Tiger Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken-Apple Sausage

Man, there are a LOT of awesome food blogs out there! I can tell everyone is excited about the Fall season what with all the yummy pumpkin recipes out there! Fall is most defiantly my favorite season for all of the usual reasons. It's hard to really enjoy all the season has to offer when you live in Phoenix. Without the fresh, crisp air or trees that change colour. We also are about a month or so behind when it comes to Fall Produce like pumpkins. So I debated about whether or not to post my favorite pumpkin recipes since most foodies have been doing so for several weeks now already. Then I remembered a very important thing... It's my blog and I can do whatever I want! Yay for me!

I adore pumpkins! Love them to bits. I love the taste of them and the amazing variety of pumpkins to choose from.  I think the thing I  love most about pumpkins is that they are one of the few things around here that really signify the start of Autumn and the end of a very long, hot, relentless summer.

My spooky Tiger Pumpkins

Originally, I wanted to find some white pumpkins for a creamy, white "Alfredo" sauce. Alas, there were none at the farmers market that day. I thought these Tiger Pumpkins were cute and my 4 year old agreed that we should pick several out and take them home with us.

I don't think most people realize that Pumpkins are easy to prepare!

Using a large knife, score the pumpkin and either see-saw through it or tap it on the counter top like I do.

I wish someone would invent an olfactory widget for blogger!!!

 Start to prepare pumpkin about 2 hours before you want dinner served. It is easier to scoop out roasted flesh when they are not hot.

Using a spoon, scoop out seeds and strings. Save the seeds to roast and snack on or sprinkle on top of soups!

Place on a roasting pan and roast at 400F for 45-60 minutes.

You Will Need:

1 lb. Pasta ( I use Quinoa pasta, a whole grain, complete protein and gluten free)

1 small head of broccoli, chopped

1 small pumpkin, roasted

1-2 cups unsweetened Almond Milk

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast ( optional, but it gives a nice nutty cheese flavor and is packed w vitamins)

1 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

Chicken-Apple sausage

nutmeg, sage, Kosher salt and pepper to taste.




To prepare pasta:

Cook pasta according to directions, add chopped broccoli to water in the last 3 minutes.

Slice sausage, add to pan, cook till browned. Remove from heat, leave a bit of fat in the pan.

Saute onion for 3 minutes till soft and browned. Add a bit of EVOO to pan, add chopped baby bella mushrooms. Let them cook without moving them around to much.

To prepare pumpkin Alfredo sauce. Scoop roasted pumpkin flesh out of shell. Put in blender. Add nutritional yeast and Almond milk to desired consistency. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg, sage, salt and cracked pepper.

I am submitting this low-fat dish to La Bella Vita for Fresh Clean and Pure Friday! Check out her lovely blog for so many wonderful, fresh recipes.

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Mushroom and Eggplant Stroganoff #RecipeRedux #NationalPastaMonth

I sort of feel like a vegetarian version of Beef Stroganoff is some sort of unforgivable sin in some ways. However, I just so happen to much prefer this vegetarian version to the beef one, again, sinful. I have to tell you though, sinful or not this mushroom and eggplant stroganoff is incredibly delicious and so stinking easy that you just might not miss the beef. 

I cross my heart!

“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the National Pasta Association and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

It just so happens to be National Pasta Month and with so many pasta options out there I know I could relish in all of the possibilities for 31 days easily. Would you believe that aside from my husband, not me nor any of my 4 children are big spaghetti and meatball fans? Crazy huh? I sort of gave up on the whole traditional aspect of it and have moved on to bigger and better things in the pasta world.

This Italian campanile pasta was perfect for a hearty stroganoff. It's 'flower' shape adds to the visual aspect as well as soaking up the rich, thick sauce.  Which is dairy free, healthy and delicious I might add. I'm all for classic comfort foods gone guiltless. 

Pasta Fits into a busy lifestyle, a healthy diet, and a tight budget making it the best choice for busy families. Pasta is the perfect foundation for a healthy meal – it boasts energy, satisfies hunger, and pairs with vegetables and lean proteins to create delicious meals. 

This mushroom stroganoff is perfect after a long, busy day. It takes under 20 minutes to make and the cashew cream sauce comes together in a blender while the pasta cooks. The whole family loves this classic pasta dish and I love that it provides everything we need to keep us healthy and going strong. My boys especially love their pasta dinners to keep their busy bodies strong. After a long day at school, activities and sports a big bowl of pasta filled with healthy ingredients is just what they're craving. {The no complaining about what's for dinner part helps too.}

Instead of calorie heavy cheese, I like to use Nutritional Yeast in my "creamy" pasta dishes. It's not a baking or brewers yeast but a deactivated yeast from a single-celled organism, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, which is grown on molasses and then harvested, washed, and dried with heat to kill or “deactivate” it. Nutritional yeast has a nutty, cheesy flavor and is very high in B12 vitamins which most people are deficient in causing a variety of ailments from weakness/fatigue to digestive issues.  It's also very high in iron and best yet, it's a complete protein!

Ingredients

1 package of campanile (or similar shaped) pasta, cooked according to package directions
2 cups mushrooms, sliced; button, cremini, portobello or other
1 Japanese (or small) eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon real butter
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews {*soaked for at least 3 hours or overnight}
2-3 tablespoons *nutritional yeast
1 cup vegetable broth or water
1 teaspoon dried tarragon (optional, adds nutritional value and flavor)
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
parsley for garnish



Cook pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile, In a large sauté pan, heat oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, chopped eggplant and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and saute for 5-7 minutes until soft and onions are browned.
In a blender add cashews and broth. Blend on high for 2 minutes or until smooth. Pour the sauce into the sauté pan with the veggies. Add nutritional yeast, spices and salt and pepper to taste.
Drain the pasta, spoon into bowls and top with the sauce. Garnish with chopped, curly parsley. 

