Starving Artist

Sometimes you just need a little comfort, whether it’s a long phone conversation with your mom, a hug from a best friend,  or a warm dinner to cozy up to. I was in need of a little bit of home tonight, and thought I would cook up a version of one of my favorite childhood dishes, macaroni and cheese.

With shrimp and homemade pesto sitting in my freezer, I decided to combine them with a beautiful squash and some of the turkey bacon that I had left over from the other day. The result was a hearty, cheesy, kicked up version of my favorite treat :)

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Pesto Shrimp and Bacon Mac & Cheese

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole wheat pasta (I used rotini)
• 1 summer squash (can substitute zucchini)
• 1 cup of small frozen shrimp (thawed)
• 2 slices of turkey bacon
• 3 tbsp pesto
• 2 cups of shredded fat free cheese (I used a mozzarella and cheddar combo, 45 cal per 1/4 cup)
• 4 tbsp fat free cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup fat free milk
• 4 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 4 tbsp whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

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Directions:

1. Cook the pasta until it still has a slight bite to it.
2. Cut the squash into bite-sized pieces. Put the squash and frozen shrimp in a small bowl with a splash of water, salt and pepper. Microwave for 2 minutes, drain any access fluid, and then add to a large bowl with the pasta.
3. Cut the bacon into small pieces and add to the bowl with the pasta mixture.
4. In a saucepan, combine the flour with 1/2 cup of milk over medium heat. Gradually add in 1 cup of milk, and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and mix in the pesto, salt and pepper.
5. Add in 1 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese, and the cream cheese to the saucepan. Mix well.
6. Add the cheese mixture to the bowl that contains the pasta and stir well.
7. Grease a small baking pan (I used 8″x8″), and add in the mixture.
8. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese, and then the breadcrumbs.
9. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
10. Enjoy! :)

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1 serving = 1/6 of dish

Calories: 340  Carbs: 40g  Fat: 5g Protein: 33g

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Every Sunday night I try to cook up a batch of something-or-other so that I don’t have to make lunch or dinner for the next couple of days. This week I had those cherry heirloom tomatoes to play with, as well as the pesto and marinara sauces that I made yesterday. I knew I had some chicken in the freezer, as well as some whole wheat couscous and brown rice.

What to make… what to make…

My mom recently bought me a cast iron grill pan that I had been desperately wanting (thanks mom!), so I decided to test it out by grilling up the tomatoes and chicken in a simple coating of evoo, s + p. Yum.

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I had 2 sauces to choose from, and was being very indecisive about which one to use. Obviously I ended up making 2 dishes so that I could use both of them. Since it was pretty much an exercise in mixing and matching, it was a culinary breeze once the key ingredients were prepped and grilled.

The first dish consisted of balsamic chicken with tomatoes and a creamy pesto couscous.

I drizzled the grilled chicken with balsamic vinegar. So simple, yet soooooo good. The couscous was a little experiment that luckily turned out really well (although I think I ended up eating half of it before I could portion and store away for lunches. Dangit.). Here’s what I did:

• Combine 1 cup of whole wheat couscous with 1 cup of water and 3 tbsp of pesto.
• Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.
• Stir in 2 tbsp of part skim ricotta, 1 tbsp of Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, s + p to taste.

Voila! It was so creamy, with an almost risotto consistency, but took only 5 minutes. Love it.

The second dish was my simplified version of a chicken cacciatore (I guess you could call it that). All I did was mix together the chicken, rice, marinara sauce, and tomatoes. A hefty sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (clearly not shown in this photo. I load on so much Parm it’s embarrassing) and a dusting of parsley, and dish #2 was completed (and also my dinner for tonight).

And now I’m set until Wednesday! Gotta love it. I’m wishing it wasn’t already Sunday night – where did the weekend go?? I started watching that Georgia O’Keefe Lifetime movie, but it was terribly boring so I opted for the more intellectually stimulating You, Me, and Dupree.

Yawn. Bed soon.

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I had a whole package of fresh basil that I had to use up this weekend, so I decided to make a pesto (any excuse to bust out the Magic Bullet). I never have pine nuts or walnuts on hand, but pecans are a pantry staple for me. I thought it could be interesting to try out pecans in the pesto, and it ended up being really delicious.

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Here’s the really easy recipe:

• 1 cup (packed) of fresh basil
• 1/2 cup of pecans
• 1 tsp of crushed garlic (or 2-3 cloves of garlic, depending on how much garlic you like)
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (for a little kick, can omit if you’d like)
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients and blend in a food processor. Add more olive oil if your basil happens to be drier and the pesto’s too thick. Makes about 1 cup of pesto.

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I added a dollop of the pesto to a Morningstar “Chicken” pattie for a quick healthy lunch!

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