Wednesday, June 15, 2011

switcheroo

I am proud to say my carnivore has been making some more healthy choices lately with his eating habits. (Please note, he refuses to call this a diet - instead it is a "lifestyle change.") The results have been fantastic. He has more energy, has had to have his tailor take in several pairs of pants, and has dropped over forty pounds!

One of the simplest switches he has made is to whole grain pasta instead of the regular white stuff. As you might imagine, I being the more healthy eater to begin with had no problem trading in the brown spaghetti for the usual when I made our dinners. And yes, I know it tastes different, but there are so many benefits to eating whole grains - everything from lowering your chance of diabetes or the number on the scale to reducing your risk of breast cancer or childhood asthma. The list goes on. You can read more about them here. So, I suggest you try this simple switch yourself with this healthy dish.

To make enough for you and your carnivore  to eat on for a few days you will need the following:
1 box of whole grain thin spaghetti
20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
several small zucchini or squash (I used our CSA goodies), sliced
1/2 large tomato, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tblsp of olive oil
1 tblsp of butter
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese, optional

Start by boiling you water and cooking the pasta according to the directions until al dente. At the same time prepare two skillets. In one heat two table spoons of olive oil. In the other heat the butter. Add one minced clove of garlic to each. Heat on low until fragrant. In the pan with the olive oil, add in the tomato and most of the zucchini. In the butter pan, add in the rest of the zucchini and the shrimp. Salt and pepper each to taste. Saute until the veggies are tender and the shrimp is pink. Once the pasta is ready, drain and toss with the remaining olive oil and more salt and pepper. Separate the pasta into two large mixing bowls. Add the ingredients from each pan into their own bowl. Toss thoroughly until the ingredients are combined. Serve a generous portion while hot and top with parmesan cheese if desired.

So there you have it. A super simple switch that can help you be more healthy. Even my carnivore can get on board with that...as long as he doesn't have to give up pasta all together. (Remember, it is a "lifestyle change," not a diet.)

2 comments:

  1. Good on your husband, that's such wonderful news! :) I'm having a hard time getting my own husband to switch to whole grain pasta -- he'll do the bread and most everything else, but the pasta, he's a hardcore white starch kinda guy.

    ... fortunately for us, we don't have pasta terribly often. ;)

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  2. Well we have pasta all the time, but bread is a big switch too!

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