An InLinkz Link-up

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Tuna and White Bean Cakes with Shaved Spring Asparagus and a Light, Lemon Tarragon Sauce {gluten free}

Question.  How do you make crab cakes when you're craving them like nobodies business but you   a.) don't have any crab and  b.) are on a budget? 

Answer.  You doll up some tuna with fresh herbs, lemon and shaved asparagus, dip it by the forkful with no shame into a tangy lemon, tarragon yogurt sauce and wash it down with a glass of Pinot Grigio.


Delima averted.





Then, just to gloat, you tell yourself that you are being super health conscience because you ate a practically perfect meal by utilizing the antioxidants in the wine and gave your body a good dose of healthy Omega 3's which are hard to come by these days, thereby forgetting all about the fact that you aren't  in fact  having crab cakes.  Pssshhhh, who needs em?

These tuna cakes are easy enough for a Monday night dinner -- or in my case a Tuesday night dinner. Tuesday's, without fail, are the crazy busiest Orthopedic days in surgery for some reason. Coincidentally (or not) it's also when people tend to call in sick, have some sort of emergency or just decide to spend the day soaking up the Spring sunshine (I would choose option 3 but I'm too chicken to make it happen).


This particular Tuesday provided to be all of the above plus an added curve ball. Seeing as we were short staffed (more than usual) I didn't get to work with the Ortho Doc who I usually assist during Makoplasty surgeries. Instead, I ended up doing total hips and knees with a Dr. I hardly ever work with meaning I couldn't rely on my "Auto Pilot" and had to use my memory/mommy brain instead....  at least until my coffee kicked in.... around noon. Not good.


My point,  I am mentally and physically and in all other ways exhausted on most every Tuesday. These tuna cakes are just a tad bit more complicate that spaghetti and meatballs or in our house, spaghetti and Italian sausage. You get the point. They are super easy to throw together.


A few chopped veggies and herbs thrown in a bowl with an egg and a can of tuna and you have yourself a  not so  fancy meal.

How can you not add asparagus to every meal during the Spring? Wait, am I the only one who worships this gorgeous veggie? No wonder since it's cousins are onion and garlic! 

I pulse a bit more than half of the white beans in my food processor and reserve some to add texture. 

Instead of using bread crumbs which you already know are high in gluten and cause bloating, stomach fat and various other ailments, I used finely chopped veggies and green onion and  nutritional yeast to bind the ingredients together. As you can see, they formed patties quite nicely.

If I had to pick one one of my top 3 favorite kitchen tools, my stone baking pan would and will be on the list forever! It browns veggie patties quickly and evenly using NO added oil and cleans by scraping with a spatula and hot water. Good bye fryer! 

{If you are at all interested in purchasing a stone baking sheet or any of my other favorite kitchen gadgets or ingredients, please consider buying through Simply Healthy Family's 'Store' and help support this blog. It's very much appreciated!} 

Using a simple veggie peeler, shave thin strips of asparagus and pile on top of your cooked tuna cakes. There is no need to cook or even blanch the asparagus, it tastes amazing when shaved into such thin strips and pairs perfectly with these tuna cakes. In fact, I found myself nibbling on my pile of curled asparagus while admiring the beautiful purple and green of my favorite vegetable.

Oh, you'll want to cut off the very tips of the asparagus, the spear, and save it for tomorrows salad or stir fry. The tips don't shave well but are conveniently most peoples favorite part.

This light and tangy dressing is the key to these tuna cakes.  I must admit that however healthy and flavorful they are, tuna cakes as well as any other fish cake are a bit dry without some sort of sauce to jazz it up. It makes a mundane meal extraordinary.

Crab cakes usually come with some version of aioli paired with them not only to compliment the flavors, but to add moisture. My tuna cakes are no exception. Instead of aioli, which base is mayo (if you know me, I can't stand mayo) I made a thick and creamy yogurt lemon-tarragon sauce to spoon on top of my cakes.  Not sure which I ate more of, the tuna cakes or the sauce.

TIME    30 MINUTES        SERVES    4-6

INGREDIENTS

2, 6 oz cans of Chunk Light Tuna, drained

1 cup cooked (or 1 can, drained and rinsed) cannellini beans

1 lemon, juiced 

2 eggs

1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely diced

2 tablespoons green onion, finely diced

1/4 cup carrot, grated finely (optional, adds sweetness)

2 tablespoons green onion, finely diced

 4 asparagus spears (tips removed and saved for future use) 

2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast

1 tablespoon dried Tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

 1 cup Greek yogurt 

1 lemon (from above) zested

1 tablespoon dried Tarragon

pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 400F

In a food processor, pulse 3/4 of the beans until smooth. Spoon beans into a large bowl and add remaining whole beans. Add tuna, eggs, lemon, bell pepper, onion, nutritional yeast, tarragon, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined. 

Using hands, shape mixture into small patties and place onto stone baking sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Flip patties over and cook another5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare lemon tarragon sauce by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl. 

Shave asparagus as instructed above. 

Remove tuna patties from oven and place on plate.  Dollop with lemon, tarragon sauce and top with shaved asparagus.

Serve with a side of mixed Spring field greens and chilled Pinot Grigio.

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