Healthy Turkey Spinach Lasagna

Went back to my Italian roots for my mom's birthday dinner. A healthy twist on the traditional, but she gave it a thumb's up and asked for the recipe - success!

A couple of the swaps: I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, low-fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta (cottage cheese has less fat and calories and more protein), and whole wheat lasagna instead of regular lasagna.

Healthy Turkey Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb ground turkey (I used 93% for more flavor)
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 (10 oz) bags fresh spinach
1 egg white
1 container (4 cups) 2% cottage cheese
1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
12 cooked lasagna noodles
oregano
fresh basil
salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat the oil in a large pot over low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the turkey and cook until browned. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, oregano, and salt. Simmer 20 minutes. Add fresh basil at the end.

2. Meanwhile, rinse the spinach (do not dry) and transfer to a large non-stick pan. Cover and steam until wilted (about 3-4 minutes).

4. Mix together the cottage cheese and egg white.

5. Once the sauce is done, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a lasagna tray. Lay down 3 noodles. Add 1/3 of the sauce, 1/3 of the cottage cheese, 1/3 of the spinach, and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Continue two more times, then top with the remaining lasagna noodles and 1/4 cup of mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes.

Italian Turkey Meatballs

My mom makes the best meatballs- so these turkey meatballs are based off her original recipe, but I swapped out some of the ingredients to make them more nutritious. This is a leaner version, but still full of flavor. I love serving them over spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce.

Italian Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 lb 94% ground turkey
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup low-fat (or regular) shredded Mozzarella cheese
5 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

*I used my Ninja food processor to chop the onion, garlic, and garlic

Directions:

1. Add oatmeal to a food processor and blend until it becomes oat flour.
2. Lightly beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly (don't overmix).
3. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Roll the turkey mixture into uniform balls (I made 18) and place on the baking pan. Cook for about 12 minutes. You can add them to your favorite sauce, or eat as is!

For one (out of 18) meatball: 47 calories, 2 g fat, 2 g carbohydrates, 6 grams protein

Shrimp, Artichoke, and Spinach "Risotto"

      This morning I realized that it's been a while since I explored my Italian roots in the kitchen. So today I made a really delicious risotto with riced cauliflower instead of rice. This dish helped me remember how much I love the combination of spinach, artichokes, and cheese (Spinach Artichoke dip, anyone?). This was really simple to make- and quicker than traditional risotto because of the substitution of cauliflower rice for risotto rice. Traditional risotto is made with short grain arborio rice. Normally you'd' have to stand around and stir the risotto slowly as it cooks- for about 30 minutes or so. This dish took MAYBE 10 minutes- plus it's lower in carbohydrates, calories, and fat.
        I want to mention here that the goal for my recipes are not to be the lowest in calorie/fat/carbohydrate. I believe in eating a balanced diet consisting of whole foods, complex, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean proteins. I named my blog "Pretty Little Feast" based on the fact that I eat several small meals throughout the day. If you usually only eat three meals a day, this would not be enough for a full meal. You'd either want to increase the portion size, eat it as a side dish, etc.
      

Shrimp, Artichoke, and Spinach "Risotto"

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen spinach
4 frozen artichoke hearts
8 cooked shrimp (I buy mine at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods)
1 square frozen chopped garlic (or one clove of fresh garlic)
1 square frozen chopped basil (or fresh, or dried)
1 cup riced cauliflower
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

1. To rice your cauliflower, place florets in a food processor. Pulse until it resembles rice.
2. Heat a non-stick pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Place spinach, artichokes, garlic, and basil in the pan, cover, and cook about 5-7 minutes or until it is no longer frozen.
3. Cut shrimp into 3 pieces (or two, or leave whole- whatever you prefer). Add to the pan along with your cauliflower rice. Cook about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add nutritional yeast (or cheese) and almond milk. Stir until combined and allow everything to cook for about a minute or two.
5. Serve!

FYI- this is the frozen basil cubes I used: