I took a recipe from Every Day Real Food, featuring Emeril, and made it budget/waistline friendly. it turned out REALLY good (better than I expected, actually) so I thought I'd share for girls that are on WW, trying to get dinner done in 30-45 minutes, looking for an option that combines protein/veg/carb.
actually, it's just really good and you all need to try it.
my version: 245 cals for 1.25 cups (makes about 7.5 servings).
Emeril's version: 494 cals for 1/6 of the recipe
my version:
8 oz small shells
1 TBS lemon zest
2 TBS lemon juice
10 oz broccoli (that's all I had, you can definitely put more to up the fiber content)
1 lb chicken sausage (this is really what brings down the cals)
1/3 cup shredded Italian cheese (I used Sargento 6 Cheese Italian, 90 cals for 1/4 cup)
4 anchovy fillets, minced (don't skip this. I PROMISE you don't taste them. I was so weirded out by it but I didn't taste them at all.)
crushed red pepper
salt
pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Cook the pasta. Add the broccoli (cut into florets) for the last 2 minutes of cooking until bright green and crisp/tender. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, drain pasta and broccoli and set aside.
Meanwhile in a small bowl, whisk together oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, anchovies, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, crushed red pepper to taste.
Add sausage to larger pot and cook over med-high, about 8-10 min, until brown. Break it up into little chunks with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, add pasta and broccoli and enough pasta water to give it a light coating. Add oil mixture. Add cheese. Toss to coat. EAT.
NOM.
I started cooking this at 4:25 and was eating by 5:00. so it's a quick, one pot meal (if you use the same skillet/pot to cook the pasta as you do the meat).