Spinach and Tomato Spaghetti

Spinach and Tomato Spaghetti

So, I need to use recipes more to spice up our meals, but in general I love to just wing it and come up with my own recipes. This is my first attempt at clean spaghetti. 

Just like brown rice and whole wheat bread, I cannot stand whole grain pasta... I know, it's kind of hard to eat healthy without liking such major healthy staples. But, in effort to make it clean and healthier, I used veggie pasta. It said it was made with carrot and tomatoes. I'll take it! 

This turned out much sweeter than I expected.I think the pasta played a role, but all in all, pretty good! 

Sauce:

Heated olive oil in a pan

Sautéed minced garlic (removed once cooked)

Sautéed approx 2cups chopped fresh organic spinach

2 1/2 tomatoes

3/4 cup organic chicken broth

Dried 1tsp: basil, oregano, thyme

Pinch: salt, pepper, cilantro

Cook until tomatoes are cooked.

Toss in cooked spaghetti, mix in Parmesan to taste. 

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 4/5

Comments: When I first tasted it, I liked it, but it seemed kind of boring. All the tastes in the dish were pretty much the same so nothing stood out. I attempted to put some balsamic vinegar in it, of course it'd be much better cooked in the first place still... but that wasn't quite it either. So I put more parmesan on it and that did the trick. Next time, I will put more cheese in the pasta and maybe a little vinegar while sautéing vegetables. 

Faux Spaghetti aka Faux-s'ghetti

Faux Spaghetti aka Faux-s'ghetti

I LOVE pasta. Italian food is my favorite food, I could eat it every day (and there have been plenty of periods in my life where I have). I always buy whole wheat pasta because it has way more nutrition than normal pasta, but I still want a healthier choice. Cue the spaghetti squash: the fun to eat, nutritious, perfect spaghetti alternative. If you're unfamiliar with it, which you should change ASAP because it's delicious, it's a type of squash that shreds into thin spaghetti-like strings when cooked. Usually I eat it as a side dish with butter and parsley, but I wanted to make it the star of my meal so I decided to treat it like real spaghetti and fill it with meat sauce. Wowza. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it came out fantastic! The squash has a nice little crunch and an oh-so-slightly sweet flavor that tastes delicious with the meat sauce. Dare I say, it was even better than the real stuff! (Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm totally serious.)  Here's how I made it: I cut the squash in half and put the flesh side down in a glass baking dish, filled the dish with 1 inch of water, and microwaved for 18 minutes (cooking time will vary depending on the size of your squash,  mine was small). It's done when a fork easily pierces the flesh. While that's going,  I browned about 1/4 pound ground beef, drained, then added about 2 cups of pasta sauce (I used an all natural kind from a jar, but I'll use homemade next time.) Let the sauce heat through then spoon into the squash half, and done! Seriously, it's that easy. And seriously delicious.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

Comments: Sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese and parsley at the end to finish it off. For an even healthier version, sub ground turkey for the ground beef.