Double-Post Tuesday

Besides being Taco Tuesday, it's also Double-Post Tuesday (since not everyone loves tacos...shocking, isn't it?). Today's offerings include Mexican Lasagna and One-Pan Spaghetti and Meatballs. Enjoy!

VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS

This comes from Ready Set Eat, and begins, “A heart healthy recipe for stuffed peppers filled with brown rice, vegetables and cheese for a Mexican flavor influence.”

Prep Time: 25 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes; Servings: 4; Number of ingredients: 8.

To view this online (and to check out more recipes), go to https://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Vegetarian-Stuffed-Peppers-7419.

Ingredients

PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray

2 large green or red bell peppers

1/2 cup instant brown rice, uncooked

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1 can (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies-No Salt Added, drained

1-1/2 cups frozen Southwest mixed vegetables (corn, black beans, red peppers)

1 can (8 oz each) Hunt's® Tomato Sauce, divided

1/3 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 8x8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cut bell peppers lengthwise through stem into halves. Remove and discard seeds and membranes. Place peppers, cut-side down, in dish. Bake 15 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, prepare rice according to package directions, adding cumin and garlic salt. Add drained tomatoes, mixed vegetables and half of tomato sauce to cooked rice; stir to combine. Divide rice mixture and place inside peppers. Top with remaining tomato sauce; sprinkle with cheese.

Cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake 20 minutes or until peppers are hot and cheese melts.

MEXICAN LASAGNA

This is from tbsp. (Tablespoon.com), and begins, “A delicious twist on lasagna!”

Prep Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes; Servings: 10

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

6-8 large tortillas

1 lb ground beef

1 packet Old El Paso™ taco seasoning mix

1/3 medium onion, diced

1 can (19 oz) Old El Paso™ mild red enchilada sauce

1 can (16 oz) Old El Paso™ refried beans, any type

1 1/2 cup cheddar or mexican blend cheese

3 small or medium tomatoes, diced

Cilantro, as desired

Black olives, as desired

Sour cream, for topping

Shredded lettuce, for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large non-stick skillet on stove, cook onions and beef until cooked through. Remove skillet from heat, drain off grease and stir in taco seasoning. Set aside.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with a thin coat of enchilada sauce. Layer tortilla halves in the bottom of the pan with the cut (straight) sides facing outward toward edges of pan. Cut pieces of another tortilla as needed to fill in any gaps and create a solid tortilla layer in the bottom of the pan.

Continue layering ingredients in the following order, making sure to save enough of each ingredient to form a second layer: refried beans, enchilada sauce, beef and onion mixture, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, and chopped cilantro and black olives (if desired).

Using equal amounts of ingredients as the first layer, form your second layer in the following order: tortillas, beans, enchilada sauce, meat and onions, cheese, tomatoes, cilantro and olives.

Top with a final layer of tortillas, and cover with a thin coating of enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake lasagna for 30-45 minutes until cheese is melted and tortillas start to crisp. Serve with sour cream, lettuce and additional toppings as desired.

PASTA WITH BROWN BUTTER AND PARMESAN

This comes from Ali Slagle in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Ali wrote, “Sometimes you just want a big bowl of pasta with butter and Parmesan. Starchy, silky and salty, it’s always good — and practically foolproof. To make it a little more grown up, just take it one step further: Brown the butter. When you slide the butter into the skillet, let it cook until the milk solids turn a toasty brown. It adds a rich, nutty flavor that makes the dish a bit more sophisticated with very little extra work.”

Yield: 4 servings; Time: 25 minutes.

To view this online, go to https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019980-pasta-with-brown-butter-and-parmesan.

Ingredients

Kosher salt

1 pound spaghetti, linguine or other long noodle

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water (2 heaping tablespoons kosher salt to about 7 quarts water) to a boil. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta, but don’t shake it fully dry.

In a skillet or Dutch oven large enough to hold the pasta (and preferably with a light-colored bottom so you can see the butter solids brown), melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the foam subsides, the milk solids turn golden-brown and it smells nutty and toasty, 3 to 4 minutes. (Watch carefully to see that it does not burn. If it does, start over.) Remove from heat immediately.

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and toss with the brown butter. Stir in the cheese until melted. Stir in pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the pasta is glossy with sauce (you probably won’t need the full 1/2 cup).

Serve with black pepper and more Parmesan on top.

ONE-PAN SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

This recipe comes from Pure Wow, and begins, “Guys, this lazy cook's one-pan spaghetti and meatballs recipe is a total game changer. The next time you want to get dinner on the table with ease—and not deal with a million dirty dishes--we've got you covered.” Makes 8 servings.

To view this online, go to https://www.purewow.com/recipes/one-pan-spaghetti-and-meatballs-recipe.

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, whisked

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Spaghetti

1 pound dried spaghetti

3 cups marinara sauce (store-bought or homemade)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Make the Meatballs: In a medium bowl, mix the beef with the garlic powder, parsley and Parmesan to combine. Add the egg and bread crumbs, and mix to combine.

Form the mixture into balls, using about 2 tablespoons of meat per ball.In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook until they are fully cooked and golden brown all over, 3 to 5 minutes.

Make the Spaghetti: Remove the meatballs from the pan and set them aside. Drain any grease from the pan, and then fill it with three inches of water and a few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti in an even layer and boil until al dente, 8 to 9 minutes (or according to package directions).

Drain the spaghetti, then return it to the pan. Add the marinara sauce and meatballs; toss to coat. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley. Serve warm, immediately.

NEW ENGLAND BAKED BEANS

This comes from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. It seems to be from a diabetic source, though I've checked on the diabetic sites that I've subscribed to and could not find this recipe listed.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

8 ounces dried navy, or Great Northern beans, washed, sorted

4 slices bacon, fried crisp, well drained, cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons dark molasses

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cover beans with 2 inches of water in large saucepan; heat to boiling and boil, uncovered, 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour.

Add more water to beans to cover, if necessary. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until beans are tender, about 1-1/4 hours. Drain beans; reserve liquid.

Mix beans, bacon, onion, garlic, tomato paste, molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, thyme, and salt in 1-1/2-quart casserole; add enough reserved cooking liquid to cover beans. Bake, covered, at 325 degrees F, stirring occasionally, 3 hours. Bake, uncovered, until beans are desired consistency, about 1 hour more.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/8 of recipe): Calories: 161, Fat: 2.1 g, Cholesterol: 2.7 g, Sodium: 246 mg, Protein: 7.8 g, Carbohydrate: 29.1 g

Diabetic Exchanges: 2 Bread, 1/2 Fat

CHICKEN JAMBALAYA

View this online at https://diabeticgourmet.com/diabetic-recipes/chicken-jambalaya

Source: AICR

Recipe and image appear courtesy of American Institute for Cancer Research.

Recipe Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut in 3/4-inch pieces

1 can (14.5 oz.) whole plum tomatoes in juice

1 rib celery, cut in 1/2-inch slices

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

1 scallion, chopped

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes

1 pinch ground cloves

1 cup hot long-grain brown rice, cooked according to package directions

Directions

In 3-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Saute, stirring frequently, until onion is tender but not brown, about 4 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring, until pieces are white on all sides.

Add tomatoes with liquid, breaking up with spoon. Mix in celery, bell pepper, scallion and tomato paste. Stir in bay leaf, thyme, pepper flakes and cloves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.

Remove bay leaf. Stir rice into chicken mixture until well combined.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 235; Fat: 4 g; Sodium: 203 mg; Protein: 17 g; Carbohydrates: 33 g

Diabetic Exchanges: 2 Low-Fat Meat, 2 Bread/Starch. 1 Vegetable