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Author Archives: Kerstin - Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Mushroom Walnut Pesto Pasta

September 27, 2010

Apolinaras went to Costco while I was on my baking adventure and brought home a fun present – a huge canister of dried gourmet mushrooms! The blend contained a mix of porcini, morels, Brazilian, Ivory portabellas, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms, and I immediately knew what I wanted to make this weekend when I saw my gift – mushroom walnut pesto!

I blended some rehydrated wild and fresh mushrooms along with toasted walnuts, parmesan cheese, onions, garlic, and a bit of lemon juice to make the pesto. I used the mushroom stock to thin it out a bit, but also added a bit of olive oil for some richness. Then I tossed the pesto with rotelle pasta, even more mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach. It’s the perfect hardy fall dish for mushroom lovers!

Mushroom Walnut Pesto Pasta
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 ounces dried wild mushrooms (4 cups)
4 cups boiling water
1 pound whole wheat rotelle pasta
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
8 ounces fresh baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup whole walnuts, toasted
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Directions:
Place dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and pour boiling water on top. Let mushrooms soak for 20 minutes or until rehydrated. Reserve 1/2 cup mushroom stock.

To prepare the pasta, cook rotelle according to package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pot, and keep warm.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat and sauté the onions, 1/2 the rehydrated wild mushrooms and all the baby bella mushrooms for 5 to 7 minutes or until softened; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Place mushroom mixture in a food processor along with the toasted walnuts, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, lemon juice, reserved 1/2 cup mushroom stock, 4 tablespoons olive oil, and salt. Pulse until pesto is well mixed.

Heat remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet and sauté remaining 1/2 of the rehydrated wild mushrooms for 5 to 7 minutes or until mushrooms are softened; add spinach and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

Stir together pasta, mushroom walnut pesto, cooked mushrooms and spinach, and tomatoes in a large bowl until well mixed. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 592 calories, 22.3g fat, 15.7g fiber, 21.4g protein per serving
Cost: $2.92 per serving

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King Arthur Flour Baking Class

September 22, 2010

You can imagine my response when the lovely Megan asked if I’d be interested in attending a blogger baking class she was organizing at King Arthur Flour. Yes, please! I have actually exclusively used King Arthur Flour for years now because it’s such a high quality product and always yields consistent results. In fact, I always have at least their all-purpose, white whole wheat, whole wheat, bread, and cake flours in my pantry at all times (yes, I stockpile flour similarly to the way I hoard baking chips – you never know when you’ll want to whip up a treat!). Even though I’m a pretty confident baker in general, I still haven’t completely mastered baking with yeast, so I was very excited to take a class at their Baking Education Center and learn from the pros!

So last weekend I headed out on a road trip to Norwich, Vermont with an awesome group of Boston bloggers. During the course of the day King Arthur Flour treated us to lunch, the baking class, and a huge goodie bag of whole grain baking essentials (but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine, of course!). We were impressed as soon as we arrived and dug into sandwiches made with the most perfect crusty sourdough bread! As we learned more about the employee-owned company, what really struck me was how supportive and helpful they strive to be to home bakers. They have a very cool Baking Hotline where you can chat with them live online about baking issues for free and a recipe blog that I just started following. I was also very impressed by their educational programs.

After lunch we moved onto our class where we each made our own pizza dough, whole grain crackers, and brownies in a gorgeous light-filled classroom. Our instructor Susan was incredible. In addition to patiently answering all our questions and putting up with our flashing cameras, she walked around while we were making our dough and demonstrated how it should feel at each step. I learned so many tips! Did you know it’s best to fold your dough instead of punching it down and that you can’t over knead your dough if you’re doing it by hand? Or that whole wheat flour can go rancid in as little as 6 months due to the oil in the wheat germ? Or that you can make your dough and toss it in the freezer for later use? I’m already excited to try some more recipes with yeast. Maybe I’ll even get confident enough to enter their National Festival of Breads contest next year!

The classes are pretty reasonably priced at $90 and I’d highly recommend them to anyone in the area. I’ve been drooling over the course catalog and plan to take another one with my mom when she visits next year. Speaking of my mom, when I told their team about my mom’s culinary arts program, they offered to work on setting up a baking demo and/or send her some free baking ingredients, how cool is that?

