I Can Make You Hot! (36 page)

Pizza, Pasta, Potatoes, Grains, Vegetables, and Sides

Pizza Mexican Style

Pizzzzzzzza!

Pink Pizza

Seth Levine’s Pad Thai

Bar No-Pitti Pasta

Me Love You Springtime Noodles

Bowties and Green Pearls

Pasta with Oddkavodka Sauce

Michael Ferraro’s Chilled Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic, Tomato, Basil, and Parmesan

Crazy Crushed Potatoes

Yummy Yams

Pineapple Fried Rice

Black Beans and Rice

Barley Without the Bullfight

Quick-and-Easy Chunky Hummus

Have an Impromptu Pepper Party

Eggplant Lasagna

Guacamole with Homemade Baked Chips

Pizza Mexican Style

We know how much I love pizza, but when you’re raised in the Midwest with deep dish pizza from Uno, you know those pizzas can spend more time on your thighs than they do on a plate. That’s why I had to modify some of my childhood favorites. I don’t want to lose the memories I made while waiting in line for what seemed like hours, and fighting with my siblings, but I do want to erase the lingering caloric remnants.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Four 6-inch soft corn tortillas

4 teaspoons olive oil

8 ounces fresh, unsalted mozzarella cheese, sliced

12 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Place the tortillas on the baking sheet. Brush each one with a teaspoon of olive oil, top with the sliced mozzarella and tomatoes, and bake for 8 to 12 minutes until the tortillas are golden brown.

Pizzzzzzzza!

I am going out on a limb here: people love pizza! My pizza will wake up your taste buds without weighing you down. I love to make it with my kids. Who knows, perhaps they’ll become chefs and cook for me in my old age. One can only hope!

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

1 pound whole wheat pizza dough

1 cup Newman’s Own vodka sauce
^*

1 whole unsalted fresh mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces), thinly sliced

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spread the pizza dough as thick or thin as you prefer on a nonstick baking sheet. You can make it round or oblong—the shape doesn’t matter. Prebake the dough for 20 minutes.

Remove the crust from the oven and spread the sauce thinly over the surface of the dough, leaving a ½-inch border all around. Top with the mozzarella and return to the oven for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot!

Pink Pizza

Here’s a way to get all your healthy food groups on one pretty (pizza) plate.

SERVES
4
TO
6

1 pound whole wheat pizza dough

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup mixed salad greens

One 10-ounce box frozen spinach, cooked and drained

Two 4-ounce skinless salmon fillets (prepare using the
Easy Baked Salmon recipe
, without the fennel)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Spread the pizza dough out on a nonstick baking sheet as thick or thin as you prefer. Brush it with the olive oil and bake for about 25 minutes, or until crisp and golden.

Remove the crust from the oven, top with the salad greens, then with the spinach, and finally with the salmon.

Seth Levine’s Pad Thai

I love pad thai, and my friend Seth Levine, a fabulous chef, helped me to make these noodles healthy.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

One 10-ounce package frozen, thawed snow peas

¼ of a 1-pound Savoy cabbage, cored and shredded

1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 package firm tofu, cut into cubes

3 tablespoons store-bought peanut dressing

One 12-ounce package pad thai rice noodles, boiled for 3 to 4 minutes and drained

Chopped fresh cilantro and unsalted peanuts, for garnish

In a large frying pan or wok, heat the oil. When the oil shimmers, add the garlic and sauté for just a few minutes, until it is aromatic but not burned.

Add the vegetables and soy sauce and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the tofu and peanut dressing, then the noodles, and toss well. Top with the chopped cilantro and peanuts.

Bar No-Pitti Pasta

Bar Pitti is a well-known Italian restaurant in Manhattan’s West Village where on any given night you’re likely to see tables filled with movie stars and media moguls, and wait for hours to actually eat this pasta. This is my version of their fabulous pasta with peas and chorizo—and you won’t have to wait to enjoy it when you make it at home.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

One 16-ounce package linguini, whole wheat or plain

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup sliced, cured turkey chorizo

One 10-ounce box frozen peas

½ cup soy milk
^*
or cow’s milk

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper or red pepper flakes

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the linguini according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the chorizo until crispy.

When the chorizo is cooked, add the peas and cook through. Then add the soy milk and grated cheese and stir until the sauce is just creamy but not goopy. Drain the linguini and add it to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

a new way to store cooked pasta

If you have leftover cooked pasta (without sauce) put it in a Ziploc bag with a little bit of olive or vegetable oil. The olive oil will flavor it; the vegetable oil will keep it tasting like pasta.

Italians eat pasta virtually every day, and it doesn’t make them fat. We Americans need to learn to eat it the way the Italians do—in smaller portions, not overflowing the plate. When Americans eat pasta, we’re usually having two or more portions at once without even realizing it. Please, continue to eat pasta—but only one portion at a time.

When I was married, my husband (who is French, not Italian, by the way) loved cooking pasta—especially pasta with avocado, which is amazing. He was (and still is) a great cook, but wasn’t particularly interested in weight control. He’d sauté chopped garlic in olive oil, add the sliced avocado, and cook it briefly until it was slightly softened but not mushy. Then he’d season it with salt and pepper and pour the whole concoction over rigatoni.

My kids and I still love the dish, but we’ve learned to use portion control. We always eat this with a side salad. In fact, all pasta dishes should be served with a green vegetable or salad. That’s a Kelly rule: green and white go together!

Me Love You Springtime Noodles

Refresh yourself with this Asian-flavored noodle dish. The tofu provides protein and the mint makes it dance in your mouth.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

3 cups rice noodles

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small white onion, chopped

2 scallions, white part only, chopped

3 large shiitake mushrooms, chopped

1 cup cubed firm tofu

¼ cup water

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup chopped mint leaves

Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet. Add the garlic, onion, and scallions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, tofu, ¼ cup water, and the soy sauce. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat, toss with the noodles, stir in the mint, and serve.

VARIATION
: When assembling the dish, stir in 1 cup of diced daikon radish for a bit of crunch or 1 tablespoon of sesame oil for added flavor. This dish is also great cold. After draining the noodles, rinse them in cold water, transfer to a bowl, and stir in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to keep them from sticking together. Cool the cooked vegetables in a separate bowl. When both noodles and vegetables have cooked, toss them together, stir in the mint, and serve.

Bowties and Green Pearls

My own inner Italian mama is extremely health conscious, so instead of meat sauce, I came up with this pasta dish made with superhealthy salmon. Not only is it supertasty, it’s also superquick and easy.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

One 16-ounce package bowtie pasta

One 5-ounce can Alaskan salmon, flaked

One 10-ounce box frozen peas, cooked

2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large pot of salted water cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Drain the pasta, transfer to a serving bowl, and toss with the salmon and peas. Add the olive oil and toss to coat all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta with Oddkavodka Sauce

When you make this (especially for children) just be sure you cook off the alcohol so that you aren’t serving vodka to minors or have to assign a designated driver for your guests. I always serve this pasta with a side of steamed spinach.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

1 pound pasta of your choice

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, with their liquid

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

¾ cup skim soy milk

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

¹
/
₈
cup vodka

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 fresh basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
^*

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes, until golden but not burned.

Add the crushed tomatoes with their liquid and then the cherry tomatoes. Cook over medium heat until the cherry tomatoes are soft and falling apart, about 5 minutes.