Reconstruction

Not to pat myself on the back, but I hit one out of the park tonight for dinner. It was delicious. Jim liked it. It was fast. It was easy.

But it also had too many calories.

So I'm going to tell you how I'm going to make it next time so that it's a bit healthier. I do this a lot ... find something I like and then figure out how to make it better. I think it's fun. (Clearly, my life isn't very exciting!)

Tonight's dinner:

Sauce
Chopped onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil
1 7 oz. jar of roasted red pepper/artichoke spread (little jars, sold by pesto in Italian aisle)
2 wedges of Light Laughing Cow garlic/herb cheese
Reserved pasta water to thin it out a little

Mix with
Whole wheat bowtie pasta
Leftover homemade turkey meatballs (see recipe here http://www.carsickcaravan.blogspot.com/2012/02/mmmmeatballs.html)

The little jar of spread had 700 calories. The label said canola oil ... it must have had a lot. Plus it had too much salt and junk in it. (It's the pre-packaged crap I spoke out against last night. See! It's evil!) By the time you add all the calories and fat in the rest of the ingredients, and consider the fact that Jim and I ate the whole thing, it was just too much.

So the next time, I'm just going to make my own sauce where I can control the oil and salt. I mean, how can you get 700 calories in a 7 oz. jar?

First, I'll roast my own red peppers or buy a jar of them. Then I'll combine them with a can of artichoke hearts in the food processor and puree them. Heat up 1-2 teaspoons or so of olive oil and sautee some onions and garlic in it. Add the puree mixture and cook through. Salt, red pepper flake and pepper to taste. Toss in a little grated parm cheese instead of the processed Laughing Cow. Then mix with the meatballs and whole wheat pasta.

It will probably taste fresher and better.

Do you have any good recipe makeovers you want to share?