My blog is so backlogged I hardly know where to begin. Below are a few posts you can expect to see in the next week as I try to play catch up:
- The long lost chronicles of my trip to Argentina
- A recap of Step Up’s “View from the Top” panel
- New York City escapades including a shoe odyssey and Julie & Jess’ excellent Russian adventure
- Lunch with John Hayes, Chief Marketing Officer of American Express Company
Pardon the non-sequitur, but I’m kicking it all off with a “recipe.”
My dad is one of the most talented cooks I know and he has always said that the sign of a true culinary maven is someone who can make a meal out of whatever is at hand (Iron Chef-style). My dad can look inside the refrigerator and see five different meals. So yesterday I picked up a few things at a local farmers’ market near Lincoln Center–among them a bag of hearty spinach and a little onion (I also bought a loaf of the Meredith’s Bread from Kingston, NY and splurged on some lilacs from a farm in Garrison, NY, about sixty miles north on the Hudson).
When I got home I grabbed some Trader Joe’s sun-dried tomato chicken sausages out of the freezer to thaw and pondered my evening meal. How could I incorporate my fresh ingredients with what I already had? Sure, I know there are websites where you can type in your ingredients and they will spit out a recipe, but that seemed like cheating. I wanted to put my skills to the test.
At dinnertime, I cut up the onion and two of the sausages and sauteed them in olive oil. I also boiled some whole wheat penne. When the onions and sausages were nearly done, I added the spinach and let it wilt, then mixed it in with the pasta. It was delicious, healthy, quick and easy. Plus I had managed to make just the right amount for one person, which is a challenge with many recipes.
The total calorie count came in around 850 (depending how liberal you are with the olive oil) with only 8 grams of saturated fat (4 grams from the sausage & 4 grams from the oil).
Two sausages (110 calories each)
Two 3/4 cup servings of whole wheat penne (210 calories each). Note: Try to undercook the pasta if possible to achieve a lower glycemic index.
Two tablespoon olive oil (120 calories each)
Spinach & onion (I didn’t bother counting these–they’re veggies!). Note: I think you could substitute broccoli rabe, kale, chard or any other hearty, leafy vegetable with equally tasty results.
If you decide to try this, let me know what you think. Or post your favorite healthy meal-for-one below!
