as long as I'm eating enough other nutritious foods, there's no reason to punish myself with kale

This is me. I just can't do it.

pinuplove wrote: »

I've tried to like kale, I really have. I just don't. Not in salads, not in soups, not baked into chips (I've never tried it in a smoothie because I don't like to drink my calories). I figure as long as I'm eating enough other nutritious foods, there's no reason to punish myself with kale

nutmegoreo wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

I've tried to like kale, I really have. I just don't. Not in salads, not in soups, not baked into chips (I've never tried it in a smoothie because I don't like to drink my calories). I figure as long as I'm eating enough other nutritious foods, there's no reason to punish myself with kale

This is me. I just can't do it.

That seems fine, to me.

Leaves more for the rest of us, who really like it.

One of you can have my share of the bacon (well, all the meat & fish, really), lima beans, and seaweed salad. Also tapioca, in the "texture like fish eyes" form.

It's good to share.

@aokoye - Would you be willing to share that goulash recipe?

@AnnPT77 - That dried mushroom/lentil sauce sounds really good - I'm hopeless without at a least an approx. recipe - can you share the amounts you used?

I'll take the kale, but not the olives or the fish-eye pudding or, while we're here - the cottage cheese.

Dang it! I can't eat soy Otherwise that would be a good alternative for my low carb, pasta loving, husband and gluten sensitive Mom.

jwoolman5 wrote: »

nutmegoreo wrote: »

.... [some indication that perhaps nutmegoreo is not too fond of kale]

Ha ha. I'm not fond of mature kale either, a tiny bit chopped very fine goes a very long way.

But baby kale is great. I discovered it in a very tasty blend of spinach, baby kale, chard, and mizuna sold as pricey Power Greens under various labels and house brands. The baby kale is small flat leaves, doesn't look at all like the monster from the black lagoon of mature kale and tastes just right to me. I've bought straight baby kale sometimes and use it just like any other tasty green.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I can't believe my secret is out. :bigsmile:

I really like lacinato kale, aka “the flat kind.” Especially baked into kale chips.

@Momepro Has your mom tried mung bean pasta? Nutritional profile is similar, no soy.

nutmegoreo wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

I've tried to like kale, I really have. I just don't. Not in salads, not in soups, not baked into chips (I've never tried it in a smoothie because I don't like to drink my calories). I figure as long as I'm eating enough other nutritious foods, there's no reason to punish myself with kale

nutmegoreo wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

I've tried to like kale, I really have. I just don't. Not in salads, not in soups, not baked into chips (I've never tried it in a smoothie because I don't like to drink my calories). I figure as long as I'm eating enough other nutritious foods, there's no reason to punish myself with kale

This is me. I just can't do it.

That seems fine, to me.

Leaves more for the rest of us, who really like it.

One of you can have my share of the bacon (well, all the meat & fish, really), lima beans, and seaweed salad. Also tapioca, in the "texture like fish eyes" form.

It's good to share.

Dibs on the bacon! I'll take other meats as well. Fish is hit and miss for me. It's not something I can eat regularly. Lima beans and seaweed can go to @pinuplove.

You can have all my kale and olives (I'm okay with olive oil).

No fair, I was grocery shopping (not buying kale)! I'll take tapioca, I guess, and lima beans are ok with ham and cornbread. Seaweed is gross.

ShinyFuture wrote: »

@aokoye - Would you be willing to share that goulash recipe?

@AnnPT77 - That dried mushroom/lentil sauce sounds really good - I'm hopeless without at a least an approx. recipe - can you share the amounts you used?

I'll take the kale, but not the olives or the fish-eye pudding or, while we're here - the cottage cheese.

In for the cottage cheese (prefer lowfat but not nonfat).

I encourage you to throw caution to the winds and "just cook". In most cases, the only things that matter are what I call "structural ingredients" in a food: The things that make it hold together and be itself, like flour in bread, or the proportion of egg yolks to oil in hollandaise or something. Baked goods have lots of structural ingredients, including some subtle ones like salt and sugar. Tomato-type pasta sauce has no structural ingredients to speak of; it's just whatever tastes good.

