Pasta Fagioli

Igredients:

• 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, diced
• 3 Cloves Garlic, chopped
• 1 can chipped tomatoes (14.5 oz)
• 3 24 oz no-sodium-added Chicken Broth (or stock, just add a little extra water)
• 3 C water
• 8 oz package pasta shells
• 1-2 tsp lo-so or no-so italian seasoning
• 1 bunch fresh, clean Kale (cut into small; pieces) (can combine or substitute with spinach, but kale gives the better flavor for this dish)
• 2 15-oz cans lo-so white beans (cananelli, great northern, pinto…)
• 1 T tomato paste (lo-so)
• 1/4 t pepper
• Parmesan cheese for topping
• fresh chopped parsley for topping

Prepartion:

• Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add garlic snd cook 1 minute longer.
• Stir in tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to simmer over high heat, then add pasta and seasoning. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Add kale and cook 5 minutes. 
• Reduce heat to medium; add beans, tomato paste and seasonings. Continue to heat through.
• Garnish individual servings with parmesan cheese and parsley

Caesar Dip/Dressing

This Dip/Dressing is SO flavorful!

Created by GKM Staff

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 4 large cloves Garlic
• 1 tbsp Grainy Dijon Mustard
• 3/4 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation:

• Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Puree. Drizzle in oil while pureeing if possible, otherwise just mix it all together and puree at once or stop and add oil intermittently.
• Adjust ingredients or process to needs and/or taste. You may want it thinner if you’re using it as a salad dressing or thicker if you’re using it for a dipping sauce. You may want to add pepper or a salt substitute.
• This recipe is very lo-so! It’s yummy! Adding anchovies (for a true caesar dressing) will only add a ton of sodium; try it first without the anchovies (or capers, a popular substitute for anchovies, but just as rich in sodium).

Serving Suggestions:

• This is such a flavorful dip…you can easily pair with veggies, lo-so snack dippers etc. and not miss a thing!!!
• serve as a dressing for a salad (thinner)
• serve as a dip (thicker) for:
  • vegetable tray
  • pretzels (no-salt) 
  • tortilla chips (no-salt and/or gluten-free for maximum health benefits)

Sizzling Sauces Fire up the Grill!

Recipe by Shannon Slowey

Summer and fall have the perfect weather to cook outside.  Cooking on a grill is low fat, healthy and full of smoky southwest flavor.  So I went on a mission to find a barbecue sauce that was tasty, low in sugar and sodium.  Beware marinades and barbeque sauces can be loaded with sodium and sugar.  Most barbeque sauces I found at the grocery store had 15 grams of sugar in 2 tablespoons.  Not to mention around 3oomg of sodium.  Good news: Heinen’s grocery store carries 2 BBq sauces made with only 9 grams of sugar and 100mg of sodium in 2 TBSP.  1.) Bone Suckin Sauce which is $4.99.  2.) Road House Southern Sunset for only $3.29.  Smokin’ Joe Jones makes a diabetic BBq sauce made with all natural ingredients and with no diet sugar flavor.  This sauce is available online for $5.95.  If your grocery store does not carry any of these brand names, talk to the store manager.  The store manager can order most products requested, so just ask.   Another option would be to make it yourself.  Here is a mouthwatering recipe that you can use as it is or add your own ingredients.  Add fresh chopped jalapenos for heat instead of hot sauce to keep the sodium down. 

Ingredients: 

Note:  To help keep the sodium down in your diet choose to use Heinz sodium free ketchup. Heinz also makes sugar free ketchup. 

•  1-3 tsp of liquid smoke
• 1 small onion, minced
• 3 clove garlic, minced or 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 can (12 oz) diet (sugar-free) cola - Splenda-sweetened preferred
• 1/4 cup (sugar-free or low sodium) ketchup
• 3 T mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 pinch ground cloves, chili powder, chipotle powder, smoked paprika (add more or less to taste)

Preparation:

Note:  Most Diet drinks are sweetened with Aspartame.  Aspartame will lose its sweetness when cooked at higher temperatures and for longer periods of time.  Use a soda sweetened with Splenda instead.  Splenda can withstand the heat: Pepsi One, Diet Rite, and Jones Diet sodas.

1) Cook onion in a non stick pan for about 20minutes.   Onion will caramelize and become sweeter with a golden color.   Add garlic at this point if you’re using fresh and stir it for half a minute or so.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients, plus about half a cup of water.  Stir well.

3) Simmer for 20-30 minutes.  It will cook down a bit and flavors will combine.

4) Adjust the spices so you have the balance you want - you can add vinegar or herbs at this point.

The recipe makes approximately 10 servings of 1/4 cup each.   Each serving has about 3.5 grams of carbohydrate and 200-400 mg of sodium depending on which ketchup you use.

Cold Feet Soup (a variation on Italian Wedding Soup)

*Gluten Free, Extremely Low Sodium, Very Low Cholesterol

I started with a Giada De Laurentiis recipe as a basic for Italian Wedding Soup; her recipe seemed to have lots of positive feedback on the Food Network.

In an effort to make the soup even healthier for the needs of my family (low sodium, low cholesterol etc…), I made some changes.

Here is the recipe as it reflects my changes. “Cold Feet Soup” is the name I chose because I use chicken as the meat ingredient!!!

Meatballs:

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt substitute (Tony Chachere’s is my current Fave)
• 1/3 cup raw rolled oats
• 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 lb ground chicken
• Freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

• 12 cups low-sodium chicken stock (Kitchen Basics No Sodium Added Stock is my Fave)
• 1 or more cups water
• 1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (spinach works or a combination of the two)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Meatballs: Stir the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese and ground chicken. Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Set aside.

Soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and endive; simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender; about 10 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle egg mixture into the broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg. Season the soup to taste with salt (substitute) and pepper.

• Some gluten-sensitive people don’t eat oats; if this is you, just skip the oats in the meatballs! If you’re not concerned about gluten, perhaps try adding some tiny pasta to the broth. If you are concerned about gluten and still want a bit more substance to the soup, some good brown rice adds a nice feature!

Serve soup warm and enjoy!

Do You Have Questions About GLUTEN?

Believe it or not even weight issues (along with any number of other health concerns) can be affected by a sensitivity to gluten.  If you think you or a member of your family might benefit from a gluten-free lifestyle, it’s definitely worth giving this website a look:

 How to cope with the gluten free diet? Tips and gluten free recipes.