College Cooking: Healthy Italian!

No matter how cultured, adventurous, picky, simplistic, heat-seeking
, healthy, or unhealthy of an eater… one style of cuisine is unanimously adored by all: Italian! Many of us associate Italian food with carbalicious cheesey goodness, yes that’s the official term, and, mainly, a BIG no no for any diet.

In reality, Italian food is more than just cheesy pasta and carb-filled pizza—the cuisine of Italy has a diverse range of dishes to please every palate and diet. Each region has iconic recipes influenced by its terrain and any neighborin
g countries. Italian cuisine is representative of the Mediterranean diet (recognized as one of the world’s healthiest). It is filled with healthy Mediterranean products like vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, fresh fish, and olive oil. By generally consuming lean proteins, heart-healthy fats, and lots of fresh produce, traditional Italian food can be quite figure-friendly.
 
One of my favorite recipes is Linguini with Shrimp. This recipe balances carbs, protein, and veggies in a delicious way! It’s light, yet fills you up—a GREAT recipe to try before a long library session. This recipe makes four servings. When cooking for myself, I feel that making larger batches of a dish is actually more cost effective. Linguini with Shrimp is a great meal to portion out into freezer-safe bags and defrost in the microwave as you need them for a quick dinner!
 
Start by boiling a pot of water and add 3/4 pound of linguini (cook according to directions on box). Drain the
pasta and reserve one cup of the cooking water. Meanwhile, heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 chopped cloves of garlic and sauté for one minute. Add one pound of large shrimp (peeled and deveined) and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. Add 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup of white wine, and the reserved cup of cooking water to the skillet. Let the liquid simmer until it is reduced by half. While the sauce is reducing, trim one bunch of asparagus into one-inch pieces (or any vegetable of your liking). Salt and sauté until tender. Return the shrimp to the saucepan and stir in 1 cup of chopped parsley. Add the pasta to the shrimp mixture, tossing to combine. Add the asparagus and one container of cherry tomatoes, halved. Salt and pepper to taste.
 
Remember, by using fresh vegetables, low-fat proteins, and olive oil, you can balance out the carbs in pasta and
bread to create an extremely flavorful and Italian-inspired meal. Great Italian ingredients to use that give a lot of flavor to your dishes without a lot of calories include: fresh herbs (basil, parsley, etc), capers, olives, a dollop of ricotta cheese (as a finishing touch), and tomato-based sauces. Many Italian recipes can also be easily altered to fit a vegetarian diet by substituting meats for tofu and mushrooms. Try mixing chicken or fish and some of your favorite veggies with pasta and a simple Italian sauce (clam sauce, white wine sauce, tomato sauce, or just olive oil and herbs) to create a dish of your own!