Grilled Pesto Shrimp Skewers

Homemade pesto with basil from my garden makes a scrumptious addition to shrimp. Serve these for dinner or make them at your next BBQ!

These are EASY, and now that it's grilling season I am sharing them from the archives.

Inspired by a dish served at my sister in laws garden baby shower (pictured below), this is so simple and delicious, I knew I had to make them myself.

They served them on a platter over a bed of greens, but this is also great served as skewers so you can hold them in your hand.

These have been making a regular appearance at my house since I first posted the recipe. I often keep the nuts out of my pesto to keep the fat content down and everyone always loves it. And bonus, these are low-carb, gluten-free and delicious!

Note: Keep in mind that when you remove the shell from the shrimp it will weigh less, so I started with about 2 lbs of shrimp to get 1 1/2 lbs after I peel them. Depending on the size of your shrimp you will get different amounts. I used jumbo, so that gave me about 35 shrimp, 5 on each skewer. One skewer is the perfect serving size but if you want to serve this as an appetizer, you can put 3 as a small bite.

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Shrimp Zoodles Parmesan for Two

Baked Shrimp Parmesan over Zucchini Noodles – an easy, light and delicious shrimp dish made in under 30 minutes!

I love shrimp parmesan and make it often at home because it's so much healthier to make it yourself. Rather than frying the shrimp like you'd get from a restaurant, I bake them in the oven until golden.

I've had the idea of making shrimp parm over zucchini noodles for quite some time, so when I was approached by Tuttorosso to be a part of their Inspiralize the Spring campaign, I knew this was what I was going to make. Every day this week, five bloggers are participating in a Spiralized Virtual Dinner Party – how fun! Here's the invite so you can follow along.

I've been using Tuttorosso tomatoes for years – if you've been following me from the beginning, you probably already know that they're my crushed tomato of choice.

This recipe is simple, you'll want to have everything prepped and ready before you start making this, because it comes together fast.  Have your zucchini cut and ready before you start, I prefer a thicker zucchini noodle so I used the thicker noodle blade of my Paderno Spiralizer to cut my zoodles. Enjoy!

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Quick Mussels Fra Diavolo

Mussels in a spicy red marinara sauce – simple and elegant, best served with lots of whole wheat crusty bread for dipping into the delicious sauce.

Seafood on Christmas Eve is a holiday family tradition. This can be served as an appetizer with bread for dipping or over pasta as a main dish or even over zoodles to keep it low carb. I usually use my own homemade marinara sauce (I never use jarred sauce) when I make this, but I tried this with Delallo's Pomodoro Fresco and I have to say I was very impressed, and so was my husband! It tastes just like my homemade sauce and this dish came together in less than 15 minutes.

If you've never made mussels before, you'll be surprised how easy this dish is. The mussels should be alive when you purchase and cook them. Any mussels that are cracked should be discarded, and any mussels that don't open after cooking should also be tossed.

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Italian Tuna and Brown Rice Salad (Riso e Tonno)

Using two basic pantry items—tuna and brown rice – plus capers, good quality chopped olives, frozen mixed vegetables and fresh lemon juice, you can create this easy, make-ahead, healthy salad loaded with flavor and perfect to pack for lunch or a picnic!

As a test, I left one refrigerated in a jar overnight to take to the beach. The next day I had it for lunch and thought it tasted even better as the flavors had a chance to meld.

This was inspired by an imported can of Rio Mare Italian Riso e Tonno someone brought back from Italy. The flavors were SO good, I wanted more so I set out to replicate the same exact flavor using brown rice instead.

Believe it or not, it took me a few attempts to get it JUST right. Here's what I did – first attempt I used plain canned albacore tuna packed in water with canned black olives and all the other ingredients listed below – it was pretty dry and lacked the flavor I was trying to match. I went back to the store and picked up some canned Italian tuna packed in olive oil (I was adding oil to the salad anyway) and good quality olives. Tonno Genova was the brand of tuna I bought, it's a little pricier than regular tuna but not by much. Each can cost me three dollars and was available in my local supermarket. I believe it's also available in Costco and Walmart, you can also buy it by the case on Amazon. Amazing the difference it makes in flavor and it wasn't dry at all. I drained the tuna really well and reserved some of the olive oil to add to my salad – winner!

