Veggies, fish shine in lighter pasta dish
By Elaine Magee
Q. I like this recipe a lot because it tastes great, gives me some dark green veggies and seafood, but it calls for whipping cream and butter. Is there a way to make this lighter?
A. The butter and whipping cream seems to defeat the purpose of the veggies and seafood, doesn't it? We can fix that by only using a tablespoon of canola oil or whipped butter when sauteing the shallots and switching to fat-free half-and-half instead of the cream. Chicken broth is added as a way of pumping up the moisture and flavor. Last but not least, serve the dish over whole wheat or whole-wheat blend pasta instead of white pasta. This adds fiber along with powerful phytochemicals.
To make double-strength chicken broth, buy a quality organic chicken broth and reduce two cups to one cup, simmering in saucepan.
Making these changes leads to a savings of about 230 calories, 27 grams of fat, 16 grams saturated fat, and 88 mg cholesterol per serving plus double the fiber!
The original recipe contains 600 calories, 34 grams fat, 19 grams saturated fat, 128 mg cholesterol and 3 grams of fiber per serving.
SEAFOOD & SPINACH FETTUCCINE WITH LEMON ROSEMARY SAUCE
Boil pasta as directed on the package. When ready, drain noodles and set aside.
In small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup of fat-free half-and-half. Stir in the remaining fat-free half-and-half and set aside.
In medium nonstick saucepan, cook spinach down over medium heat with 1/4 cup chicken broth (about 2 minutes), spoon into bowl and set aside.
Add a tablespoon of margarine, whipped butter or canola oil to the medium nonstick saucepan pan and saute the shallots for about 2 minutes over medium heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the zest from 1 lemon, 3/4 cup double-strength chicken broth, fresh rosemary, and the fat-free half-and-half mixture. Continue to simmer this mixture until nicely thickened. Turn heat off and add black pepper to taste. Stir in the spinach and seafood of choice (salmon, lox or shrimp). Cover and let dish rest for a couple of minutes to blend flavors.
Spoon each serving of the seafood and spinach mixture over drained, cooked fettuccine or spaghetti noodles. Sprinkle a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese over each serving if desired.
Makes 4 servings.
Per serving (with grilled salmon): 369 calories, 23 g protein, 55 g carbohydrate, 7 g fat, 2.4 g saturated fat, 2.1 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 7 g fat, 434 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 17 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = 1.2 grams, Omega-6 fatty acids = .6 grams. Weight Watchers POINTS = 7
