You know when you’re at a buffet, and you go for the made-to-order pasta bar (because who would go for the pre-warmed food, when you can have something made to order? just for you. omlette and pasta lovers unite!) and it results in a really amazing dish of pasta. Veggies are crisp. Sauce isn’t overpowering, but feels indulgent. Noodles, cooked to perfect al dente. Those pasta bars are so special, because it tastes and feels like a pasta you’ll never be able to make at home.

Until now.

If you’re a made-to-order pasta lover, you’ll enjoy this dish. Or, if you’re a crisp veggie, indulgent but not overpowering sauce and perfect noodles lover, you’ll also enjoy this dish.

You probably won’t be surprised it’s so delicious when I tell you where the original recipe comes from; The Pioneer Woman. However, while awesome, a favourite in my google reader, and my go-to for indulgent dessert recipes,  she uses way more butter, oil and heavy cream than I would for an everyday weeknight dinner – her Cajun Chicken Pasta Dish was just begging for a healthy makeover – but keeping all the taste.

To cut down on the preparation time, I used leftover roasted chicken – you could also pan fry, poach, grill or bake chicken breasts or thighs. Or, just leave it out, for an excellent vegetarian side dish. 

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 350g (about 2 cups) cooked chicken, chopped into ~1 inch pieces 
• 3 teaspoons Cajun Spice Mix
• 1 box whole-wheat Linguine
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Seeded And Sliced
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Sliced
• ½ whole Large Red Onion, Sliced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 3 large Tomatoes, Diced
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 can (1.5 cups) Fat-Free Evaporated Milk
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain when pasta is still al dente.
   
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun spice over chicken pieces.
3. Add oil to a large pan or skillet. When heated, add peppers, onions, and garlic. Sprinkle on remaining Cajun spice, and add salt if desired. Cook over very high heat for 1 minute, stirring gently and trying to get the vegetables as dark/black as possible. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove all vegetables from the pan.
   
4. With the pan over high heat, pour in the chicken broth. Cook on high for 3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. In a medium bowl, combine evaporated milk and flour. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in milk/flour, stirring constantly. Cook sauce over medium-low heat for a few minutes, until liquid starts to thicken. Taste and add salt/pepper to taste.
   
5. Finally, add chicken and vegetables to sauce, making sure to include all the juices that have drained onto the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until mixture is bubbly and hot. Add drained fettuccine and toss to combine.

Makes six large servings. 

Great the night you make it. Even better leftovers.

Breakfast for dinner is one of my favourite meals. It’s unusual and comforting, all at the same time. I’ve been wanting to try making protein waffles for ages – but I rarely buy cottage cheese, as I’m definitely not a sweet cottage cheese as a snack kind of girl (rare breed, those ).

I finally bought some to make lasagna, and had just enough leftover to experiment with. Most recipes for protein waffles follow a formula similar to: 1 part cottage cheese, 1 part oats, 1 part egg whites.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but as I’d rather use whole eggs than egg whites, I felt there was some room for improvement.

I decided to substitute some of the egg whites for flax eggs – resulting in even more fibre and lots of Omega-3 fatty acids in the waffles, with lots of protein remaining from the cottage cheese, and still using some eggs. I used the batter to make protein waffles, but it would work just as well for pancakes!

Eat Clean Protein Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 2 eggs (preferably organic)
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder

Directions

1. Pre-heat waffle iron.
2. Combine flax and water in a small bowl. Let sit for about 3 minutes.
3. Place oats in a blender. Blend to break down oats into an oat flour.
4. Add remaining ingredients, and flax/water combination.
5. Blend to combine.
6. Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Distribute (1/2) batter over waffle iron.
7. Cook as per waffle iron directions (mine took about 3 minutes)

Serves 2 (3, 4″ square waffles each). Per serving: 365 cals, 13 g fat (3 sat, 5 poly, 4 mono) 33 g carbs, 29 g protein, 8 g fibre.

Perfect served with crushed and heated mixed berries. Filling, slightly sweet, real food, lots of protein, and so easy to make.

Breakfast for dinner – could it get any better?!

I’m really not sure what season it is. The weather in Calgary is varying day to day; one day it’s sunny and 20*C, the next day it’s foggy, cold and hovering around 0*C. Early spring means that sometimes it feels like summer, and other times it might still be winter. I’ve got my fingers crossed for no surprise snowstorms in April, thank you very much!

On one of those summery days, my husband brought home a surprise item from the grocery store: a watermelon. It was a cute little guy, perfect for two people craving summer, but still battling through these few cold days. But watermelon sounds like a summer food, and it was indeed March. So it felt odd.

