Meal Prep: Healthy, Italian-Inspired Dishes

One of the hardest things about maintaining a healthy diet is fighting the cravings for our favorite, and usually unhealthy, foods.  For me, it's cheeseburgers, cupcakes and Pasta! Just about every Italian Dish out there is a temptation for me.  I love Lasagna with Crab Stuffed Cheesy Garlic Bread but alas, I try to keep any indulging limited to Sunday Dinner and date nights.   Therefore, when I start feeling those cravings, I came up with this meal prep plan to provide healthy alternatives for my favorite Italian dishes.  The key is opting for vegetarian choices over most meat as well as using healthy veggies as an alternative to carb-loaded pastas.  And using low-skim/ part-skim, low-fat cheeses.  

On The Menu

Italian Breakfast Strata

Healthy Mini-Frittatas

'Stomp the Grapes' Smoothie

Caprese Snack Kabobs

Quinoa Stuffed Parmesan Tomatoes

Spaghetti Squash/ Turkey Marinara (Or Ultimate Veggie Spaghetti)

Lisa's Loaded Paninis 

Portobello Mushroom Parmesan with Zoodles

Tilapia Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini & Carrots over Mushroom-Zucchini Risotto

BREAKFAST & SNACK DISHES

Italian Breakfast Strata - The great thing about this strata is it can be eaten as pretty

much any meal of the day, even though I call it a breakfast meal.  The fall root veggies and turkey kielbasa sausage make this a hearty way to start the day or a quick lunch or dinner amidst a busy schedule:
Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash, peeled, center & seeds discarded, and cubed
3-4 small beets, greens & roots removed, and peeled, cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
6 slices Italian bread, cubed (or other preferred bread option)
3 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1/2 turkey kielbasa sausage link, sliced into 1/4" slices
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup low-skim, shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. sweet basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder

1. Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees F.
2. On a greased baking sheet, spread out butternut squash cubes, beet cubes and carrot slices.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Please in oven and roast in oven for approximately 20-30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, and place inside a greased baking dish.
6. Mix in cubed pieces of bread and turkey kielbasa sausage slices with roasted veggies.
7. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, cheese, milk and seasonings.  Mix well until all ingredients are blended and egg yolks are broken up in mixture.
8. Pour over veggies, sausage and bread cubes in baking dish.
9. Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick can be stuck through the center and come out clean.
10. Let cool 5 minutes and serve...Enjoy!

Healthy, Mini-Frittatas - 
Frittatas are a popular Italian breakfast dish, usually made as a full pie dish to cut pieces from, I made these mini-frittatas to make individual breakfast on the go a snap.
Ingredients - Makes 5-6 large muffin tin servings:
1 whole egg
3 egg whites
3/4 reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup of zucchini, diced
1/2 cup yellow onion, minced
1/2 cup Bella mushrooms, diced
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. sweet basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 pkg. frozen turkey breakfast sausage links (optional)
Spray olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a large muffin (6-muffin count) tin.
3. Optional - cook turkey breakfast sausage links as per package instructions and cut into desired sized pieces.
4. In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and onions.
5. Cook until onions are slightly translucent, then add zucchini and mushroom.
6. Cook until all veggies are soft and drain of excess liquid.  Transfer veggies (and sausage) to mixing bowl.
7. In the mixing bowl, add in all other ingredients and mix well until egg yolk is broken up.
8. Pour into muffin tin cups 3/4 of the way (frittatas will rise slightly)
9. Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick can be stuck through the center of the muffins and come out clean. 

'Stomp the Grapes' Smoothie - Click here for smoothie recipe

Caprese Snack Kabobs

Ingredients - 8 kabobs:
1 carton of grape tomatoes - approximately 21
21 bite-sized cubes of low-skim mozzarella cheese
1-2 tbsp. of pesto
8 skewer sticks

1. Skewer grape tomatoes and cheese cubes alternating (I did 3 of each for my skewers)
2. Drizzle with pesto...Enjoy!

Lunches, Dinners & Side Dishes

Quinoa Stuffed Parmesan Tomatoes

Ingredients - 2 servings:

2 large tomatoes

1 cup preferred quinoa (I use roasted red pepper & basil flavored quinoa)

1/4 cup crushed croutons (preferred flavor, I use Italian Herbs)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated

3/4 cup low-skim, shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare quinoa as per instructions on bag or package.
   
3. If not using pre-seasoned quinoa, add in preferred classic Italian herbs.
4. Mix parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
5. Take the tomatoes, and cut the tops off at approximately 1/4 of the tomato.
6. Spoon (or use a paring knife) to remove the center seeds and flesh of the tomato. 
7. Place tomatoes in a baking dish or baking sheet.
8. Fill in with quinoa, about half way, then fill the rest with bread crumb and cheese mixture.
9. Top each tomato with mozzarella cheese.
10. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a golden brown crust forms on the cheese.

Spaghetti Squash/ Turkey Marinara (Or Ultimate Veggie Spaghetti) I keep this "spaghetti" dish pretty simple when it comes to meal preps, but if you want something with a little more pizzazz that is also vegetarian and gluten free, click here for the recipe for my Ultimate Veggie Spaghetti.  

