News Taffy

Lately everyone is posting recipes on Facebook. Every day there is a fresh crop of delicious looking food you could just eat off the screen. Unfortunately, most of these recipes are laden with calories. The featured ingredients include large quantities of bacon, cheese, sugar, chocolate and cake mixes. I’m sure they taste good but I rarely read them anymore because they are so unhealthy. I hope you bypass them too, in better interest of your waistline and heart.

However, my niece posted one recently that caught my attention because it sounded too good to be true. It was reasonably nutritious and incredibly easy. All you have to do is dump the ingredients for a tomato based pasta dish, including the uncooked pasta, into a large pot and boil it for about 10 to 15 minutes. Done! I thought that boiling the onion, tomatoes and pasta in a pot would result in a nasty, bland tasting mess but of course I had to try it.

I was wrong. My family gave it a big thumbs up. Anyone can make this and have a decent meal on the table in no time. Going out for fast food would take longer unless McDonald’s is across the street. If you are organized and keep a well stocked pantry, you should have the ingredients on hand most of the time so it makes a great go to dinner for those nights when you have little time. It did need a little help though so I amended the recipe just a bit to make it even more nutritious but it is still just as easy.

I will share the original version and include my changes so you can decide. So don’t be tempted into trying all those bad recipes out there that will just pack on the pounds. You can find good food that your family will enjoy and that you will feel good about serving.

Lightening Fast Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

*12 oz. pasta, try linguine

*1 can diced tomatoes

*1 onion, sliced

*4 cloves garlic, crushed or use the jarred minced kind

*1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

*2 tsp. oregano

*1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, or 2 tsp. dried

*4 1/2 cups broth, either chicken or vegetable

*2 Tbsp. olive oil

*parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Add all ingredients, except cheese, to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a lively simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is almost evaporated and the pasta is cooked. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with parmesan cheese. Now for my changes. Use whole wheat pasta or try the Barilla’s White Fiber brand for the extra nutrition. I used 2 cans of tomatoes as I like more sauce, plus more nutrients. I also used the fire roasted tomatoes for extra flavor but regular tomatoes would be fine. I added a package of sliced mushrooms but canned would work too and I sliced up a bell pepper. The only other thing I did differently was to sauté the onion and bell pepper first. This is pretty spicy, so reduce the red pepper flakes if you don’t like hot food.