A Healthier Choice...

So I have been trying to follow (and doing a prettya darn good job) my friend Amy with her Clean Eats.  I am a fish person so I eat a lot of fish.  However, I was browsing online yesterday and found some "Clean Eats" that looked and sounded rather good.

Deep Dish Pizza 

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) extra lean turkey sausage

2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

1 ½ c. mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. corn meal

1 (1 lb.) whole wheat pizza dough

6 oz. low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided

1 c. tomato sauce

1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut a slit along the length of the sausage and discard casing. Place sausage into bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a medium sauté pan over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add peppers and mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer mixture into a bowl.

Return pan to burner over medium-high heat. Add sausage meat and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 4 minutes. Place sausage onto a paper towel lined plate. Brush inside of a 12 inch deep dish pizza pan with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll out dough to 14 inches in diameter. Place dough into pan and press to sides and bottom of pan gently, stretching dough 1 ½ inches up the side of the pan.

Sprinkle half the mozzarella over bottom of crust. Evenly layer sausage, then sautéed vegetables onto crust. Pour tomato sauce evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Place pan in oven and bake for 20 -25 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into 12 wedges. Sprinkle each slice with ¼ tsp. oregano and serve immediately. Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 186, Fat: 9 g., Carbs: 17 g., Protein: 10 g.

Deconstructed Lasagna

Ingredients:

·        1 lb extra-lean ground beef

·         1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped

·         2 cloves garlic, diced

·         2 cups eggplant, unpeeled and cubed

·         1/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced

·         1 cup no-salted-added tomato sauce, divided

·         1/2 tsp dried oregano

·         1/4 tsp ground black pepper

·         1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

·         1 1/2 cups whole-wheat fusilli pasta

·         1 cup whole-wheat elbow macaroni

·         1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

·         1/2 cup tomato, diced

·         10 fresh basil leaves, torn

·         1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

·         1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella, shredded

·         Additional basil leaves, as garnish

Instructions:

1.    In a large skillet over medium-high, sauté beef, onion, garlic, eggplant and carrots until meat is cooked thoroughly, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup sauce, oregano and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Then uncover and stir in spinach until just beginning to wilt.

2.    Meanwhile, cook fusilli according to package directions in a medium pot. Drain and set aside in a bowl. Next, cook macaroni according to package directions using the same medium pot. Drain and add to fusilli.

3.    In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, tomato, basil and oil.

4.    In a large bowl, add beef mixture, both pastas, remaining ½ cup sauce and mozzarella, stirring until well combined. Then stir in ricotta mixture, until all contents are combined. Serve, garnished with additional basil leaves.

Nutrients per 1 1/2 cup-serving: Calories: 420, Total Fat: 8 g, Sat. Fat: 3 g, Carbs: 57 g, Fiber: 9 g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 33 g, Sodium: 190 mg, Cholesterol: 50 mg

Try these two recipies and let me know your thoughts.  I am going to make both of these this weekend.  Remember "CLEAN" is foods that are not processed and don't contain ingredients that you can't pronounce.  Join me as I am joining Amy in the (her) Clean Eat Challenge!