Weekend Recipe: Turkey & Veggie Spaghetti

{Don’t feel like cooking? Check out old school Just A Titch with a post on what I’m not.}

- – -

One of the things that’s been hardest for me to give up while eating more healthfully has been pasta. I love pasta. Like, unhealthy love. Unfortunately, my hips and stomach feel the same, meaning that when I bulk up on pasta, it sticks around. But sometimes, I just have to cave. This Turkey Spaghetti recipe has been my lifesaver. Before we start the directions, let me be clear: I fly by the seat of my pants while making this. If you don’t have one veggie, substitute another. If you’d prefer to use ground beef instead of ground turkey, go for it. Really. This is just one version of one of my favorite meals.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. of ground turkey (I prefer Jennie-O ground turkey with Italian seasonings—it has a little extra flavor)

Brown rice or whole wheat pasta (regular works fine, I’m just aiming for a healthier version)

2 1/2 cups veggies (I used peppers, broccoli and asparagus for this recipe)

Spaghetti sauce (make your own, or use a jar if you’re less ambitious, as I am)

Directions

1. Boil the water for the pasta and add the pasta whenever you’re ready! I cheat—I never wait for water to boil!

2. Start cooking the turkey in a little bit of olive oil. Like this:

3. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta. I don’t have exact measurements, but my goal is to end up with two cups of cooked pasta.

4. Add the veggies to the meat so they can begin cooking. I used frozen peppers, and fresh broccoli and asparagus, but again, your call. Mine looked like this:

5. At this point, I like to add some fresh herbs and spices. I chopped some basil from my plant, added some fresh pepper and a tiny bit of sea salt, as well as some fresh garlic.

6. Add your sauce to the mixture of meat and veggies, and turn down the heat. This is the sauce that I used—I added half a jar:

7. I left the sauce simmer while the pasta finished cooking, stirring a bit so the sauce had a chance to coat the veggies and meat.

8. When the pasta is al dente, and the sauce is hot, combine everything. This makes two one-cup servings of pasta, with a generous amount of sauce. Since I was cooking just for me, I put half away for tomorrow’s lunch, and then combined the rest to eat immediately!

It was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Plus, it satiated my pasta craving without being total junk—the veggies really help you feel full while obviously giving you good nutrients.

Delicious!