Of course, I couldn’t resist buying some goodies at their company store too. I tried to restrain myself somewhat and just get products that are hard to find anywhere else. I got four types of flour (pumpernickel, whole wheat pastry, semolina, and toasted hazelnut), mini cinnamon chips, espresso powder, instant yeast, and colorful muffin cups. They also have an online store that I only suggest checking out if you’re ready to part with some cash…there are so many fun ingredients and tools that it’s hard to exert much self-control!

After our class, we had a delightful dinner that Alicia organized at Carpenter & Main and stayed overnight at a quaint bed and breakfast. Talk about a fun group – we all had a blast! Here we all are the next morning by the bed and breakfast (minus Bridget who unfortunately couldn’t stay overnight).

From left to right,
Front row: Kristen
Middle row: Katie, Elina, Megan, Meghan, Alicia, Michelle
Back row: Jen, me

Definitely check out their awesome blogs for more baking tips and pictures if you haven’t visited them yet! Our weekend was the perfect foodie adventure and SO much fun – thanks so much to King Arthur Flour and Megan for organizing! I already can’t wait to go back!

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Blackened Tilapia Sandwiches with Avocado Spread and Crispy Plantains

September 18, 2010

I used to always immediately think of McDonald’s when anyone mentioned fish sandwiches. I’ve actually never had a Filet-O-Fish, but they were my brother’s favorite when we were lucky enough to stop by the Golden Arches growing up, and I have fond memories of him inhaling a couple while I was munching on my Chicken McNuggets. So in my mind, fish sandwich = boring fried fish on a bun. But, this all changed after I ordered a blackened tilapia sandwich with cilantro lime mayo on a whim at the Calypso Café in Chicago. Wow, now my mouth actually waters thinking about fish sandwiches because their version was so flavorful and flakey! I’ve raved about the Calypso Café before – they inspired me to make these unique plantain nachos and are one of the many restaurants I really miss now that we’re in Boston. I bought some tilapia recently and finally decided to try making my own version of this favorite at home.

I mixed a bunch of spices together to coat my tilapia fillets and then whipped up an avocado spread since I prefer it to mayo. I topped my sandwiches with some perfect summer tomato slices too, but my little twist is that I also piled on some crispy shredded plantains! They provided a nice crunch and yes, I know it’s a pain to fry things, but they really take this sandwich to a whole new level and are worth stinking up your kitchen to enjoy. I need to make these for my brother!

Blackened Tilapia Sandwiches with Avocado Spread and Crispy Plantains
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Crispy Plantains
Canola oil for frying
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium green plantain, peeled and shredded with a coarse cheese grater

Avocado Spread
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and mashed
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt

Blackened Tilapia
1 1/2 teaspoons ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon canola oil

4 buns, split
2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
To make the crispy plantains, heat vegetable oil to 350˚F in a fryer. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl; add shredded plantains and toss until well coated with the flour mixture. Remove any extra flour from the bowl, if needed. Place flour-coasted shredded plantains in the oil and fry until light golden brown, about 2 minutes, working in batches as needed. Remove crispy plantains with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

To make the avocado spread, mix the mashed avocados, lime juice, cilantro and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

To make the blackened tilapia, place the thyme, cayenne pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl and mix well. Massage the spice mixture evenly onto both sides of the fillets. Heat the canola oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet and cook fillets on 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Cut fillets as needed to fit the buns (I cut ours in half and put both pieces on one bun).

To assemble the sandwiches, spread the avocado spread on the cut sides of the bottom buns. Place a tilapia fillet on top, followed by a few tomato slices and a mound of crispy plantains. Add bun tops and serve. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Nutrition: 636 calories, 27.6g fat, 6.9g fiber, 33.9g protein per sandwich
Cost: $2.65 per sandwich

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Mediterranean Couscous

September 14, 2010

Some things are just meant to be. A couple of weeks ago I was jogging through Harvard Square when I heard someone calling my name. I was disoriented for a second, but when I turned around, I was surprised to see that it was my friend Rashmi from college – crazy, huh – we had no idea that we both lived in Boston! When we met for drinks the next week it felt like no time had passed at all, so I was super excited to have Rashmi and her hubby Ed over for a Greek-inspired dinner last weekend. I’m trying to relax more when we have friends over and not stress myself out by making too many dishes and spending the entire weekend in the kitchen. So, I kept things simple and served chicken kabobs with tzatziki alongside a big Greek salad and Elly’s amazing moussaka. Our guests brought kataifi for dessert and Greek wine. It was a perfect evening of good food and even better company!

