Thanksgiving is Over - Time to Eat Healthy

 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to get back on track and shed holiday pounds.  In our household, that means cooking and eating healthy dishes, often times incorporating veggies and fresh ingredients.

The two dishes below are not only healthy, they're satisfying and very easy to make.  I was proud of myself for introducing brussel sprouts to Dan, him swearing them off even before trying them.  However, he took a couple of bites and then kept going, proving that if you prepare this super vegetable right, you can get even the pickiest of eaters to finish it.

And the other dish is an easy whole wheat pasta with a garlic, breadcrumbs and olive oil sauce.  It tasted a bit plain in the end, so I decided to add chunks of dried Italian sausage and fresh parsley for some flavor and it did the trick.  That mixed in with the brussel sprouts made a winning combination--and provided great leftovers.

Here are both recipes:
Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Linguine with Garlic and Breadcrumbs (from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine)

Ingredients (serves 4)

12 oz of linguine (I used whole wheat)

6-10 anchovy fillets, chopped plus 2 tbs of anchovy oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

1/2 cup homemade or store-bought plain dried breadrumbs, toasted

Handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1/3 cup of dried Italian sausage, chopped into small chunks

Directions:

In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente.  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water; drain pasta and set aside.  Return pot to medium and add anchovy oil and garlic.  Cook, stirring until fragrant about 30 seconds.

Add anchovies, cook until almost dissolved, about 30 seconds.  Add pasta, lemon zest and enough pasta water to create a sauce that coats the pasta.  Season with coarse salt and ground pepper and mix in chopped parsley and dried Italian sausage.  Serve topped with breadcrumbs.

Enjoy - and feel free to chime in with your favorite healthy recipes.