Chicken Enchilada Pasta

I'm not going to take any credit for the creativity of this dish.  I found the idea on pinterest and only made minor changes to make it processed free, but wow, it's good!  If you like Mexican flavors, this will be right up your alley.  Plus, my whole family gobbled this up.  It's always good to have a dinner you know will go over well with everyone.  The additional toppings really made this easy to customize too.  I think you'll enjoy this easy, fun twist on a pasta dish.

2-3 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 diced or pureed onion
1 diced red pepper
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
2 10 oz. cans mild green enchilada sauce
1 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1-2 tsp. chili powder (depending on how much heat you like)
2 cup shredded cheese (Mexican blend, Monterrey Jack, Colby or Cheddar)
1 cup sour cream
1 lb. whole wheat or sprouted grain pasta (any shape - I like rigatoni best)

Toppings: shredded cheese, sliced olives, avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, green onions, sour cream

Heat a large, high-sided pan or medium sized pot on medium heat and let the onions cook for a few minutes in the coconut oil until soft.  Add the red pepper and garlic and let them also soften.  Pour in the green chilies, 3 cans of enchilada sauce, shredded chicken, salt, cumin, and chili powder.  You want this to completely warm through and start to bubble - about 8 to 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and stir in the shredded cheese.  Then stir in the sour cream completely and pour this entire mixture over the freshly cooked pasta.  Let everyone add their desired toppings and devour!

For ease, I used a rotisserie chicken and shredded the whole thing early in the day so when dinner time came, this was super fast to make.  This can also be easily doubled to feed a crowd, just use larger pots for cooking.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Being part Italian (thank you mama), I love pasta and anything with fresh basil.  Pesto sauce has got to be one of my all time favorite sauces and I find that you can add it to almost anything for a punch of fresh flavor.  If you're looking for a quick dinner or the perfect side dish for an outdoor party, give this a try.  I'll give you a rough outline, but taste as you go and add more or less of anything you want.

1 lb. whole wheat pasta, cooked
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella or 4 to 6 string cheese sticks sliced
1 cup or more of pesto sauce
3 Tbsp. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Combine everything in a large bowl and taste as you stir everything together.  I like to look at the proportions too and decide if it looks prettier with more tomatoes or cheese.  Again, add or subtract what you prefer - this is rough outline.  If your pasta is still hot, the cheese will melt.  That's great if that's what you want, but if you want the shredded or chunks of cheese to keep their shape, let the pasta cool first.

If you want a good recommendation for a store-bought pesto sauce, try the basil pesto from Costco.  I love this one because it's ingredients are processed free and in terms of color and taste, I have to say it rivals even my grandmas fresh pesto and that's saying something! 

Here is my grandma's recipe if you want to make some from scratch:

2 cups coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup grated romano
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 cup olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. pine nuts

Put all the ingredients in a blender or a food processer and combine until smooth.  Don't just limit this sauce to pasta.  Spread it on bread, pour over fish or chicken, use as a pizza sauce, spread on wraps or sandwiches, add to scrambled eggs, add it to soup, use as a salad dressing, top cooked veggies, use as a dip, mix it with mayonnaise, the possibilities are endless!  You can also freeze it and always have it on hand.  This makes for a quick dinner in a pinch that tastes great.

Pumpkin Spinach and Chicken Sausage Pasta

 

I was waiting to get my haircut by my sister at her salon, and I happened upon a recipe in a magazine that incorporated pumpkin and spinach in a pasta dish.  I'm always looking to increase our veggie intake at every meal, so I took the overall idea and made it into a processed free pasta dish that is creamy and delicious.  You could easily make this vegetarian too just by eliminating the sausage.  Let's here it for the power of pumpkin!

 

2 cups (6 oz.) whole wheat pasta (ziti, rigatoni, penne, etc.)

1/2 a can of pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling - should have no sugar!)

1 Tbsp. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 cup water

2/3 cup dry milk

2 fully cooked Italian-seasoned chicken sausage cut into 1/4 inch slices

2-3 cup baby spinach

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (real, not the green can)

 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and grease a 2 quart baking dish with coconut oil.  Prepare your pasta to just slightly aldente (undercooked) and remember to add some salt to the water right before you add the pasta.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water and after the pasta is drained, return it to the cooking pot. 