I also made a version of my favorite couscous to serve with the kabobs. It’s stuffed with goodies like artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, feta, and almonds, and dressed with an oregano lemon vinaigrette. I often whip this up for dinner when I’m tired because couscous cooks so quickly and it’s filling enough for a full meal with just the almonds and chickpeas, which are pantry staples I always have around. But, the dish is really versatile and I often add other ingredients like chicken sausage or mix things up by stuffing the couscous into roasted bell peppers!

p.s. Congrats to Cara who won my CSN Stores gift card giveaway!

Mediterranean Couscous
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole wheat couscous
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup crumbled feta
1 cup toasted coarsely chopped almonds

Directions:
To prepare couscous, bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat, pour in couscous, and stir well. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium high heat and sauté onion for 5 to 7 minutes or until softened; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute.

Whisk remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, and salt in a small bowl until smooth to make the lemon vinaigrette.

Place couscous, onions, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, feta, almonds, and lemon vinaigrette in a very large bowl and mix until well combined. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 586 calories, 23.8g fat, 16.6g fiber, 21.0g protein per serving
Cost: $2.21 per serving

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Harvard’s Science and Cooking Seminar

September 9, 2010

Although I’m a scientist, I have to admit that I don’t know much beyond the basics of how science affects cooking, which is actually a bit embarrassing! So, I jumped at the chance to review Harold McGee’s new book, Keys to Good Cooking. The book doesn’t come out until October, but I’ve already been treated to a preview and each chapter gives a whole slew of tips about different ingredients from a scientific viewpoint. I’ll be posting my review next month, but I’m already impressed with the few pages I’ve read so far because all the information is just so incredibly useful.

For example, I didn’t know that some frozen veggies (green peas, lima beans, and sweet corn!) are always a smart buy because they lose flavor and tenderness so rapidly after harvest that the flash frozen version is often higher quality than the fresh one. Another of McGee’s tips in the book is that searing meat doesn’t seal in its juices. Instead, it’s the way that you cook the meat that determines moistness. He’s has been trying to convince the public about this for years – how do I know this? Well, I heard it from the man himself!

Harvard had a seminar this week entitled Science and Cooking: A Dialogue, that Shannon and I managed to score tickets to attend. I chatted with McGee briefly after the event while he was signing my mom’s copy of On Food and Cooking, and he was so nice and assured me that the book would be even better than the summary sections they sent!

McGee’s talk was just the tip of the iceberg though – look who else was there!

Yes, that’s Ferran Adria on the right, the chef behind El Bulli, a Michelin 3-star restaurant on Spain’s Catalonian coast, which is considered by many to be the best restaurant in the world! He is the creative genius that founded avant-garde cooking (he seemed to prefer this term over “molecular gastronomy”), a culinary style in which chefs use scientific techniques to create the most gorgeous and intricate dishes with surprising elements of flavor, temperature, and texture.

Adria’s Catalan translator and friend Jose Andres, on the left, stressed that beyond being the first person to create foams and invent spherification (which they demoed!), that Adria has pushed the culinary world in an entirely new direction because he has never hesitated to share his techniques.

In fact, Adria is closing El Bulli next summer to open a center where chefs from around the world can come and study and create dishes without the pressure of having to serve diners every night. And get this, they will be posting what they create each day on the internet every night – incredible! Adria is also spearheading a course at Harvard this semester on science and cooking, which is why he was on campus. His philosophy that cooking, and life in general, is about curiosity and a willingness to learn was so inspiring! I’m so glad I was able to attend!

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Corn and Cheddar Polenta Cheesecakes

September 6, 2010

I hope you’re all having a lovely holiday weekend! I’m in Iowa right now visiting my parents and so far have squeezed in a few nice runs with my Dad (with some challenging hills – yes, Iowa does have them!) and some birthday shopping with my mom. It’s just been so relaxing sleeping in and having a break from both the lab and my kitchen. Despite having somehow picked up a little cold, I’m feeling very rejuvenated. When I think of Iowa, I think of corn, so I thought it would be appropriate to post a recipe featuring this summer favorite while I was here!

