Penne Pasta with Broccoli and Cheese

Hi Everyone,

I’m so excited for today!  If you noticed my blog got a major face lift.  I just love the new look!  I feel so professional now!  he he  I want to thank Shari for all of your hard work and dealing with me!  This girl need a medal for putting up with my e-mails.  🙂

Tonight I made a new recipe and guess what?  It’s healthy!!!  Yup, another healthy recipe coming your way!

This is my under 30 minutes dinner, actually I think it took more like 15 – 20 minutes.  Nice! A healthy meal, thrown together and is tasty, that gets 5 stars in my book.

Tonight was the first time I tried Trader Joe’s High Fiber Penne Pasta and my whole family loved it.  180 calories for 2oz, 6 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein.  Not bad stats and I think carbs were 38, which is pretty good for pasta.  The pasta only took 6 minutes to cook, thats seems pretty quick.  Normally I cook my whole wheat penne pasta for about 10 minutes or so because my family doesn’t like it chewy or the texture of the wheat.  There just not wheat fans, but I am.  So next time you’re at Trader Joe’s check out this new pasta, you would never know it’s good for you!

While I was waiting for the water to boil, I started my broccoli mixture.  All I did was use 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth, 1 clove of garlic, 5 cups of broccoli, basil and pepper.  Easy Peasy!!  Everything was done at the same time!  Perfecto!  Just serve this dish with a nice side salad and some crusty bread and you have a perfect meal!  I didn’t have any bread!  🙁

Penne Pasta with Broccoli and Cheese

Ingredients:

8 oz of penne pasta (I used Trader Joe’s High Fiber Pasta)

4 cups of water

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

5 cups broccoli florets (I used frozen)

1/2 Tbsp. basil leaves

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 tsp. Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large pot add water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook until done, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the broth, basil, black pepper, garlic and broccoli in a large skillet over medium heat bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the broccoli is tender-crisp.

Add the pasta to the broccoli mixture and toss to coat.

Add cheese to the pasta mixture

Serve and enjoy!

Makes 4 servings, about 2 cups or so

Calories per serving:  235,  Fat:  2.5.  Cholesterol:  5,  Sodium:  138,  Carbs:  40.3,  Fiber:  8.5,  Sugar:  3.3,  Protein:  12

Love the stats on this dish!!  I can’t believe 235 calories for pasta!

I am really happy with this meal, it was so simple to throw together and it was ingredients I normally have on hand.  You know when It’s getting towards the end of the week, you start digging through your cupboards looking for something to make and you seem to be out of everything.  Normally for us,  its left overs or hot dogs.  Blah!  But tonight I saw pasta and broccoli and thought why not.  Totally love this!  This meal will defiantly be in my meal rotation, especially since it’s YUMMY, healthy, quick and easy!  Cheap too!!

Well my friends, have a great day!  We only have to get through today and tomorrow and then it’s the weekend!  Woohoo!!  Have a great day!!