I thought I might share this idea for getting more veggies into a meal.
Whenever I make spaghetti I add 1/2 sliced onion, 1 sliced green pepper, and a handful of sliced mushrooms, sautee them in a pan in a T of olive oil, then simmer them in my favorite spaghetti sauce before adding this to the noodles (won't need as much pasta this way). It's my favorite way to make spaghetti and now I always have to make it this way.
Hey Crazed, This reminds me of something that I eat on a regular basis.
Whole wheat pasta and spinach... sounds weird but it is awesome... I just drain the pasta, add some parm cheese and cooked fresh spinach. I've tried FF cheese, LF riccotta, garlic and or herbs... I love it.... I just have to be careful with the pasta serving size... but anywhere I can sneak a veggie into my diet I have to run with..........
Hey Crazed, This reminds me of something that I eat on a regular basis.
Whole wheat pasta and spinach... sounds weird but it is awesome... I just drain the pasta, add some parm cheese and cooked fresh spinach. I've tried FF cheese, LF riccotta, garlic and or herbs... I love it.... I just have to be careful with the pasta serving size... but anywhere I can sneak a veggie into my diet I have to run with..........
I've been adding diced zucchini to my spaghetti sauce. This works well for having zucchini in the background and passing muster with the non-veggie crowd.
I've also used thickly sliced zucchini when I want to bring them to the foreground. I cook them with diced tomatoes, garlic and Italian spices. The tomatoes cook down into a sauce. Served over fettucini, it looks all fancy.
You can make an excellent - very low cal - pasta sauce by chopping onions and zucchini (and peppers and mushrooms if you like) really small, then sauteeing in a little (1 tsp) olive oil. Next add a can of seasoned petite diced tomatoes and cook the whole thing down til it nice and thick. You can season it more if you like. Add to the pasta of your choice - also good over spaghetti squash or rice. The whole pan is one WW point, unless you use more oil.
Especially with a pesto sauce, I do half whole wheat noodles and half "frenched" green beans. Does not add much of its own taste, but bulks up nicely and carris the sauce well.