Which maybe perfectly fits the odd weather.

What was even odder was that my husband had bought the watermelon because he thought it would be great in a salad.

That doesn’t happen often.

So when it does (husband voluntarily and enthusiastically eating a salad more than greens and Thousand Island dressing) I jump onboard the idea enthusiastically.

No matter how odd watermelon in March feels.

Summer Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

combine:

• 1 tbsp Pomegranate Juice
• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• pepper

in a container with a lid. Shake to emulsify the oil. Extra can be stored in the fridge for 1 week.

Summer Salad

for 1 salad, combine:

• 2 cups spring mix salad greens
• 1/4 apple, diced
• 1/4 small red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cucumber, chopped
• 1/4 C diced watermelon
• 1 tbsp goat cheese

Top with ~ 1 tbsp of the vinaigrette.

Absolutely wonderful, and equally as seasonally confusing, with barbecued (grass-fed) steak, and boiled potatoes. I can’t wait to make this again, although I might wait until summer, when watermelon doesn’t seem so odd.

The pomegranate juice I used to make the vinaigrette was sent to me from POM Wonderful; I used the Blueberry Pomegranate juice, and the flavour was wonderful – very strong sweet, which balanced out the balsamic vinegar perfectly. 

Pomegranates are packed full of antioxidants, which help to neutralize the free radicals we’re exposed to every day, which can damage our cells. POM may also help to reduce inflammation. (The POM website is awesome, packed with thoroughly researched health information and great recipes!)

I also tried the Cherry POM and Original POM, and enjoyed both. The only thing I don’t like about POM (love the flavour, love the antioxidant super power!) is the price. At $5 a bottle, I think POM juices are best used for ingredients in other recipes, like a vinaigrette or smoothie, where you get many portions out of the bottle, as opposed to only 1 or 2 if you drink it as juice. 

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Are you seasonally confused at all? Eating any other strange, or unseasonal foods? Or is it just me?

Lasagna is one of my favourite healthy meals to make: it’s really not that hard to do, but it looks and feels impressive.  Plus, lasagna makes for excellent perfect for leftovers (perfect for those hungry husbands!) And just like anything else, once you’ve made your own, you might never want to cook from frozen again!

Making a healthier lasagna is all about the ingredients you use: extra lean (grass-fed) ground beef, whole wheat noodles and reduced fat cheese. All of these changes lighten the dish, without compromising on taste! 

Worried about the amount of time to prepare lasagna? Most of the time required is cooking time – the preparation time is only about 15 minutes. If you can make spaghetti, you can make lasagna!

To start with, cover 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles with water. Let sit while you prepare the fillings.

Brown one pound of extra lean (preferably organic or grass fed) ground beef in a large skillet. You could also substitute for the ground beef with:

• ground chicken
• sausage
• soy crumbles
• roasted vegetables

Once browned, add 5 cups of tomato sauce. Combine and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, combine 2 cups of low-fat ricotta cheese and 1 egg. If you can’t find low-fat ricotta (I couldn’t!) low-fat cottage cheese can be substituted for ricotta.

I promise, it will taste great. (remember, we’re going for taste, not authenticity!)

Drain noodles. Spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. Cover the pan with approximately 1 cup of tomato/meat sauce, and cover with 3 noodles. Layer noodles with 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Cover again with 1 -2 cups of tomato/meat sauce, noodles and remaining cheese mixture. Cover again with tomato sauce and add remaining noodles, and cover again with remaining pasta sauce. 

Don’t be scared to add too much liquid – remember, the noodles have to cook!

Top with 2 cups part-skim mozzarella.

To avoid the lasagna boiling over and making a disaster in your oven, place lasagna on a baking sheet. Cover with foil (or another baking sheet, if you have none!) and bake at 350* for 45 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit another 15 minutes.

It’s going to be hard to let it sit – your house will smell amazing, and I guarantee you’ll be hungry. But if you don’t let it sit, you’ll have a lasagna-serving disaster on your hands!

It’s not about perfection. It’s about satisfying, filling, delicious healthy food. 

Eat Clean Lasagna

Ingredients

• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 pound ground beef (preferably organic or grass-fed)
• 5 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 egg (preferably organic)
• 2 cups part-skim mozzarella, shredded

Directions

1. Cover 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles with water. 
2. Brown ground beef in a large skillet.
3. Once browned, add tomato sauce. Combine and bring to a simmer. 
4. Meanwhile, combine ricotta cheese and  egg. 
5. Drain noodles. 
6. Spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. 
7. Cover the pan with approximately 1 cup of tomato/meat sauce, and cover with 3 noodles.
8. Layer noodles with 1/2 of the cheese mixture. 
9. Cover again with 1 -2 cups of tomato/meat sauce, noodles and remaining cheese mixture. 
10. Cover again with tomato sauce and add remaining noodles, and cover again with remaining pasta sauce.
11. Top with 2 cups part-skim mozzarella.
12. Place lasagna on a baking sheet. Cover with foil and bake at 350* for 45 minutes.
13. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit another 15 minutes.

