Spring Vegetable Ragout

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 oz. whole-wheat spaghetti
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small leek, white and pale green parts only, halved, washed, and thinly sliced
1 small yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise then cut into ½ inch pieces
4 oz. sugar snap peas, halved crosswise
16 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup vegetable broth
2 Tbs. minced fresh basil leaves
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¾ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Cooking Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook until just tender, about 9 minutes or according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add squash and peas; cook, stirring often, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and broth and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer until the tomatoes begin to soften, about 1 minute. Add basil and pepper; cook, stirring, until the tomatoes are juicy, 1 minute more. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

3. Drain the pasta; add it to the ragout and toss well to combine.

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

• 1 (26oz) jar of spaghetti sauce, any flavor
• 1 (16oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 c. cottage cheese
• 1 c. ricotta cheese
• 3 T. grated parmesan cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 4 T. fresh parsley chopped or 2 T. if you use dried parsley
• 8 oz box jumbo shells, uncooked
• 3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
   
2. Combine spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, and garlic; set aside.
   
3. Combine cheeses, egg whites, and parsley; stuff shells with cheese mixture.
   
4. Fill the bottom of a 13*9 inch & a 8*8 inch casserole with tomato mixture(just enough to barely cover bottom). Arrange stuffed shells in a single layer over sauce; pour remaining sauce evenly over pasta.
   
5. Cover dish with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.

I always cook one dish and freeze another. To freeze, do so before cooking. To use after you've frozen it. Take out of freezer over night, let thaw in the fridge. Microwave.

Tilapia Italiano

Serves 4

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 tilapia fillets
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2/3 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2/3 teaspoon thyme (fresh off the stem or granulated )
• 2/3 (4 ounce) can black olives (sliced )
• 2/3 teaspoon parsley
• 1/3 teaspoon fresh basil
• 1 1/3 garlic cloves (minced )
• 1/3 cup vidalia onion (sweet, finely chopped )
• 2/3 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 4 lemon slices

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray (olive or canola).
3. In a bowl, stir together oil, thyme, diced tomatoes, sliced olives, parsley, basil, chopped onions and lemon juice.
4. In the prepared baking dish, arrange the fillets skin side down and season with salt.
5. Spoon the tomato mixture over the fillets abundantly.
6. Bake, uncovered, in the middle of the oven for about 15 or 20 minutes or until fish just flake.
7. Garnish fish with lemon slices and fresh Thyme .

Serve with pasta out of your pantry (tortellini is recommended, but I've used everything from bowtie to egg noodles).