spaghetti

Avocado Egg Salad featuring PeakFection Guacamole

Leah Short — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 22:53:02 +0000

I’ve been a big fan of avocado for a long time. You can’t beat its creamy consistency and flavor, not to mention its health benefits and versatility. What I have trouble with is buying avocados. I’m the worst at picking them out. They either aren’t ripe enough when I’m ready or I wait too long and have to throw them out. I’ve tried subbing prepared guacamole in the past with no luck. Gross consistency (too thin) and no flavor. I was skeptical when I received a sample of PeakFection Guacamole from Kroger recently because I just knew I wouldn’t like it. Wrong! This stuff has changed my cooking life.

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Spaghetti with Creamy Basil Pesto

Leah Short — Thu, 22 May 2014 14:25:49 +0000

I’m continuing to eat low calorie as much as I can, but I really don’t want to miss out on some of my favorite foods like pasta and cheese! Enter Spaghetti with Creamy Basil Pesto. I had a feeling this dish would be awesome because the method reminded me of my Pasta with Mint Pesto recipe where the sauce gets thinned out with the pasta cooking water and somehow becomes creamy. It’s a simple pasta dish, but I loved the flavors from the basil pesto. One serving is huge and comes in at 360 calories.

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Caramel Sea Salt Shrimp + Bonus Recipe

Leah Short — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 14:52:45 +0000

When I was approached by Private Selection to see if I’d be interested in sampling their new finishing butters, I think it took less than a millisecond for me to say yes. Um, butter? And you have six flavors? And you want me to taste them? Yes, yes, yes! One of my favorite things on earth is a toasted piece of bread with fancy butter on top. My mom makes a concoction with butter, Parmesan, oregano, and basil and I could eat my weight in it. Not only is fancy butter great for spreading, but it can be the finishing touch on so many meals. I wanted to get creative and use one of the sweet butters for a savory dish, so Caramel Sea Salt Shrimp was born!

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Red Wine Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Leah Short — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 13:44:25 +0000

Since I made zucchini noodles in a creamy sauce a few posts ago, I am hooked. I couldn’t wait to see how they’d turn out with a meaty, tomato-based spaghetti sauce. This Red Wine Spaghetti Meat Sauce has been with me for years. I adapted it for spaghetti a long time ago from a lasagna recipe. It got lost in my huge stack of loose recipes until I finally organized them in a binder. It was fun to find recipes I’d forgotten about and old favorites like this one, especially when they’re handwritten.

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Monterey Shrimp Pasta

Leah Short — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 12:47:42 +0000

If you follow me on social media, you would have seen my enormous cookbook collection Saturday. Well, at least part of it. I love a good cookbook. I will curl up to a cookbook like it’s a novel. I thought it was funny to mention my love of cookbooks and how my collection is a bit out of control, then give you Monterey Shrimp Pasta…because I got this recipe off the back of a box of spaghetti! I failed to mention I’m more of a recipe junkie (you should see my box of loose recipes, oy!). I find it amusing that I have all these cookbooks, yet haven’t used some of them. I’m too busy drooling over shrimp with spaghetti and big chunks of avocado!

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Chicken Carbonara

Leah Short — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:19:52 +0000

Oh how this pasta dish rocks my world. I first made Chicken Carbonara a few years ago, but it was for a special event (holiday or birthday…I can’t remember!). I didn’t have time to snap pictures, so it never made it on the blog. I’ve had it on my “to blog” list ever since. It’s absolutely sinful. Definitely something to serve for a special occasion, but not too difficult to make for a weeknight if you’re feeling like being spoiled. I made this for my mom on Mother’s Day and we gobbled it up. The best part is that it makes a ton. Giada says it makes six servings, but I beg to differ. I can throw down on some pasta, but there’s no way I can eat that much of this rich dish. So invite some friends over, open a few bottles of wine, and share the pasta love.

So, how’s it taste?

I’ve already mentioned it’s completely sinful. It’s rich, rich, rich. Eight egg yolks and 2 1/2 cups of whipping cream will do that! Not to mention the bacon and that delicious roasted chicken. I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken and that works fine, but you can certainly roast the chicken yourself. My friend Megan from Country Cleaver has a great how-to post on just that. Now that I’ve made this dish twice, I’d like to try it with half-and-half instead of the whipping cream. It would lighten the dish just a tad, but not take away from it’s creaminess. I also used thin spaghetti because I like smaller noodles (I’m a big angel hair fan, but my mom’s not, so we compromise with thin). I also don’t bother toasting the walnuts, but you certainly can. Toasting nuts doesn’t really enhance the flavor to me and I almost always prefer the raw taste anyway, so I don’t bother with the extra step. I love the fresh herbs and touch of lemon in this dish, too. Little specks of green and a hint of freshness from the lemon to cut through the cream. Oh it’s just fantastic! I hope you try it.

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Taco Spaghetti

Leah Short — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:29:14 +0000

Taco Spaghetti? That sounds weird. That’s what you’re thinking right? I’ve mentioned this dish before to friends and they turn their noses up as if I’d said, “Hey for dessert let’s dip broccoli in chocolate.” I know it sounds strange, but trust me, merging taco salad and spaghetti is magnificent. There’s no tomato sauce involved, no Parmesan, so it’s not a true merging, but that probably helps you picture it’s goodness better. It’s like taco salad with the added bonus of pasta.

So, how’s it taste?

I’ve been making taco spaghetti for a long time. It really is just like taco salad, but with spaghetti. I love everything about it, all the cheese, the hearty beef, tangy olives. Plus any dish I can top with sour cream is always a winner. You can turn up the heat level with the type of salsa you use and certainly a great addition would be jalapenos. This dish is fairly low calorie for quite a big serving using beef, but if you make it with turkey it’s even lower. Both meats are fantastic.

It’s a really filling casserole and the leftovers are even better. It sounds strange, but I’m telling you, it’s worth trying. A great conversation piece when someone asks, “What’s for dinner?”

Taco Spaghetti

Better Homes and Gardens, Cooking for Today Pasta
makes 6 servings
per serving: 438 calories, 36g protein, 42g carbs, 21g fat

Ingredients:

5 oz. dried spaghetti, broken
1 lb. ground beef (or turkey)
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp. taco seasoning mix
11 oz. can whole kernel corn with peppers, drained
1 cup sliced pitted black olives
1 cup colby jack or cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup salsa
4 oz. can diced green chili peppers, drained
shredded lettuce
tortilla chips
tomato
sour cream, optional

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a 12-inch skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is brown. Drain fat. Stir in water and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cooked pasta, corn, olives, half of the cheese, salsa, and green chili peppers.

3. Transfer mixture to lightly greased 2-quart round casserole. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until melted.

4. Serve with shredded lettuce, tortilla chips, tomatoes, and sour cream, if desired.

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