In the past few years, I have been making little changes in my diet to make my meals healthier – cutting the amount of cheese I use, sticking with skim milk, adding more vegetables, and switching to whole wheat pasta.
I love pasta. A lot. Spaghetti, mac & cheese, lasagna, ziti, fettuccine alfredo…all of it. But most of those dishes aren’t exactly healthy for you.
Enter Barilla Plus. It has 44% more protein and almost twice as much fiber as traditional pasta and it actually tastes like “normal” pasta. I love the low fat source of protein and essential amino acids (it keeps me away from late night snacking and seriously helps with my running!) and it still has the traditional pasta taste and texture.
If my mom were here to eat it with us, she would love that the ingredients include ground flaxseed. The woman loves her flax. She eats it on salad, ice cream, cereal, yogurt…maybe I should give her my other box of Barilla Plus for Christmas. I love being months ahead of the game. Score.
Er…back to the point of the post. I’ve gone back to work, so my summer feels pretty much over right now, but the temperatures are still hot (I’m talking 110+ degree hot!) and the fresh summer foods are still abounding!
I went to the farmer’s market this weekend and found wonderfully fresh sweet corn, bell peppers, summer squash, and basil and combined all of the summery goodness, along with the Barilla Plus pasta, into a fabulously fresh and crisp dish. I made one batch with normal bacon and left out the oil and another batch with turkey bacon and added a little bit of oil, just for kicks.
Use a big skillet when you make it. My skillet overfloweth.
Also, milk your corn cob. I explained how in yesterday’s post. It’s so worth it.
Sweet Corn Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb Barilla Plus farfalle pasta
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 6 oz turkey bacon, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 medium yellow squash, sliced into coins and quartered
- 6 ears of sweet corn on the cob, husked, kernels cut off and cob milked
- 2 bell peppers, seeded and diced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large (seriously. large. this makes a lot.) non-stick skillet over medium heat.
- Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta, according to package directions. Before you drain the pasta, reserve one cup of the water.
- Add bacon to the heated skillet and cook until crispy.
- Stir in minced garlic, onion, and yellow squash and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add corn and its milk and bell peppers and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.
- Add the cup of reserved pasta water and the chicken stock to the skillet and cook 2-3 minutes more.
- Stir in the basil, salt, and pepper.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 663mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 14g
This information is just an estimate and may not be 100% accurate. Always double-check the nutritional information using your specific products and ingredients.
*Barilla sent me free product, but as always, my opinions are my own.
Kristina
Sunday 19th of August 2012
Stuffed Turkey Manicotti!
Deanna G.
Sunday 19th of August 2012
Mac 'n Cheese! :)
calidreamin87 (at) gmail (dot) com
Laura Jacobson
Saturday 18th of August 2012
Our favorite is spaghetti!landfjacobson @ charter.net
jenmalonee
Friday 17th of August 2012
Lasagna is my favorite
jennifer Marie
lilnursejen at yahoo dot com
Janice
Wednesday 15th of August 2012
I love anything shrimp so like shrimp linguine
m8usi at yahoo dot com