A Healthy Spin on Italian

Great Lakes Christmas Ale has 225 calories per bottle.  There, I said it.  I know how you feel, I wallowed for a minute too when I found out; however, we can't continue to dwell on our ghosts of Christmas past, we have to move on.  Lucky for us, I've had to make myself marketable as a potential Food Network star, which has led to the creation of some delicious, figure-friendly recipes that cater to those of us trying to get back on track (at least until Christmas Ale 2014 is released).  Last night I made a delicious pasta dish with tomato sauce, chicken, veggies, garlic, and parmesan cheese.  The best part, besides the taste of course, is that it's only 320 calories per serving!  The secret?  Substituting yellow squash for the spaghetti.  I swear you won't even taste the difference!

The first step is peeling the yellow squash into thin strips until that look like pappardelle pasta; continue peeling until you reach the seeds.

While you bring a quart of water to a boil, begin cooking the chicken.  Add the peppers, carrots, and garlic after the chicken is about halfway done cooking.  

Put the "pasta" in the salted boiling water once the chicken and vegetables are tender; it will only take 2 minutes for the squash to cook.  While the "pasta" is cooking, add 1/2 cup of your favorite tomato sauce to the skillet with the chicken and veggies and warm it over low heat.  Drain the squash thoroughly; water tends to stick in the crevices, and nobody likes watery pasta.  Add the squash to the skillet, sprinkling with a dash of salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. 

You can't even argue that this doesn't look like real deal pappardelle!  Mix the pasta into the sauce, keeping the skillet over low heat for a couple of minutes to allow the flavors to blend.  Top with parmesan cheese, and enjoy.  Who knew being healthy could taste so good!