 

Combine the pumpkin, flour, garlic powder, salt, and nutmeg in a skillet over medium heat.  In a separate container mix the water and dry milk until it's smooth.  Add 3/4 cup of this mixture and discard the rest (sorry about the waste of those 2 oz.) and slowly stir this into the pumpkin mixture until it has thickened and is smooth.  Combine this with the pasta, pasta water, and sliced sausage.  Spread half of this into your baking dish and top it with the spinach.  Add the remaining half of the pasta.  Place a piece of foil loosely on top and bake for 20 minutes.  Combine the mozzarella and Parmesan in a bowl and after the 20 minutes are up, remove the foil and sprinkle this on top.  Bake for another 5 minutes uncovered or until the cheese is melted.



 

 

This was creamy without any cream and full of veggies and whole grains.  My kids love pasta, so this recipe did double duty as a noodle dish and vegetable delivery system.  Score as a mom!

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Have you ever wondered why the tomato sauce at an Italian restaurant is better than what you buy in a can or jar from the store?  If you have an Italian mama, like I do, you already know the answer.  You have to make it from scratch with quality ingredients!  And authentic pasta sauce is one that is fresh, not heavy with pasta swimming in it.  Now, don't be scared off by the idea of making it yourself - it's super easy and takes the same amount of time to cook the pasta from start to finish, making this an incredibly fast dinner for any night of the week.  This is my go-to recipe when I don't have a lot of time or I haven't gone to the store.  You will be amazed at the difference in taste and never want for anything but this processed free version ever again.  

1-2 cans of whole or diced peeled tomatoes (use 2 cans for every pound of pasta)

2-3 cloves of minced garlic depending on how much you like (or use garlic powder if you don't have any on hand)

freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I always have a block in my refrigerator)

salt

Italian seasoning/dried basil/dried oregano

coconut oil

olive oil

optional: fresh basil leaves torn or cut to add at the end

I have made it without the basil and it's still delicious, but the fresh basil always feels like the ultimate finishing touch in presentation and flavor.

Put on a pot of water to boil your pasta.  I use whole wheat or brown rice noodles.  I have heard good things about quinoa and artichoke pasta too, but I haven't tried them yet.  You can also use any kind of noodle too... spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, etc.  Don't forget to get out the sea salt and salt your boiling water right before the noodles go in.

In a skillet on medium heat, put about 2 Tbsp. of coconut oil and saute the garlic for a quick minute - don't let it burn!  Just get it to a golden color then pour in your can of tomatoes.  (My mother-in-law sends me home-canned tomatoes from her garden, and I have to admit, these are my favorite to use.)  Start to break up the tomatoes as you stir everything together.  Add salt to your tastes and sprinkle in any other kind of seasoning that you like - I gave you some ideas up above.  You want to cook out the water from the tomatoes, but not exactly boil it out, just a light bubble.  The tomatoes will continue to cook down and break apart as the water evaporates.  This all happens while your pasta water is heating then cooking your noodles - isn't that great!  When you pasta is almost ready and most of the water has evaporated from the sauce, grate in some fresh Parmesan cheese - no green can!  I like to use my microplane to get it really fine.  Add as much or as little as you want and stir it into the sauce - it will dissolve and not be visible. Then turn off the heat and add some finely chopped basil and a drizzle of olive oil.  In the picture below, I only used one can of diced tomatoes because I only cooked a half pound of pasta, but you can see how thick it turns out.

When the pasta is drained, I put it back in the pot it was cooked in and pour the sauce over the top to toss them together. When this is served, don't forget to add a few more grates of Parmesan to the top.  I promise you will love the fresh flavor and the speed at which this comes together for any night of the week!

Veggie Lasagna in the Crockpot

You can tell by now that I really like pasta, which you can make cleanly with a few swaps.  I am coming to find that almost anything can become processed free if you get creative enough.  Yes, that takes some time, effort, and money, but I feel like the investment in our health is worth it.

Here is an example of a recipe that I make that is based on one from the cookbook, 101 more Things to do with a Slow Cooker.  Even before eating processed free, I had made changes to this to suite my own tastes, but now I've made a few more swaps to make this fast, delicious, and processed free!


