Are you ready to get creative to pack more nutrients into your pasta dishes? Try mixing in spiral vegetables. They add fiber and nutrients, as well as color and texture, transforming plain spaghetti into a meal you’d serve guests.
Adding veggies to your pasta can also help when trying to reduce grocery costs and waste. It’s a great way to use up the veggies in the back of your fridge or at the bottom of your vegetable drawer.
In this recipe, the veggies and whole wheat pasta boost the fiber to a whopping 11.5 grams per serving.
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The Institute of Medicine recommends women consume 25 grams of fiber per day; Men should get 38 grams. However, Americans consume just 15 grams per day on average. Fiber is important for maintaining a healthy lower digestive tract, preventing constipation, lowering your LDL (bad) cholesterol and regulating blood sugar. It also keeps you full and lowers your risk of heart disease and some cancers, including colon cancer.
Good sources of fiber are plant foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Adding at least one of these food groups to every meal or snack can help you stay within recommended guidelines.
In this delicious recipe, we’ve topped spiralized carrots and whole wheat spaghetti with a hearty ragout of ground turkey, canned tomatoes, leeks, celery and spices. If you don’t have a spiralizer, simply use a vegetable peeler to cut the carrots into long, thin strips.
Bethany Thayer is a Registered Dietitian with the Henry Ford Health System. For more recipes and health information, visit henryford.com/blog and if you have any questions about today’s recipe, email HenryFordLiveWell@hfhs.org.
Turkey ragout over carrots and spaghetti
serves: 4 / Preparation time: 20 minutes / Total time: 50 minutes
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 large leek, chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
12 ounces ground turkey breast
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes with no added salt
8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti, dry
12 ounces carrots, peeled and shaved or spiralized into thin ribbons
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Fill a 5 liter saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Heat the olive oil in a large (14 inch) skillet over medium-high heat and add the garlic, leeks, celery, pepper, and salt. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the turkey and cook until browned while stirring and finely chopping into smaller pieces. Add the cinnamon and tomatoes, stir until well combined and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Place the spaghetti in the pot of boiling water and cook according to package directions; Add the carrots for the last minute of cooking.
Once the pasta is al dente (cooked but slightly firm), drain and divide the pasta evenly among 4 plates. Garnish the pasta and carrots with the turkey stew and sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese and ½ tablespoon chopped parsley.
By Henry Ford LiveWell.
460 calories (15% fat), 8 grams fat (2 grams sat. fat), 64 grams carbohydrates34 grams protein455mg sodium46mg cholesterol237mg Calcium, 11.5 grams dietary fiber Food exchange: 2 Strength, 3 1/2 Protein, 3 Vegetables.