Rustic Kamut Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage

Back in the day when we used to eat without a second thought, spaghetti and meat sauce was a big hit at my house. My mom would make her famous tomato meat sauce with ground beef and we would cook up some white pasta and sit down to a family dinner. I still love my mom's old recipe as a treat -minus the white pasta. But one day it dawned on us, "hey, why can't we just clean it up and make it more nutritious?" Of course!

Well that's exactly what we did. Served with some good wine of course:

Ever since I picked up Tosca Reno's first eat clean diet cook book, I've been inspired to take recipes and turn them into healthy every day meals. It's become something of a hobby that I get to enjoy with my family when we come together to make dinner. We really like cooking together. And after all, real food should taste good and have the best of both worlds (nutrition & flavour).

This is now a recipe that we like to make over and over again. It's comforting, it's healthy, it's whole grain and most importantly it tastes really good! If you're looking for something to go with a good bottle of red wine, then this is a recipe for you. We made this last weekend and enjoyed it with a glass of Ravine's VQA Red Coat from St. Davids Ontario. 2010 was a great year for wine in Niagara.

I like to call this a rustic tomato sauce because the tomatoes are roasted down in the oven along with other veggies and herbs, making it less of a traditional pasta sauce. It uses plump fresh Ontario grown tomatoes, asparagus, and roasted sweet red bell peppers all roughly chopped. Instead of the ground beef we picked up some organic locally prepared low sodium extra lean turkey sausage from Nicholyn farm in Horseshoe Valley. Another great place that I like to frequent. And ancient grain kamut spaghetti to replace the white pasta. I would strongly suggest topping it with a little bit of soft goat cheese like I served it here, no measurements needed:

The fresh basil came from my herb garden.

Rustic Kamut Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups of mixed tomatoes, chopped (plum, yellow, cherry)
• 1 tbsp each of olive oil and red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 large red bell pepper, roasted and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of sliced mushrooms
• 3-4 turkey sausages, grilled and sliced
• 2-3 tbsp fresh basil, torn
• 4 large knobs of goat cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425* F. In a large baking dish, combine chopped tomatoes, asparagus, olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, sea salt and garlic. Place in oven to roast for 10 minutes.
2. Saute the mushrooms in a medium sauce pan then add them, roasted red pepper, and grilled turkey sausage to the tomato mix. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes in the oven.
3. Meanwhile, start cooking the pasta for 8-10 minutes.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and toss with the tomato mixture and half of the basil.
5. Serve among 4 plates and top with fresh torn basil and goat cheese.

Cheers to another home cooked meal!

If you like flavourful food you do not want to miss this one.

Let's Talk Breakfast

Happy Thursday!

One more day to go and its the long weekend here in Canada.

Yippee!

First, I have news. I have learned the greatness that is twitter! Yep, edible sound bites is now on twitter. I was skeptical about it at first, but now I'm obsessed. So if you tweet be sure to follow me for healthy tips and great recipes:)

And now onto Food. Mmm...breakfast.

Weekday mornings can be pretty crazy in our house. There's lots of rushing and attempting to apply make-up at the breakfast table while eating as quickly as possible, so we can all get out the door on time. Does this conjure up any hilarious images? Here let me help you with that:

bahahahahahaha. That was such a good episode. My brother and I used to watch The Simpsons all the time after school at my grandparents house. We'd listen for them coming down the hallway and quickly change the channel if we heard them.

Getting back to breakfast, I'm usually the one to make it for everyone and on most days it's oatmeal. Oh who am I kidding, its almost always oatmeal. Rolled oats cook quick enough and are healthy, filling, warm, and comforting. And now that wild blueberries are in season I've been adding them to my oats like there's no tomorrow. I can't get enough! I picked these guys up in Muskoka on the weekend. You have to love the highway summer fruit stands. Local, fresh, and delicious.

PB & Blueberry Banana Oatmeal (serves 3)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3 cup water (or 1 1/2 each, water and milk)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 rounded tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 2 tbsp wild blueberries

Method:

1. Mix the oats and cinnamon together and add to water/milk on the stove top. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally until desired thickness and consistency. I aim for 5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and let stand, covered, for 2 minutes
2. Stir in the flax and top with sliced banana, peanut butter, wild blueberries, and more cinnamon.

This was so satisfying. Whenever I have oats I can be certain that it keeps me full for a solid 3 hours. The perfect eat clean breakfast.

How do you like your oats?