Turkey, Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shells

My friend made this amazing recipe up!  It actually made me motivated to try stuffing shells with all sorts of different things!  Points plus wise, it's 2 points for 1 shell, but 5 for 2 shells, so that means every 2 shells is 5 points.  3 shells is 7 points, 4 shells is 10, and so on.  But I guarantee you will at least eat 4 of these delicious shells!  The points plus value does not include the french bread (we LOVE bread), but depending on the kind you get, ours was 4 points for 4 1/4" of bread!

I rate it 5 out of 5 stars!  And I'm not just saying that because she's my friend!

Turkey, Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Shells

Makes 36 shells

Points plus value: see above paragraph

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground turkey

1-10 oz package frozen spinach, defrosted and water squeezed out

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

1/2 cup Egg Beaters

1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

36 jumbo shells

1 1/2 cups part skim milk shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

2 cups Newman's Own Vodka pasta sauce, divided

Directions:

1. Cook shells according to package.

2. Meanwhile, brown ground turkey in a non-stick saucepan.  Transfer to large bowl.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Add spinach, parsley, bread crumbs, Egg Beaters, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Vodka pasta sauce.  Mix thoroughly.

4. Rinse shells in cold water once done cooking.  Stuff shells and spread remaining 1 1/2 cups of Vodka sauce over shells and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts, about 15 min.

Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

I went out to Indian food a few weeks ago and took the time to look up ahead of time to see what would be low(er) points to eat. I found Baingan Bharta.  I never had it before, but when I did, I fell in love!  So, I decided to try to make my own and it's a good vegetarian dish for lent anyway.  I got the recipe from allrecipes.com (by Yakuta).  I found that it is very similar, but not exactly like an Indian restaurant.  I needed the rice to make it an adequately filling meal, although I definitely could have eaten more!

I rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars

Baigan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)
Makes 4 servings
9 WW points plus per serving (only 4 without the rice)

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (I diced mine)

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (I could only find this at an Indian grocery store)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tomato, diced

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

4 cups of white rice (cooked)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop into small pieces.
3. Cook rice according to package.
4. While rice is cooking, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in cumin seeds and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
5. Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and jalapeno pepper, and season with salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes over high heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5 minutes. Place over 1 cup rice and garnish with cilantro to serve.