Healthy Food- It's More Than Just a Salad

Eating healthy does not look the same for everyone, but one important factor remains the same for everyone who wants to eat healthfully: Balance.

This recipe is an example of the most important philosophy of successfully eating healthy: balance. It is a cream and lemon meat sauce pasta with fennel seed. The recipe is adaptable to various diet needs (Gluten Free/ Dairy Free/ and Vegetarian options are provided), and should win over most crowds. Although you may not want to share it.

The key to healthy eating: keeping things balanced.

There are no fancy skills needed to make his recipe, as long as you can chop, monitor, and stir, you can make this recipe. Let's dive into your new favorite comfort pasta dish!

Creamy fennel and mushroom pasta

What you need:

-1 pound of ground pork or pork sausage (can sub ground chicken or turkey, or if vegan, sub with your preferred vegan alternative, or add 3 cups more mushroom)

- 1 large white onion chopped

- 5 cloves of garlic chopped

- ¼ cup of half and half (sub coconut milk for vegan- add ½ cup if using coconut milk)

- ¼ cup of milk (almond, hemp, cashew, or canned milk)

- ½ cup-1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

- 2 cups of chopped crimini mushrooms

- 1 tablespoon of fennel seed

- 2-3 cups of spinach

- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

- 1 tablespoon lemon zest

- 1 teaspoon of red flake pepper

- ½ cup of parmesan cheese

- Freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)

- Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Add extra virgin olive oil and half of chopped onion to pan over medium-high heat and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add half of the chopped garlic, and sauté until fragrant. Add ground pork, cooking mostly through, about 10 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, transfer pork to a bowl and set aside. Add remaining onion to leftover pork fat (add additional olive oil if the pork did not yield at least 3 tablespoons, or if you are using an alternative to pork) and sauté for 5 minutes.

Begin boiling your water for pasta. Add pasta when water is boiling and cook to directions.

Add garlic to the sautéed onions and cook until fragrant, then add chopped mushroom. Sauté the mushrooms for about 7 minutes, or until they develop a nice brown color. Add the pork to the mushrooms, and deglaze the pan with half of the chicken broth, scraping the fond off the pan.

Once all the fond is deglazed, add the half and half and milk (or alternatives), and stir the mixture all together. Let mushrooms and pork simmer for 3 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving some pasta liquid for mixture. If your pork and mushrooms look dry, add more broth and milk to attain desired creaminess. Add pasta and spinach, and stir until spinach is wilted. Then add lemon juice, parmesan, red flake pepper, and black pepper. Add more liquid if mixture is too dry. Top with additional parmesan and red flake pepper or black pepper if desired.

Let me know how you enjoy this incredibly comforting pasta dish- it hits the spot and is a great example of how eating healthy does not need to be inherently boring. It goes wonderfully with an arugula salad dressed with a simple lemon-parmesan vinaigrette.