Healthy Dinner? Say it isn't so!

After adding lemon to baby red potatoes the other night, I realized that lemon can make a nice, bright addition to certain dishes. I decided to try another dish that featured lemon. And, since I've been slacking on the veggies lately, I wanted to incorporate something green. That's where the healthy part comes in. I didn't use ANY butter, either.

I made mini penne pasta; while that was boiling, I brought chicken stock to boil in another pan, and added the florets from two stalks of broccolli.  In a saute pan, I heated about two tablespoons of olive oil, then added three small cloves of garlic, finely chopped. After sauteing the garlic for a minute, I added peeled shrimp, and cooked them until they were just opague. Over that, I squeezed the juice from half of a lemon, and added fresh cracked black pepper, then set it aside. When the pasta was done, I drained it, then added the broccoli after removing it from the broth. I stirred in the shrimp and garlic, and added enough of the chicken stock so that it would not be dry.  To finish the dish, I squeezed the rest of the lemon juice into it, and tossed in a handful of parmesan cheese, and salt to taste. To add a bit of smoothness to it, I added just a small amount of Honduran table cream.

Holy cow, for being a healthy meal, it had a lot of flavor, and was very filling!  The lemon added just the right amount of zing; the parmesan added a bit of a bite; the pasta, shrimp, and broccolli went very well together, so that nothing overwhelmed any of the other ingredients.  And the cream, it gave it just a touch of richness. This is definitely going to be a dish I will make again and again! I think next time, I will try it with chicken, simmered in the stock before the broccoli is added.

What's next on the list?  I bought two pounds of ground beef, so that will be in the mix somewhere. I also am going to make bruscetta with balsamic vinegar and fresh basil, and serve it on toasted bread rubbed with fresh garlic. And, I've been looking up minestrone soup recipes, I am so craving something healthy, light, and tomato-y.  : )