Even though my Whole Foods challenge is over, I've still been using a lot of the skills I learned over the course of the four weeks. While I have reintroduced meat to my diet, I'm still eating lots of leafy greens, I'm still cooking without oil, and I'm still having fruit for snacks instead of pre-packaged snacks. With one exception:

I saw these on a few different blogs and needed to try them. Totally delicious! And under 100 calories! And - they're even better frozen! If I had a microwave and could warm one up for a few seconds, I'd be in trouble. (Which is most of why I won't own a microwave - even at my biggest, I wanted to cook for myself as much as possible. Even if my best intentions included Lean Cuisines, I knew I'd still almost always end up with Hot Pockets. I know myself too well, and when I get busy/stressed, I take shortcuts on taking care of myself.)
For this week's recipe, I made an oil-free pesto using basil I grew myself!

I planted some tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and basil, and I need to transplant it all outside one of these days. The basil smells sweet and incredible and I've been dying to do something with it, so I figured a nice pesto sauce would be perfect. I found the recipe here and modified it for a single serving.

In a blender or food processor, combine 1/3 cup vegetable stock, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 cup fresh basil, 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, and 1 tablespoon pine nuts. Pulse until well-combined.It was delicious, but I think using the tofu noodles was the wrong application. The consistency wasn't like an oil-based pesto, so I think it would work better with chicken or mixed in with some rice/quinoa/couscous. Or real pasta - these tofu noodles are delicious but sort of slippery, a description that might only make sense if you've tasted/felt the noodles before. Also, in my version, I omitted the cheese. I'll definitely add it the next time I make this - it needed a little depth. But it was yummy and really low calorie since there was no oil, so I'll try it again and tweak it a little next time.
What about you? What's your favorite pasta topping? What's your favorite pasta substitute?
8 comments:
"Matt"? "dating"?? onederland? my goodness - a lot happened while I was away!! *going back to catch up!*
Dating? Did I miss these posts? Congrats!
I love pesto, but sort of just gave it up instead of looking for a low calorie option. I really enjoy tomatoes and capers in pasta. Capers I could really put on anything.
Oh.my.goodness.gracious.
Chocolate PB brownies?! I must go find those today!
Okay, I'm drooling over your impressive herb garden! It puts mine to shame!
I love making rice pasta with basil, caramelized onions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes. Last night I made some with steamed broccoli and pan cooked fish instead of cherry tomatoes.
Glad that things are going well for you! I haven't seen those Fiber 1 brownies, but I will DEFINATELY look for them! Also - I never got a chance to congratulate you for one-derland. But that is AMAZING. Congrats, Mary. SOOOOO happy for you!!! :)
How have I never seen those brownies before?! Hopefully they're cheaper than the vitatops brownies :-X those burned a gigantic flaming hole in my wallet!!
Oh I cannot eat anything like those bars! That stuff calls to me if I even have it in the house and I cannot eat it with moderation:(
I bought some of those brownies this weekend and they are to die for! 90 calories of heaven!
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