It was 9:30 pm on Valentine’s Day. We had a reservation for 6:30 at a nice restaurant in Boston, but had to cancel because, shocker, it was snowing again. We decided to go out to brunch earlier instead, followed by making a romantic meal at home. But after eating practically half of a 20 ounce bag of snap pea crisps, I was not really hungry (the bag must fit a gallon of those things – the 20 ounce measurement is super deceiving). Poor Adrian was starving, since he has self-control with snacks, so I agreed to whip something up. Luckily we had a few things on hand, and before I knew it, I had created a delicious and healthy dinner. And so I ate it, since snap pea crisps do not count as dinner.
Since we’ve covered the fact that I was not really hungry, the last thing I wanted was a heavy pasta dish. In place of pasta I decided to use squash noodles, which are much lighter and add more veggies to the meal. You can also use zucchini (or a mix of the two), but we only had squash, so squash noodles it was.
A meatless meal wouldn’t have been filling enough for poor, starving Adrian, so I was sure to add some ground turkey to this dish. We also had mushrooms, spinach, onions and garlic on hand, so those went into the sauce as well.
The result was a hearty (but not heavy), veggie- and protein-packed dinner on the fly. It left me feeling satisfied and nourished, but not stuffed. And the vibrant yellow summer squash was a little reminder that the (literally) 8 feet of snow outside our house will melt someday. Maybe we will even find our grill again. Just maybe.
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- 1 jar of marinara sauce
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 8 oz package of Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red onion, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 large handfuls of baby spinach
- 2 large-sized summer squash
- Pour marinara sauce into a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate, continuing to heat.
- Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add ground turkey and cook until browned. Remove from pan and add to marinara sauce. Stir.
- Add mushrooms to saute pan, cooking for 3 minutes.
- Add onions and garlic to mushrooms. Saute until onions are translucent and garlic is browned. Remove from pan and add to marinara sauce. Stir.
- Place spinach in saute pan, pressing down with spatula and stirring often. Once wilted, add to marinara sauce and stir.
- While marinara sauce is warming and flavors are incorporating, prepare squash noodles by using a vegetable peeler. Peel from the top to the bottom for long noodles, moving to a new section on the squash when you begin to see the seeds.
- Fill a bowl with squash noodles and top with warm marinara sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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