I really like it when sweet dishes take a savory turn and decided it would be fun to try making some mini corn and cheddar cheesecakes. I cut a precooked polenta roll from Trader Joe’s into slices and put them in the bottom of the cups of a muffin tin. Then I make a cheesecake mixture that contained cream cheese, corn, and cheddar cheese. I baked them up and enjoyed them at either room temperature or cold straight from the fridge. They were perfect for lunch with a side salad!

p.s. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for an $80 CSN Stores gift card!

Corn and Cheddar Polenta Cheesecakes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh corn kernels (my yield from 2 ears of corn)
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 18-ounce precooked polenta roll, cut into 12 1/2-inch thick round slices

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Place half the corn kernels in a food processor and pulse until mixture is as smooth as possible.

Combine the cream cheese and cornstarch in the bowl and beat on medium-high speed with a mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth. Beat in the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in both types of corn (1 cup whole kernels and 1 cup pulsed in the food processor), cheddar cheese, and salt.

Discard the 2 end pieces of the polenta roll and trim the remaining 10 slices so that each will fit snugly in the bottom of a muffin tin. Place the 10 trimmed round slices in a greased muffin tin. Pour cheesecake mixture evenly on top of each and bake at 350˚F for 23 to 27 minutes or until edges are set and middle is slightly wobbly. Cool to room temperature, about one hour, and then refrigerate until well chilled, about one hour. To remove from the pan, use a knife to cut around the edges of one cheesecake and then flip the pan over and remove the cheesecake. Repeat for remaining 9 cheesecakes. Makes 5 servings of 2 cheesecakes each.

Nutrition: 341 calories, 21.3g fat, 3.4g fiber, 11.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.92 per serving

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Carrot Cake Drop Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting

September 2, 2010

Today is my birthday! And to celebrate, CSN Stores, which has everything you need to stock your kitchen, from dutch ovens to cake pans, is hosting a giveaway for an $80 gift card (which goes a long way with their great prices!). To enter, just leave a comment telling me about your favorite birthday dessert. Thanks CSN!

I started celebrating early last weekend by whipping up a fun treat. If you haven’t guessed it based on my blog design, my absolutely favorite kind of cake is carrot cake. We had it at our wedding and I always request it on my birthday too. But, donuts are my second favorite goodie, and in fact, during my senior year of college, my friends bought me 21 donuts to attempt to eat on my 21st birthday! I think there were only 4 or 5 leftover the next day – pretty impressive, huh? That Man vs Food dude should be shaking in his boots! Anyway, I knew I wanted to try combining my two favorite desserts into one, so you guessed it, I made carrot cake donuts!

These drop donuts were inspired by Jenny’s recipe for Glazed Caramelized Roasted Banana Bread Drop Doughnuts, which earned her a spot on Ultimate Recipe Showdown the season before I was on the show. I made a thick carrot cake batter that I dropped with a cookie scoop into hot vegetable oil and then fried up the treats until they were golden brown. There’s only a little bit of sugar in the donuts because I slathered them with a pretty sweet cream cheese frosting. I piped some on top and also did a little dipping! They are super indulgent and perfect for a celebration!

Giveaway details: To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing your favorite birthday dessert. Entries must be in by Thursday, September 9 at 11:59pm EST and the winner will be picked with random.org and announced shortly thereafter. CSN Stores is sponsoring this giveaway but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine.

Carrot Cake Drop Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Carrot Cake Drop Donuts:
Vegetable oil for frying
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup crushed unsweetened pineapple
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrots (I shredded mine with a coarse cheese grater)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
To prepare the carrot cake drop donuts, heat vegetable oil to 350˚F in a fryer. Make yogurt, crushed pineapple, and egg in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt until a thick dough forms. Mix in shredded carrots. Use a small cookie scoop or a generous tablespoon to drop small batches of dough into the hot oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and cool completely.

To prepare the cream cheese frosting, place powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and lemon juice in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Place frosting in a pastry bag and pipe frosting evenly over carrot cake drop donuts. Makes 14 drop donuts.