Ingredients - makes 4 servings:

1 lbs ground turkey, Italian seasoned (Jennie-O)

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup marinara sauce

1 spaghetti squash
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 slices Italian bread (or other preferred bread) - cut into 4 pieces each for mini-garlic bread pieces (optional)

grated Parmesan & Romano cheese (optional)

1. Brown ground turkey in a large skillet over medium to high heat.  (If not already seasoned, add spices like oregano and sweet basil)
2. Once turkey is cooked (no longer pink), drain any excess liquid.  Add seasonings - garlic powder, onion powder and red pepper flakes - mix well until meat is evenly coated.
3. Add in marinara sauce.  Mix well with turkey and reduce heat to low.
4. Cut steam slices in spaghetti squash, and place on microwavable plate (Paper plates and plastic plates not recommended) 
5. Microwave for approximate 10-20 minutes (depending on size of squash) in 5 minutes intervals, until squash is softened. (Use a kitchen towel or oven mitt to test as squash will be hot!)
6. Remove squash from microwave, and slit open length-wise and horizontally to "open" squash completely.
7. Separate out spaghetti squash from center guts and seeds, and scrape the walls of the squash for good spaghetti strings.
8. Drizzle spaghetti squash with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan cheese.
9. Drizzle bread pieces with olive oil and garlic powder (optional).

Lisa's Loaded Italian Paninis

Ingredients:
2 slices Italian bread (or preferred bread)
2 oz. roasted chicken breast
2 slices smoked ham
2 slices smoked turkey breast
1/2 tbsp honey mustard
1/2 tbsp pesto
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 slice havarti cheese
2-3 sundried tomatoes
slices of red onion
1 tbsp of butter (optional)

1. Heat up panini pan or panini griddle and grease with spray olive oil.
2. Butter one side of each bread with butter (optional)
3. On one slice of bread on the un-buttered side, spread on honey mustard, then layer as
   
   follows: spinach, sundried tomatoes, red onion sliceschicken breast, ham, turkey and havarti cheese. 
4. On the other slice of bread, on the unbutter-ed side, spread on pesto and place on top of layers of sandwich.
5. Place in panini griddle, and either close or manually press if using a panini pan (if using a pan turn over after one side is golden brown).
6. Remove from panini griddle when both sides golden brown and cheese is melting. 

Portobello Mushroom Parmesan with Zoodles
Ingredients - makes 3-4 servings:
2 large whole portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour

2 egg, separated
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup light olive oil
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1 cup low-skim, shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp. shaved parmesan cheese

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1. Clean tops of mushroom caps and gently spoon out the gills from the inside (remove a stem if present).
2. In a shallow dish, mix panko bread crumbs, flour and grated parmesan cheese.  In a second shallow dish, add 1 egg and 1/2 cup of milk and gently whisk together until well blended. 
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
4. Take a mushroom cap and dip in egg wash, and then in bread crumbs.  Set aside for a few minutes and do the same with other mushroom cap.
5. Repeat egg wash and bread crumb dipping with each mushroom cap and then place in skillet gill side/ inside down first.
6. Press caps flat as needed, once the inside breading becomes a golden brown, flip to other side and press flat as needed.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
8. In a pie dish, pour approximately 1 cup of preferred marinara sauce and spread to cover the bottom of dish.
9. Place caps in dish, make sure they do not overlap each other.
10. In a mixing bowl, combine riccotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, 1 egg, the remaining milk and seasonings. Mix until the consistency is a creamy, cheese mixture.
11. Spread cheese mixture over each mushroom cap evenly. 
12. Top cheese mixture with more marinara, then sprinkle shaved parmesan cheese on top of each cap.
13. Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until cheese is all fully melted.
14. Remove from oven and cool; serve over zoodles.

For Zoodles:

3 small-medium sized zucchini

2-3 cups water

2-3 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

1. Thoroughly wash zucchini and remove both ends of each.
2. Using a spiralizer, spiralize zucchinni and place into a pot with the water over medium to high heat.
3. Loosely cover and allow to steam until zucchini softens.
4. Drain from water and toss with olive oil and garlic powder. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tilapia Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini & Carrots over Mushroom Risotto

Fish Roll-up Ingredients - makes 2 servings:
2 filets of tilapia (or other favorite white, thin fish)
2 tsp. lemon pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
salt to taste
1/2 zucchini, peeled and long julienne cut
1 carrot, peeled, cut in half and long julienne cut
1 tbsp olive oil
4 toothpicks

1. Preheat oven to 315 degrees F.
2. Cut filets in half length-wise.
3. Wrap half filets around a few julienne carrots and zucchini, and drive a toothpick through fish from top to bottom to hold the roll-up together and place on a greased baking sheet.
4.  Repeat with other filet halves and veggies; season each roll-up with lemon pepper and garlic powder and salt.
5. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until fish flakes.

Mushroom-Zucchini Risotto Ingredients - makes approximately 4-5 1 cup servings:
1/4 cup onion, minced onion
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 
1/4 cup zucchini, diced 
1/4 cup mushrooms, diced
1 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Approximately 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1. In a small pot, add onion, zucchini and mushrooms and 1 tbsp. of olive oil over a medium heat until veggies onion and is translucent.
2. Add rice and toss all together until rice is is coated well with oil (you may need to add more olive oil.
3. Add wine and bring to a low boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes uncovered, stirring frequently until liquid is reduced by half.
5. Add 1/2 cup of broth to pot and continue to simmer and stir frequently until broth has soaked into rice.
6. Continue step 5 until risotto reaches the desired consistency: a creamy consistency, with rice soft on the outside but slightly al dente on the inside when you bite into it.
7. Once consistency is reached, top off with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and parmesan cheese.