No Pasta Stovetop Lasagna

It does not get simpler than this delicious recipe.  You can serve it over paste if you like, but it is actually amazingly wonderful over shirataki noodles.  It is also great just by itself!

It makes five one cup servings.

Ingredients

One pound hot Italian sausage
One pack frozen spinach (10 oz)
1/2 of a large to medium yellow or white onion
2 ounces of low-fat mozzarella cheese, chopped fine (or 1/2 cup fat free large curd cottage cheese)
1 bottle/can pasta sauce (24 oz)


Directions

First, you will want to boil the sausage.  This will reduce the sausage considerably because you are removing the fat, and in fact you will probably end up with around 10-12 ounces of sausage, meaning you have eliminated a quarter pound of fat.  Don't worry--your sausage will still be delicious!  If your sausage is not frozen, it should boil for 15-20 minutes, and then drain.  If it is frozen, it may need another 10 to 15 minutes.  Be sure to break it up with a spoon as it thaws in the water, though.

You may want to go ahead and get your spinach and onions going.  Put the block of frozen spinach in about 1 cup of water with the roughly chopped half onion.  You want to cover and cook this on medium high.  When the spinach is completely thawed, allow it to simmer an additional three minutes.  Then strain and press the remaining water out of your spinach and onions.

Combine everything in a pot, add the bottle of pasta sauce, cover, and bring to a boil on medium heat.  Because this is so thick, you need to stir every few minutes to ensure that it heats all the way through and the bottom does not burn.  We are just cooking this to ensure we bring the pasta sauce we added up to a high enough temperature.  We want it to simmer for about six minutes or so, which, since all the ingredients except the cheese and sauce are not, should not take too long.

This would also be great over shredded zucchini or with other vegetables, like yellow summer squash or roasted eggplant, added.



Nutritional Information (using Newman's Own All Natural Sockarooni Pasta Sauce and mozzarella)

1 cup serving

270 Calories
16.6 g fat
13.2 g carbs
   4 g fiber
   6 g sugars
11 g protein
49 mg cholesterol

120% RDA Vitamin A
24% RDA Vitamin C
16%  RDA Calcium
16% RDA Iron

Quick Fish and Salad

This recipe can be made with salmon (without skin) or with ahi (tuna steaks).  Remember tuna is high in heavy metals and most tuna is not sustainably fished.  Therefore, you should not eat more than a serving per month of tuna.  The pictures below are steaks from a locally fished "big eyed ahi" in Hawai'i or a big eyed tuna.  According to the NOAA, big eyed tuna are not overfished and stocks have not been depleted.  So, while still a mercury concern they are a good choice for a fish that is being collected in sustainable amounts--for now.

Also, if you are just searing the tuna it must be absolutely fresh, absolutely high quality fish (like sashimi grade since it will be absolutely raw inside). You can prepare the salmon in the same way if you have superior salmon, but if you are using a lower quality or frozen fish you will want to cook in all the way through.

This recipe is very simple, but it is best that you plan ahead because your fish needs to marinade for at least 30 minutes or so.  I've made this recipe with the fresh ahi steaks, fresh salmon and frozen salmon fillets.  The ingredients below are for two fillets of anywhere from 4-6 ounces each.  For the salads, romaine or a mix of greens would be best.  In the photos below, they fish is served on the side with a dipping bowl of wasabi and soy.  The last time I made these was with salmon fillets and served them over the dressed salad.

Ingredients:

1 minute 30 seconds was perfect
cook time for this ahi steak

Two 4-6 ounce salmon or ahi (tuna) fillets
Romaine or other greens, enough for two large salads


Marinate:
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon shoyu (soy sauce)
Optional for salmon: 1/4 teaspoon of powdered yellow mustard per fillet

For searing/cooking:
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 whole peppercorns, white or black (optional)

Salad dressing:
1/2 teaspoon miso paste (I prefer red, but any will work)
1/2 teaspoon mustard (I like deli mustard, but yellow mustard will also work)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Optional: drop of wasabi

Optional Dipping Sauce:
Wasabi
Shoyu (soy sauce)


Marinate the fish.  I do this by putting a few slivers of ginger and garlic in a bowl, putting the first steak down, sprinkling a few more, adding a bit of the oil and soy sauce, putting the other steak down on top, and then adding the rest.  I then cover the top of the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour but at least 30 minutes.  I turn them once.

When you are ready to cook, first prepare the salads and mix the dressing, but do not add it to the salad until you are ready to serve.  Then turn your burner on high.  Take out the fish and, with a knife, gently remove the garlic and ginger sticking to them and set them aside.  I do not pour in the liquid of the marinade, so although this looks a lot of oil between the fish and salad dressing, it is actually just about one tablespoon of oil per serving total.

When you oil is hot (but not smoking) throw in the whole peppercorns if you are using them.  You want to keep them in the oil until they begin to pop, maybe two or three minutes, and then remove them with a chop stick or your turner.  This will give the oil and fish a nice pepperiness without overwhelming any other flavors.

Gently but quickly put in your fish.  If you are searing tuna steaks you want to cook them absolutely no more than 1 minute 30 seconds on each side.  If your streaks are thin, that might be too long.  If you are cooking your fish all the way through then 3 minutes per side will probably be enough unless your fillets are just thick.

Because of the mustard and wasabi flavors, I served this with brussel sprouts to accompany my salad and fish, but when making this with salmon I often just put the fish, sliced, over my dressed salad.

Total calories is using 4 ounces salmon: approximately 320 calories