My family is on a mission to be a little bit healthier. We are by no means going on a strict diet (they never seem to work long term anyway) and as of right now, we aren't even counting our calories (it's too time consuming and I, especially am too forgetful). But what we are trying to do is eat more healthy, well balanced meals and make better choices about what we cook and how we cook it and ultimately, what and how much we eat.
So, tonight I attempted to make a healthy"ish" (a word that I strongly believe belongs in the Webster's dictionary if it is not already) vegetarian dish for dinner. I had picked up some small yellow squash and zucchini the last time I was at the grocery store and I knew I wanted to use them. I also knew that I was having a serious craving for some rich and creamy alfredo sauce and I wanted to somehow incorporate that into what I was making, all while making the healthiest version possible. Here's what I came up with.
Ingredients:
2 small zucchini
2 small yellow squash
3 tbsp. butter, divided
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups skim milk
1 cup Kraft Grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
I started with two small yellow squash and two small zucchini and my trusty little mandolin.
Next, I sliced them up really thin and using my kitchen scale, I portioned out 6oz. of each and set them aside for later.
Now, it was time to make the alfredo sauce. I started by melting about 2 tbsp. butter in a saucepan.
And then I added one very large clove of minced garlic to the melted butter and let it brown.
When the garlic is nice and browned, add 1/4 cup flour.
Using a whisk, mix the flour into the melted butter and garlic. It will look like the photo below.
The next step is to add 2 cups of milk, 1/4 cup at a time, whisking well after each addition. When all the milk has been mixed in, stir in the cup of parmesan cheese and 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper.
Now it's time to start assembling the dish. I used a standard sized glass pie dish and spread a tablespoon of butter on the bottom and up the sides. I then formed a layer of the slices of yellow squash around the sides of the pan. Once the sides of the pan were lined, I continued to layer the slices of squash in a circular pattern, working my way from the outside in to the center.
It looks so pretty, I'd like to leave it just like that. But pretty isn't always yummy and we want this dish to be delicious, so we're going to add 1/4 cup of the alfredo sauce.
Then add the remainder of the yellow squash, layering it in a circular pattern, like you did with the first layer, this time not worrying about adding more to the sides of the pan.
Add another 1/4 cup of the sauce and top it with a layer of the zucchini, working in the same pattern.
Top your first layer of zucchini with another 1/4 cup of the alfredo sauce. Layer the remainder of the zucchini on top using the same method we have been all along. Pour the remainder of the alfredo sauce on top, spreading it around evenly.
Finally, sprinkle 1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs evenly around the top of the dish.
Bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes. When you take it out of the oven, let it sit to cool off for at least 5-10 minutes. Your cooked dish should look something like this.
Because squash has a lot of water in it that tends to separate when cooked, you will probably notice a lot of liquid in your dish. Just ignore it! This dish is really so delicious, you won't even notice the extra liquid in it. Ready to see an up-close picture of this yummy dish?
We ate this as a light main dish, but it would probably be better as a delicious side dish for other meals. I hope you enjoy this simple and healthy"ish" recipe. -Kay
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