12 whole wheat lasagna noodles (uncooked - hooray!)
1/4 cup water
1 small can sliced olives, drained (more if you like them)
1 small can mushroom pieces, drained
1 carrot, finely shredded
1 zucchini, shredded
(1 parsnip, shredded or thinly sliced - optional)
1 large jar spaghetti sauce (no sugar added)
1 container (15 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp. dried mint
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

This recipe is so easy, quick to assemble, and has very little prep time involved.  In fact, the only thing that takes any time at all is shredding the vegetables.  I use a box grater, but if you had a shredder on a food processor this could be done in seconds.  Here is what the veggies look like shredded (carrots and zucchini.)

To start the assembly, coat the bottom and sides of the slow cooker with some coconut oil.  I usually scoop a little out with a paper towel wrapped around my fingers and spread it inside the crockpot.  Then lay down 4 noodles (broken to fit) on the bottom.  These are NOT cooked, which makes this recipe so easy!  And don't worry, the noodles won't look pretty, but it will when it is all done cooking.  Here is what I mean - just make the noodles fit.

Next, sprinkle half the olives, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini (parsnips too, if you use them) over the noodles. Spoon 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce over them and half the water.  Stir the mint into the ricotta cheese and spread half of it on top of the sauce.  Then, sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella over the top.  Repeat these same steps again for the next layer beginning with 4 more noodles broken to fit.

When you have completed the second layer just like the first, add the last set of 4 noodles, the remainder of the sauce (make sure it covers the noodles completely) and the rest of the mozzarella.  It will look like this.

Put the lid on it and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.  Don't go longer than 5 hours!  This will make a lot of food.  We usually have left overs for a day or two or we invite family over to share it with us.  I like to serve this with a nice Italian salad (tomatoes, olives, fresh mozzarella, etc.) and sliced whole wheat french bread with butter or garlic butter.  YUM!

Stuffed Shells

Pasta dishes can seem like something you have to give up when you are processed free, but not really. You just have to buy the right kind of pasta.  Noodles that are made from whole wheat, quinoa, artichoke, brown rice, and more are available at health food stores, and are a great swap for your existing recipes.

Here is one of my all time favorite pasta dishes - stuffed shells.  This is my grandmother's recipe with only one change - the noodles!  She really was quite processed free because she cooked daily for her family with fresh ingredients, using recipes passed down from her mother.  So the filling in these shells is highly flavorful, nutritious, and clean already!

1 large jar of pasta sauce/marinara (sugar free, real ingredients) or make your own
1 box of jumbo shells (no refined white flour)

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs. whole milk ricotta cheese (my favorite brand is Belgioioso, but I also like Polly O)
2 eggs (organic)
2 Tblsp. pecorino ramano or parmesan cheese (real thing - no green can)
mint leaves - 6-8 large leaves, chopped finely (or use dried, in which you will use less)

Cook the box of shells until they are 1/2 to 3/4 done. I do salt the boiling water before I add the pasta to give it more flavor.  Then drain and cool slightly.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl.  In a 9 X 13 inch pan, pour a layer of sauce on the bottom.  Scoop a large spoonful of filling in each shell and place it seam side down in the pan.  Pack those babies in!

When you have filled all the shells (and be generous,) pour the remaining sauce over the top.  Make sure all the pasta is covered or it will be dry after you pull it out of the oven.  You can sprinkle some mozzarella or provolone cheese on the top if you want.  I usually don't as you can see in the next picture.  That feels more like lasagna to me, but it is good if you think your family would prefer it that way.

Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly - about 30-45 minutes.  You can cover it with foil if it looks dry while it's baking.  I have to say, I usually do this part way through the cooking time to keep everything moist.

All done!  They are super easy and really flavorful.  The mint in the recipe is very Sicilian and makes this unique and special - I can't imagine a filling without it!  I've always felt that restaurant filled pasta was missing something - the mint!  You can also use the filling for homemade ravioli or lasagna.

As far as the pasta, I used whole wheat shells which were harder to find.  If you can't find them, use the big pasta tubes for manicotti and put the filling in a large zip top bag with the bottom corner snipped off, and fill them that way.  Much faster and less mess than using a spoon.  The rest of the recipe will be exactly the same.

Serve this with steamed veggies and a nice big salad.  Yummy!