Pesto

One of the things I am trying to do while losing weight this time is to make things I love to eat, but obviously try to make them healthier.  Sometimes when you are watching what you eat, you automatically think you can’t have a certain thing because its not good for you.  That’s what I thought about pesto.  I love pesto, but until now have avoided it because I thought it was too fattening.  I was watching the Food TV network this morning and Rachel Ray made a dish that had pesto in it and I thought to myself, I bet if you don’t go overboard, I could fit it into my healthy lifestyle.  So, I went on line to look for recipes that had pesto.  One thing I was trying to avoid was recipes that had 1/2 cup of olive oil, or lots of pine nuts and lots of Parmesan cheese.  I ended up using a recipe that I found at www.cookinglight.com Easy Pesto

1.  2 TB. coarsely chopped pine nuts
2. 2 cloves of garlic
3. 2 TB. of olive oil
4. 4 cups fresh bay leaves (about 4 ounces)
5. 2 ounces Parmesan cheese
6. 1/4 tsp. salt

Drop the nuts and garlic in food processor (I used my magic bullet) and process until minced.  Add oil; pulse 3 times.  Add basil, cheese and salt and process until smooth. The serving size is 1 tablespoon.  This may not seem like enough for a small bowl of pasta, but it really is.  If you want to thin it out a little you can add a little fat free chicken broth. 1 TB:  58 calories, 5.8 grams of fat and .6 fiber You could also make this recipe I also found at Cooking Light. Shrimp, tossed with vegetables and pesto. 

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups diagonally sliced snow peas 1 1/2 cups julienne-cut yellow squash 2 teaspoons olive oil 3/4 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 4 cups hot cooked farfalle (about 3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta) 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese 1/4 cup Classic Pesto 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 

 

Preparation

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan; add snow peas and squash. Cook 45 seconds or until crisp-tender; drain.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp; cook 3 minutes or until done. Add snow pea mixture and broth. Cover and cook 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated.

Combine shrimp mixture, pasta, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss well.

 

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

 

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 293(26% from fat); FAT 8.6g (sat 2.8g,mono 3.8g,poly 1.4g); IRON 4mg; CHOLESTEROL 75mg; CALCIUM 148mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.8g; SODIUM 475mg; PROTEIN 18g; FIBER 3.2g So, I am so excited to add this back into my eating plan.  Sometimes what you think is not going to work to help you lose weight, is actually okay after all.  Plus, eating foods that make you happy helps you stick to your weight loss goals!