So for those of you who are going to ask me can you use canned tuna packed in water or canned black olives – the answer is yes, but it won't taste as good as my final recipe. Up to you!

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Turkey Meatball Spinach Tortellini Soup

This easy, kid-friendly soup is a great way to warm up on a cold winter night. One large bowl is under 300 calories and is very satisfying.

I love turkey meatballs in my soup. Spaghetti and meatball soup is a regular in my home because my kids love it! I also love making tortellini soup – Spinach Tortellini en Brodo is a winter favorite of mine. This recipe combines the best of both soups and my family loved it. I hope yours does too!

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Spaghetti Squash Sausage Lasagna Boats

If you're craving something decadent and delicious without overdoing the calories, you'll love these delicious spaghetti squash boats filled with everything you love about lasagna – chicken sausage, tomato sauce, ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

I even used whole milk mozzarella cheese because I wanted it to melt nice, I just used it in moderation. The whole thing is way under 300 calories and 8 points plus if you're on Weight Watchers, and it's filling! It's also gluten free – if you prefer to use part-skim mozzarella, the WW Points would be 7 pp.

Spaghetti squash when cooked has a lot of liquid, so I find it helpful to place it in a colander over paper towels to help get red of the excess moisture and it works perfectly.

You can prep this ahead of time, then put it on the oven just before you're ready to bake. If you happen to only find large spaghetti squash, you can place the mixture in a 9x9 baking dish instead of the shells. Enjoy!!

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Best Skinny Eggplant Rollatini with Spinach

This decadent, cheesy Italian comfort dish is my favorite way to enjoy eggplant and now that the weather is getting cooler, a great excuse to turn on your oven. Thin slices of eggplant are baked, then stuffed with ricotta, parmesan and spinach and baked with my homemade marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. Folks, this dish is restaurant quality (without the frying and extra fat you'd get in a restaurant).

If you're thinking your not a fan of eggplant, I know this recipe will change your mind. The eggplant is sliced so thin (I used my mandolin for perfect even slices) that it literally melts in your mouth once it's baked. A serving is super generous, you'll be stuffed for under 250 calories. And it's meatless, so you can save this for meatless Mondays (but honestly I can eat this every day).

In the past I've sliced my eggplant a little thicker, but trust me, it's just not the same. I prefer to use two medium eggplants so my slices all come out even in size (can you say OCD?) and I save the odd-sized pieces for another recipe (chop it up and simmer it in marinara for a delicious Eggplant and Tomato Sauce). But if you prefer to use one large one and don't mind all your rolls coming out different sizes, go for it. This recipe is a little more time consuming, so save this for the weekend when you can play some music and sip some wine while you cook… Bon Appetit!

PS- for those who want to know what brand of Mandolin, it's available on Amazon, it's from OXO (click to see).

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Zoodles and Meatballs (zucchini noodles)

 

The weather is changing, and I kind of like it. I'm looking forward cooler weather, but I'm not quite ready for zucchini season to end – we've been eating "zoodles" all summer long!

This is sorta a two part recipe, I made a pot of my Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs at my toddler's request but rather than eating mine with pasta, I served it over zoodles (zucchini noodles) for a lighter low-carb alternative (perfect for using up zucchini from your garden).

A good rule of thumb is one medium zucchini per person, since you lose some when you cut them and the shrink a bit when they cook. To cut them I used my OXO mandolin with my julienne blade and I stop right about when I get to the seeds, then I rotate and slice. A word of advice, please be careful when using a mandolin, the blades are VERY sharp.

You can also use a spiralizer instead to make them more spaghetti-like. I'm going to be making these as much as I can as long as I can find zucchini at my local farmer's market!


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Savory Zucchini Asiago Tomato Scones

Light and biscuit-like savory scones made with a blend of whole wheat and white flour, shredded zucchini, sun dried tomato, Asiago cheese and fresh rosemary. Almost smells like pizza when it comes out of the oven!