Serves 9. Per serving: approximately 350 calories, 14 g fat, 27 g carbs, 26 g protein

Extra servings – if you have them! – can be stored in the fridge or frozen.

Reader Request

Do you have a classic, family favourite recipe you’d like to see lightened up? I’m up for the challenge! Email me the recipe, or leave a comment on this post

You’ll love this orange-pineapple-coconut sorbet! The ingredients are simple, but the taste will have you feeling like you’re on a Caribbean beach, drinking Pina Coladas.

The key to this dessert is the coconut milk; it makes the sorbet taste so much richer than just the fruit. And, since you only need a few tablespoons, there’s no need to worry about how many calories your Pina Colada contains!

Pina Colada Sorbet

Ingredients

• 1 orange, peeled and chopped into quarters
• 1 cup canned pineapple, drained
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 8 ice cubes

Directions

Combine in a high speed blender on low. Turn up to high and process 30 seconds, until smooth.

Serve immediately.

Makes enough for 2 servings – just over 1 cup per serving. And at 150 calories per cup, this really is a guilt free dessert!

Don’t have a high speed blender? Or, prefer a smoothie over sorbet? No problem! Drop the ice down 2-3 ice cubes, and include the pineapple juice. Voila! Orange Pineapple Coconut smoothie.

Call for Guest Posts

I’d like Eat Clean Live Green to be a community, where readers are an important contributor. If you have a story you’d like to share (you do not have to have a blog of your own!) contact me!

I love making veggie burgers myself: they’re so easy, so good for you, so cheap, and so tasty.

They’re also a great way to use up leftovers! I had half a sweet potato hanging out in the fridge with some celery, and some black beans bubbling away on the stove (I’ve started cooking dried beans – so much cheaper than canned!)

All I did was combine those vegetables with some spices, and blend away. I blended way past combining, into a ’smooth criminal’ black bean and sweet potato puree. The result was a light, yet filling and wonderfully crisp burger, with bites of spice to surprise you.

Smooth Criminal Black Bean and Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

adapted from my Very Vegetable Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup steamed sweet potato
• 1 t chili powder
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1/4 t sea salt
• 1 T canola oil
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 T flax meal
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Place sweet potato, and 2 tbsp water into a food processor. Blend until a smooth puree is formed.
3. Add all other ingredients except the seeds and flour into food processor. Process until mixture is blended. (Optional: keep blending until mixture is completely smooth, obtaining ’smooth criminal’ status)
4. Transfer vegetable mixture to a large bowl. Add seeds and stir to mix .
5. Add the flour in ~1/4 cup increments, stirring well until blended.
6. Using a 1/4 cup measure, drop burger mixture onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Use a spatula to flatten out to ~1/2″ thickness.
7. Bake for 15 mins at 375F, flip and bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Makes 6 large burgers. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Each burger is approximately 165 filling calories.

Served with melted cheddar cheese, on top of spring mix and ezekiel bread. The burger was excellent: sweet (potato) and spicy (chili powder) with some excellent black bean filling-ness.

and go ahead, sing along while you make them. annie you ok? you ok annie?  you’ve been hit by a smooth criminal.

Healthy muffins are almost always a disappointment to me. Somehow they always seem to turn out bland, small and dense. And often just as calorie-packed as the original.

Then it occurred to me – instead of trying to make a chocolate chip muffin healthy, why not just make a healthy muffin, like a carrot muffin, healthier?

I decided to use spelt flour instead of white or whole wheat, and instead of lots of oil and sugar, let applesauce lend both sweetness and moisture.

Spiced Carrot Apple Muffins

adapted from Post Punk Kitchen

makes 8 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup spelt flour*
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup grated carrots (2 large carrots)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs**
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil

*whole wheat could be substituted

** preferably organic

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine carrots, applesauce, eggs, and remaining wet ingredients.
4. Add half the wet to the dry, stir until blended, then add the rest.
5. Spoon into muffin cups and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I was pleasantly surprised when calculating the nutrition stats for these muffins, but even more surprised by the taste. They were very moist (I might even suggest increasing the flour another 1/4 cup), sweet but not cupcake sweet. The carrots add great texture, and the spice combination will make your house smell amazing.

