Monthly Archives: July 2016

Lasagna

Our homemade Lasagna with Meat Sauce is a symphony of flavors and textures. We built layer after layer of tender noodles, robust meat sauce, and creamy, tangy ricotta cheese for a lasagna that will knock your socks off. By using ground turkey, we’ve been able to lighten up the lasagna (up to 100 calories less per serving) without skimping on the noodles or luxuriously smooth filling.

Lasagna
 
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Recipe type: Casseroles & One-Pot Meals
Makes: 12 Lunch or 9 Dinner portions
Ingredients
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 batch Ground Turkey Bolognese (see page 113)
  • 8 ounces lasagna noodles
  • 1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 2 large egg whites, beaten
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F, and spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Prepare the Ground Turkey Bolognese according to the recipe’s directions.
  3. Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package directions, undercooking by 2 minutes (to leave them very al dente). Drain and rinse under cold water.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, fold together the ricotta cheese, egg whites, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to make the ricotta filling.
  5. Start building the lasagna by spreading a thin layer of the Bolognese sauce at the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top the sauce with ⅓ of the cooked noodles. Top the noodles with ⅓ of the ricotta cheese mixture, dropping it into the dish in small dollops. Top the ricotta cheese with ⅓ of the Bolognese sauce. Finally, top the sauce with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to complete the layer. Repeat to create 3 full layers of ingredients.
  6. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 40 minutes. Remove aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly hot and cheese begins to brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. For 100 calorie portions, slice Lasagna into 36 sections by cutting 6 rows by 6 rows.
Perfect Portion Lasagna
Serving size: 1/36 lasagna Calories: 100

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Ground Turkey Bolognese

Bob’s Farm to Table: I love Bolognese sauce. Our version of this classic Italian meat sauce swaps healthful ground turkey in place of beef and produces unexpectedly bold flavors and a tender, silky texture. Starting the sauce with chopped carrots adds sweetness and earthiness to complement the tomatoes and the meat. This sauce is sure to become a family favorite! Serve over spaghetti, ziti, or penne pasta (each about 100 calories per ½ cup cooked).

Ground Turkey Bolognese
 
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Recipe type: Everyday Meals
Makes: 6 Dinner portions
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound (93%) lean ground turkey
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • ½ cup finely chopped carrot
  • ¼ cup finely diced celery
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 3 ounces (½ can) tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
Directions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat.
  2. Brown the ground turkey until fully cooked. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes, just until carrot begins to soften.
  3. Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, tomato paste, basil, sugar, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to the pot, and stir to combine.
  4. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 45 minutes.
  5. Remove the cover, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes (to allow the sauce to slightly thicken) before serving.
Perfect Portion Ground Turkey Bolognese

HELPFUL TIP: Italian-seasoned ground turkey works great in this sauce, adding the fennel flavor you get in Italian sausage.
Serving size: ½ cup Calories: 100

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Chunky Chicken Salad

This longtime lunch classic packs a ton of protein goodness. Here’s a healthy culinary trick: Use only lean white meat, but create the texture of using a whole chicken. Chop half of the breast meat, and pull the other half. Toss with a lighter creamy base, onion, celery, and grapes for great texture and big flavor, and you’re left with a new and improved favorite.

Chunky Chicken Salad
 
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Recipe type: Soups, Salads & Sandwiches
Makes: 4 Salad or 8 Sandwich portions
Ingredients
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked (see tip)
  • ¾ cup red grapes, halved
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • 3 tablespoons minced yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
  • ½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons 2% milk
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
Directions
  1. Roughly chop half of the cooked chicken breasts, and use your hands to finely shred the other half.
  2. Place the chopped and shredded chicken, grapes, celery, onion, and celery leaves in a large mixing bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper to create a dressing.
  4. Pour the dressing into the mixing bowl of dry ingredients, and fold together until all is well coated. Garnish with additional chopped celery leaves, if desired.
Perfect Portion Chunky Chicken Salad

HELPFUL TIP: The chicken breasts can be cooked in any method (even grilled). The easiest method is simply to bake in an oven preheated to 375°F for 20 minutes, or until slicing into the thickest piece reveals no pink.
Serving size: ½ cup Calories: 100

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Fresh Berry Cobbler

Bob’s Farm to Table: I have always grown strawberries and picked someone’s raspberry patch. Now that fresh berries are available year-round, I always add them to my favorite cobbler. We offset these bright, lightly sweetened berries with a hearty, oat-studded cake-y topping. The combinations of flavors and textures is out of this world! Serve the cobbler as is or with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (see page 307).

Fresh Berry Cobbler
 
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Recipe type: Desserts
Makes: 8 dessert portions
Ingredients
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 2 cups chopped strawberries
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 cup raspberries
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • Topping:
  • ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons 2% milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Add strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, ⅓ cup sugar, and lemon juice to a mixing bowl, and toss until sugar has dissolved and coated the fruit. Transfer fruit mixture to the prepared baking dish.
  3. In a clean mixing bowl, use a large fork to whisk all of the topping ingredients together, just until a batter has formed (do not overmix).
  4. Drop large dollops of the batter over the berries in the prepared baking dish.
  5. Bake for 50–55 minutes, or until the berries are bubbly in the center of the dish and the topping is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. For 100 calorie portions, slice into 16 sections by cutting 4 rows by 4 rows.
Perfect Portion Fresh Berry Cobbler

HELPFUL TIP: Four cups of any combination of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries can be used in this recipe.
Serving size: 1/16 cobbler Calories: 100

 

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Boston Baked Beans

Good things come to those that wait. Baked beans are often served up mushy and ultra sweet. We used the gentle heat of the slow cooker to produce perfectly creamy beans that strike a winning balance of sweetness and rich smoke flavor.

Boston Baked Beans
 
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Recipe type: Sides
Makes: 12 Side dish portions
Ingredients
  • 1 pound dry Great Northern beans
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
  • 3 thick-cut slices bacon, raw, chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cups water
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
Directions
  1. Place the beans in a large bowl or pot, and cover with 2 inches of water. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Soak overnight.
  2. Drain and rinse the soaked beans.
  3. Add the chopped bacon and onion to the bottom of a slow cooker set to low heat. Top with the rinsed beans.
  4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the water, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, pepper, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Pour the mixture on top of all the ingredients in the slow cooker.
  5. Cover, and let cook for 8 hours, or until beans are tender.
Perfect Portion Boston Baked Beans

HELPFUL TIP: Most people believe that adding salt to beans as they cook will result in undercooked beans with a tough skin; however, soaking the beans in salted water to “brine” them (as is done in this recipe) has been shown to have the exact opposite effect, making for creamy and tender beans.
Serving size: ¼ cup Calories: 100

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