I was at the farmer's market in Long Beach this past weekend and bought lots of zucchini and tomatoes. I also came across a stand selling savory scones, a concept I fell in love with. Rather than my usual scones that I make with fruit, these are made with seasonal summer ingredients – perfect for brunch, lunch or with dinner. Today I had a scone for lunch with a beautiful heirloom tomato salad from the tomatoes I bought over the weekend. I'm thinking the leftovers would be perfect for dinner tonight with my homemade tomato bisque using the rest of the tomatoes I have.

Scones are usually made with double the amount of butter, to lighten them I have been having great success replacing butter with whipped butter in my baked recipes which is a lighter since it's whipped. I also use half the amount of butter used in traditional scones, and adding the zucchini really helps give the scones lots of moisture. The scones come out tender and soft with lots of wonderful flavor.

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Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Hope you all had a happy July 4th!! With zucchini season in full bloom, I thought I would revive this from the archives - one of my absolute favorites!! Enjoy!!

Summer zucchini hollowed out and stuffed with lean Italian sausage, then topped with marinara and cheese.

OMG! You guys are going to love these!

I've had this concept in my head for a while, but now that zucchini is in full season and my friend gave me some fresh from her garden, I put my idea to the test. The results were simply amazing, thumbs up all around, especially from my picky teen!

One boat fills me up, but you can enjoy two and still be in good shape. I love Polly-O part-skim mozzarella because it melts beautifully as you can see in the photo. I'm pretty picky about my Italian sausage, but I love al fresco's sweet Italian chicken sausage, you forget it's chicken while you eat it and it's 75% less fat that pork sausage, and it's gluten-free. Hope you enjoy.

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Grilled Pesto Chicken and Tomato Kebabs

These chicken kebobs just SCREAM summer, made with my skinny basil pesto and grape tomatoes. Serve this as an appetizer at your next backyard bash, or have them for dinner any night of the week with a great big salad or over pasta.

We grow sooo much basil in my garden all summer long, so I make a lot of pesto and use it so many ways. This is super easy and can be made a day ahead, in fact the longer it marinates the better! Doubling the skewers helps keep everything in place while grilling, and makes them easier to turn. I love how the tomatoes taste after they are grilled, and they smell just divine when they come off the grill. To make my pesto skinny, I use less oil and make it without the pine nuts – but it's still so flavorful you won't miss them! If you're having this for dinner, I would serve 2 skewers, rather than one with salad or grilled veggies on the side.

These are gluten free, inexpensive, low-carb, clean and simple. If you want to make them paleo, you can leave out the parmesan and swap it for pine nuts. If you love pesto as much as we do, you may also love Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake, Grilled Pesto Shrimp Skewers, or this delicious Eggplant Panini with Pesto – so good!!

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Summer Pasta Salad with Baby Greens

I love making this mayo-less pasta salad with arugula, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, capers, fresh shaved Parmesan cheese and a splash of balsamic and oil. It's great for lunch or dinner, and has a healthy serving of baby greens. In the summer, when tomatoes are at their sweetest, I replace the sun dried tomatoes with fresh tomatoes from my garden.

I usually have this for dinner on those warmer nights when I want a meatless meal or just something light, and because it has pasta in it, I feel full and satisfied after I eat it. The portions are pretty large for under 200 calories (only 5 WW points plus). This also makes a great side dish if you reduce the portions when you're grilling up some burgers or chicken.

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Chicken Francese - Lightened Up

Skinless chicken cutlets, lightly coated in flour and egg, cooked in a white wine lemon sauce. Move over Olive Garden, this one's lighter and easy to make!

Confession, I've never been to the Olive Garden, heck I live in New York, we have tons of great Italian restaurants here so there's really no need. This is my husband Tommy's specialty, on those random nights that he gives me a break from the kitchen, he usually makes his Chicken Francese.

My husband's version let's just say is a little bit heavier, so I learned how to make it myself, with a lot less butter. My family loves it, kids and all and I usually serve this with a simple salad on the side.

