Low Carb Pasta with Wilted Mache

Al Dente's Carba-Nada Fettuccini has quickly become my favorite go-to pasta. It's all natural, high in fiber and protein, and low in fat and carbs. I like the roasted garlic variety and order it by the case via Amazon. A case has 6 bags (5 servings per bag), costs about $23/case, and I get free 2-day shipping through my Amazon Prime membership, so it's very reasonable, especially for such a unique and wonderful product.

The pasta only takes about 5 minutes to cook and since I tossed it with fresh mache, this dish couldn't be easier or quicker to fix - about 10 minutes in total. Mache is an ancient wild green originating from France, but Epic Roots grows it domestically in beautiful Northern California. The taste is mildly earthy and "green". I loved it tossed with the pasta and accented with the tang of sun-dried tomatoes and bite of fresh garlic.

Mache is a salad green that tastes mildly earthy and green.

Pasta with Wilted Mache (using Al Dente's Low Carb Pasta)

Serves 4-6

10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 10-ounce bag Al Dente Carba-Nada Roasted Garlic Fettuccini, prepared according to package

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes

4 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1  3.5 ounce container of fresh mache (or about 2 1/2 cups)

sea salt

fresh cracked pepper

grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant and beginning to lightly brown, about 1-2 minutes.

Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water. Add pasta directly to skillet with tomatoes and garlic, toss and remove skillet from heat. Next add fresh mache and about half of the pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, add the Parmigiano Reggiano and toss gently to coat. If too dry, add more of the pasta water. The mache will slightly wilt from the heat of the pasta. Serve immediately with more Parmigiano Reggiano.

Low Carb Pasta with Wilted Mache - fresh and yummy!

Another low carb pasta dish you may enjoy is Perfect Pasta - it's full of flavor with spicy Italian sausage, fresh asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes.

The Easiest and Best Roasted Brussels Sprouts Ever

The Brussels Sprout

Dear Brussels Sprouts,

I love you so much. I cannot stay away from you. I seek you out at the market every time I go. I'm not embarrassed to stare at you, touch you, pick you up, and ultimately take you home with me. I love you more than any other vegetable. Even the pea (and I love me some peas).

I love that you look like a tiny little green cabbage head. I also love how your wispy outer leaves fall away when I quarter you, and how those same leaves get all crispy, caramelized, and brown in the oven.

Can I tell you something? I didn't always love you. When I was a kid, I kinda didn't even like you. At all. Sorry. Had I known how absolutely amazing you are fresh or easily roasted, I would've felt much differently. Can you forgive me? I promise to spend the rest of my days loving and cherishing you.

Love,

The Enchanted Cook

The Easiest and Best Roasted Brussels Sprouts Ever

serves 4 as a side

Oven 450 degrees F, 20 minutes

Ingredients:

16-20 large fresh organic brussels sprouts, quartered (see Cook's notes for how to clean and prep)

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

fresh cracked black pepper

sea salt flakes (I like Maldon's)

In a large bowl, toss the quartered brussels sprouts with olive oil, pepper, and salt so that they are evenly coated. It's okay that the leaves start to come apart.

Spread the coated and quartered bsprouts on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and place in oven. 

Roast for 10 minutes, then take a spatula and turn bsprouts over. Roast for another 10 minutes or until crispy and brown on the outside, and soft and delicious on the inside.

The Easiest and Best Roasted Brussels Sprouts Ever

Cook's note:  How To Clean and Prep Brussels Sprouts


To prepare brussels sprouts - wash thoroughly, cut the ends off of each, and quarter (see below).

trim ends

cut each head into four pieces

trimmed and quartered

Perfect Pasta with Al Dente's Carba-Nada Fettuccini {Low Carb}

Now you can have your pasta and eat it, too! Al Dente has a full line of low carb pastas that taste amazing. They're called Carba-Nada and they're all natural, high in fiber and protein, and low in fat and carbs.

Just take a look at the label:

Low carb, delicious AND it cooks in 5 minutes!

Guilt-free pasta - now that's what I'm talking about!

This pasta is excellent tossed with a little olive oil and fresh garlic, or with any of your favorite ingredients. One of my (many) favorite ingredients is asparagus and I just happened to have picked up some beautiful thin organic asparagus at the farmer's market yesterday.

fresh organic asparagus diced small

Combined with one of my other favorite ingredients, sun-dried tomatoes, makes for a great pasta dish.

I like these sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil).
They're much easier to chop when they're dry.

diced fresh organic asparagus and chopped sun-dried tomatoes

To these I added some spicy Italian sausage, a light and creamy tomato sauce (the creamy part comes from adding fat-free Greek yogurt), the low carb pasta and topped it off with my favorite Parmigiano Reggiano. If that's not perfect, I don't know what is.

My Perfect Pasta dish is:

• low carb
• high in protein and fiber 
• full of rich flavor
• quick and easy to make (less than 30 minutes, including prep)

What more could you ask for?

Yummy "Perfect Pasta"!

Perfect Pasta

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 10-ounce bag Al Dente Carba-Nada Roasted Garlic Fettuccini Noodles, prepared according to package

1 bunch fresh organic asparagus (the thinner the better), diced small

3/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

3 large links hot Italian sausage, removed from casing (or you can use chicken sausage cut in small pieces like the one I used here)

1 26.46-ounce box of Pomi Marinara Sauce (or use your favorite brand of marinara)

1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt (I like Chobani)

salt

fresh-cracked pepper

grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Heat a large skillet to medium-high and add the sausage. Break up with your spatula as you cook for approximately 5-10 minutes or until sausage is fully cooked.

I love this sausage, but any spicy Italian sausage will do.

Next add the asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes, plus a dash of salt and fresh cracked pepper (just enough to season the veggies you're adding).

Stir and cook for approximately 2 minutes then add the marinara sauce and cook a couple more minutes until warmed through.

Next add the Greek yogurt and stir until creamy.

Last, add the cooked pasta and toss together with the sauce.

Top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and enjoy!

Enjoy this delicious "Perfect Pasta" guilt-free!