Nutrition: It’s my birthday, I’m not going there!
Cost: $6.08 per batch

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Creamy Lemon Summer Squash Pasta

August 29, 2010

So it’s official – I’m a triathlete! I finished my first sprint triathlon at the Cranberry Trifest yesterday. The race was a 0.5 mile pond swim, followed by a 11.5 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run. My official time was 1:28:00, which put me in the top fourth of my age group. But, if you don’t count my 2:00 penalty for drafting during the biking (oops, I did my best to stay three bike lengths behind other riders, but I definitely need more experience riding and passing in crowds!), then it was a 1:26:00!

I have to start my recap by sending a huge shout out to Shannon, who inspired me to sign up and was so encouraging and helpful during the training process. We met once a week at her pool to swim, which definitely helped get me in the water more than usual, and did a couple of training bricks (bricks are back to back tri workouts, e.g. a swim and bike ride) on the weekends at Walden pond. Most importantly, she gave me tons of tips about how to handle the race and transitions and was so super supportive! And, she continues to be inspiring – she completely rocked her race and placed second in her age group!

My goal going into the race was to break a 9 minute per mile pace during the 5K run at the end of the tri. My previous fastest 5K time was 27:19, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to repeat it or not after doing both the swim and bike, but it’s always good to challenge yourself, right?

So, we got to the race in plenty of time to set up our transition stations and have a pre-race snack. Apolinaras did a great job taking photos, and captured me mid-bite with this one, which I thought was pretty funny.

I wasn’t too worried about the swim since I’ve been a swimmer my whole life. We basically had to swim in a long rectangle around four buoys and I did great spotting them on the way out, but the return was a whole different story. The sun was so bright that I literally couldn’t see the buoys unless I stopped swimming and put my hand up to block out the sun! I got a little panicked and almost ran into two different boats with lifeguards along the way, who were yelling and trying to redirect me – oops. Oh well, my time of 15:11 wasn’t horrible and now I know that I need googles with shaded lenses when I swim outside!

I was a little stressed about the bike ride because I had never ridden with a group of people before and was worried about being coordinated enough to glance behind me when I needed to pass people. I’m a bit of a klutz (e.g. I didn’t drink any water on the ride because I was afraid of dropping my bottle like I did during our practice ride the week before!). It went better than I expected and I was pretty happy with my time of 38:38, which averages to 18 miles per hour.

The run was a different story. The first two miles were painful! My legs were super tight and I felt like I was really dragging. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting to see the water stand at the halfway point and became focused on just finishing without taking a break to walk. Around mile 2, there was a nice section going downhill and my legs finally loosened up and I was able to finish a bit stronger. Even so, I was convinced my time was going to be pretty slow and was a little disappointed with my run. So, you can imagine my surprise when I looked up my splits and found out I ran 27:20, which is 8:49 per mile! I couldn’t believe it and I’m already excited for my next 5K in October because I think I’ll be able to get a PR!

Considering I just started running in January and biking in May, I’m really happy with how I did. I’m definitely going to do another tri next summer and plan to continue working on my endurance because I want to feel stronger during my run next time!

Now onto my very favorite part of racing – carbo loading! I always go out of my way to eat pasta a couple days before a race and this time was no exception. I stirred zucchini, yellow summer squash, and chicken, into a lovely lemony cream cheese and parmesan sauce that I thinned out with a bit of chicken stock. It was super easy and tasty and really hit the spot. Now if you’ll please excuse me, I’ve become addicted to racing and need to figure out what I’m going to train for next!

Creamy Lemon Summer Squash Pasta
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow squashes, chopped
2 large zucchinis, chopped
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
Juice and zest of one lemon
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:
To prepare the pasta, cook penne according to package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pot, and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add squash and zucchini and sauté until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chicken to the same pan and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Remove from heat.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same pan and sauté onion for 5 to 7 minutes or under tender; add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Add chicken stock, lemon juice and zest, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and salt to the pan and stir until cheese has melted and sauce is smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes. Toss sauce with pasta, yellow squash, zucchini, chicken, and basil. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 632 calories, 19.1g fat, 12.6g fiber, 49.8g protein per serving
Cost: $1.98 per serving

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