This is also great over pasta with garlic since it makes a lemon sauce, I like to make it over whole wheat angel hair or orzo when I'm craving carbs. This is not a new recipe, I first posted this back in 2009, but I make this often and my husband thought it was time for a re-shoot. I also made a few modifications to it since I last posted, so if you have an old recipe printed out, you may want to print out a new one.

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Italian Antipasto Salad

Chopped romaine hearts, shredded mozzarella, olives, prosciutto, turkey pepperoni, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, pepperoncini and Giardiniera (colorful vegetables in vinegar) – this quick Italian salad requires no cooking, which makes it perfect to whip up or pack for lunch.

Cold antipasto is usually the first course of an Italian meal, which consists of a variety of cold meats, cheeses, olives, roasted peppers, and a variety of colorful vegetables that have been pickled in vinegar known as Giardiniera and pepperoncini. This adds so much flavor to the salad, without tons of calories and because it is so flavorful, you really don't need to add a lot of oil. I make the quick dressing by using some of the vinegar from the jar of the pepperoncini, and just add a touch of olive oil and fresh cracked pepper and finito!

This salad is so adaptable to anyone's taste, I love proscuitto but you can swap it for ham or turkey, or leave it out altogether and add more cheese and olives. Sometimes I also add shredded carrots and sliced mushrooms, whatever you like. The real trick to get the bold flavors is from the pepperoncini and Giardiniera, which are both sold jarred in Italian section of the supermarket and add a lot of flavor to the salad. If you can't find Giardiniera, it's fairly simple to make it yourself, here's a recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

I made this salad for one, but it can easily be multiplied for 2 or 4. One note, this is not low in sodium, because of the meats, olives and cheese, so if you're watching your sodium, opt for low sodium ham, cheese and make your own pickled vegetables.

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Spring Asparagus Risotto

Creamy risotto, cooked with Spring asparagus, fresh herbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a touch of lemon. Perfect as a meatless main dish if you use vegetable broth, or wonderful as a side with grilled shrimp.

This Italian rice dish is a labor of love, not the kind of dish you turn on and walk away from, but instead slowly cooked with ladlefuls of broth, adding more each time it's absorbed. Just before the last ladle, I added fresh asparagus to the last five minutes of cooking time and finished it with a touch of lemon juice and lemon zest.

Because risotto is so simple, I like to use the freshest ingredients when I make it such as seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs and good cheese.


Asparagus is perfect addition to risotto, and now in season. This spear-shaped veggie is an awesome weapon for your health. It’s packed with disease-fighting nutrients including fiber, folate, vitamins A, C, E and K and glutathione, a detoxifying compound that may protect against certain types of cancer. And it’s loaded with age-defying antioxidants that work to neutralize cell-damaging free radicals in your body. Look for spears with tight buds and firm stalks without wrinkles.


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Angel Hair Pasta with Scallops and Tomatoes

Sauteed bay scallops with tomatoes and a touch of white wine and lemon juice served over angel hair pasta.

If you're looking for a special dinner to make for your loved one this Valentine's Day, this is a perfect dish. For starters, it takes less than 15 minutes to make, so you'll have less time cooking, and more time together. Secondly, scallops date back to ancient Greece as an aphrodisiac. As legend has it, the goddess Aphrodite was carried to earth on the shell of a scallop.

Personally, I love scallops for their sweet, delicate flavor. Bay scallops are the smaller variety and are usually less expensive than sea scallops. They are wonderful tossed with pasta and take less than a minute to cook.

Because bay scallops retain so much water, it's really important that you dry them well before cooking, and you really want to cook them in a hot pan so you get a quick sear. I cook them in 2 or 3 batches depending on the size of my pan. Don't skip this step because you don't want to overcrowd the pan, otherwise the scallops will become rubbery and won't sear.

If you're family doesn't like whole wheat pasta, a great trick I like to do is use both whole wheat and semolina. You don't really notice the taste of the whole wheat and your getting the added benefits of using a whole grain.

For all you spaghetti squash lovers out there, I'm sure this would be wonderful over roasted spaghetti squash as a gluten-free, lower-carb alternative.

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