Experimenting and tossing things together is very freeing and educational: What's the worst that can happen, after all?

The last time I made the sauce, this is what's in my diary (which would've been one serving for me):

Garlic, raw, 21 g
Dried Portabella Mushrooms, 9 g
Dried porcini mushrooms , 14 gram
Onions, raw, 88 g
Canned Diced Tomatoes, 104 gram
Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt, 174 g

The numbers are random, because I just pull/spoon out what looks like enough, and use the weight I see on the scale. Whatevs, y'know? I took out the brand names, because it doesn't matter.

Any kind of dried mushrooms would work, AFAIK. (It'd be a waste of something like morels at their price, though - but would still taste good).

Any tomato sauce or peeled ripe tomatoes (cooked/heated) or jarred simple marinara would be fine. Tomato paste (can/jar) would work, but might need thinning a bit with broth or water or tomato juice - eyeball it, realizing that the dried mushrooms will take up some moisture. (You can mix them in first and decide about thinning after it's all mixed together.)

I don't remember whether the lentils were just cooked, some I previously cooked/froze, drained lentils from a can, or the kind of red lentils that cook quickly from dry; and other than the speed for cooking the red ones, it doesn't matter if they're black, green, red, french or whatever lentils. Other beans would work, but might be more sauce-like if mashed or chopped a bit.

I'm betting I would've put in some kind of dried aromatic herbs towards the end, like basil or oregano, maybe plus just a small amount (1/4tsp?) of smashed-to-powder fennel seeds. Y'know, the usual Italian-esque stuff. (I don't always log herbs.) If you like a bit of heat, some dried red pepper flakes would be good, too, or some fresh-ground black pepper. If you used jarred/canned marinara for the tomato bit, you might not need the herbs. Taste and decide.

Basic process: Little oil in the frying pan (spray, or <5g olive oil works in my smallish cast iron pan), heat a bit, chop onions, put them in warmed pan on medium-ish heat, let them brown or caramelize a bit (stir when you think of it, more often if higher heat or later in cooking). When they're soft and rich/sweet, add the minced-up garlic (dry is fine, but I usually have fresh, since it keeps great - clearly, you'd use less if dried). The garlic burns faster, so just get it warm through and a little soft, smelling good.

Pulverize the dried mushrooms to powder in a blender or food processor. If it's humid and they're too soft to really powder, put some of the tomatoes in with them and liquefy. Bet you could use fresh mushrooms and puree them, if you wanted to.

Combine with all the other stuff, cook until hot and flavors mingled (only a few minutes, unless you want to go longer on low), adding dried herbs in the last minutes (long enough to rehydrate). Thin with water or broth if needed. Taste. Salt, whatever, maybe some red wine or (adequate but inexpensive) balsamic vinegar if it needs a little more richness/acid, or a little dry red wine if you have a bit around. Sometimes I add dark miso (or even unsweetened cocoa powder) to tomato sauce, but with the powdered mushrooms and lentils it probably won't need it.

You could put in any other veggies or meat that you want, of course, some of which might need a bit of pre-saute (could go in with the onions at some stage, if so).

On the day I looked at to get those numbers, I put it on baked spaghetti squash, and had a side of roasted cabbage with mustard vinaigrette. Any pasta you like works, of course.

Non-recipes take more words than recipes.

ooh, morphing into a photos thread

am cooking spaghetti bolognaise for tea tomorrow - will post photo too.

Experimenting and tossing things together is very freeing and educational: What's the worst that can happen, after all?


Oh, trust me, my family has several "hilarious" stories about just how badly things can go. I'm good with soup, but everything else needs a recipe. And sometimes even that doesn't help. One of the stories that gets trotted out on holidays is the lasagna that even the dog didn't want.