The muffins are large enough to be satisfying – but they taste so good, you’ll probably still want two. I know I did!

I love homemade soups. They’re surprisingly easy to make, although they do require time to simmer. But while the soup is simmering away on the stove you can be doing something else. Just stir every once in awhile and you’re good. If you can roughly chop vegetables, and boil water, you can make this delicious, healthy and satisfying soup!

This black bean soup is packed full of vegetables – black beans and vegetables. Could it get any simpler?

Don’t worry about chopping the vegetables up beautifully. You’re just going to blend them up! I use an immersion blender (this is one of my favourite appliances – it also has a food processor attachment!) but you could also use a blender in batches.

Eat Clean Black Bean Soup

adapted from Lean Bean Cuisine

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a large stock-pot, bring black beans and 6 cups of water to boil. Reduce heat, and let simmer for 1 hour.
2. Drain beans, set aside. Set cooking water aside also.
3. Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, green pepper, celery and jalapeno. Cook until vegetables soften, about 7 minutes.
4. Add carrots, beans, tomatoes, spices and water (top up cooking water to 6 cups of water total). Bring to a boil, and let simmer 20-30 minutes.
5. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
6. If you have time, let soup continue to simmer. The longer the soup simmers, the more the flavours will blend.

Top with more red pepper flakes, as desired. A perfectly satisfying meal, even better served along with grilled cheese.

Tip for Leftovers: Store individual portions in plastic bags: Lay flat in the freezer to reduce storage space. To thaw, let sit in the fridge for a day, then heat in a glass or ceramix container.

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The Prairie Natural Protein Powder giveaway winners are: #27 Lindsay + #49 Richelle – Congratulations!

Spaghetti in my house is a debateable subject. My mom always made spaghetti with a meat sauce – brown ground beef, add tomato sauce, serve over spaghetti. That’s how I know it. Easy. Simple.

But then I got married. A pasta-loving girl married a pasta-disliking guy. We’ve been together almost 7 years, and I still wonder how someone can dislike pasta. It’s a mystery to me.

But there is one form of pasta he does like: spaghetti with meatballs. Not meat sauce.

The things we do for love. I’ve also switched from skim milk to 1% milk, deciding neither of these (meat sauce and skim) were that important to me.

No worries – he’s learning to love vegetables. It’s about compromise, right?

Meatballs always seemed like a complicated mystery to me. Turns out, they’re just as simple as browning ground beef!

The secret to amazing meatballs is this (not) secret ingredient: crushed red pepper flakes. It’s a magic spice.

Marriage Saving Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 egg*
• 1/2 C instant oats
• 1/4 C milk
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pound lean ground beef*

*preferably organic

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400*. Coat a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
2. Combine egg, oats, milk and spices.
3. Add beef, and gently mix until combined – try to handle the meat as little as possible – overmixing will result in tough meatballs.
4. Make 20 uniform meatballs, about 1.5” in diameter. Place on baking sheet, not touching. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until no longer pink inside.

Serve with spaghetti and tomato sauce, of course!

Do you an your significant other disagree on how a food should be cooked?

Up next on Eat Clean Live Green: A Surprising Way to Deal With Stress!

Scrambles are one of my favourite meals to make – for breakfast or dinner!

They’re quick and easy, yet packed with flavour (and vegetables!). Depending which vegetables you add, a scramble can have a completely different flavour – here’s one of my favourites:

Easy Breakfast Scramble

Ingredients

• 5 medium potatoes, chopped into ~1” pieces
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tsp coconut oil (or canola oil)
• 4 eggs + 4 egg whites*
• 4-5 slices bacon, cut into ~1” pieces*
• 1/3 cup shredded low-fat cheddar

*preferably certified organic or free range

Directions

1. Boil potatoes, until fork tender (~ 10 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet. Add green pepper and onion. Cook until tender (~ 3 minutes).
3. Fry bacon in another skillet. Once crisp, add to green pepper and onions. Keep warm. Drain as much fat as possible from skillet.
4. Combine eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Beat with a fork, and scramble in the skillet used for bacon.
5. Add potatoes, and eggs to green pepper mixture. Cover with cheese.
6. Serve with hot sauce

serves 4

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Good Reads

• Lara finds a meat-free chicken nugget that fools her husband
• Kristen posted a delicious sounding recipe for Beef and Butternut Squash Stew
• Matt made lentils on toast sound exciting – I think it’s the onions!
• Abby’s pictures of Pork Pappaderelle make me want to starting cooking it right now.
• Nicole ran an inspiring 20 miles

Tomorrow on Eat Clean Live Green: a real food protein powder giveaway!

Hope you’re having a great and sunny weekend!