Healthy Cobb Salad

I recently came across a recipe for Cobb Salad: iceberg lettuce, bacon, egg, bleu cheese, avocado, and ranch dressing. Sounds delicious, but loaded with fat. I made a healthier version today for lunch:

1-2 cups Spinach leaves, washed
2 strips turkey bacon, cooked & sliced
1 boiled egg, chopped. Yolk removed
1 tomato, chopped
A sprinkle of feta cheese
1-2 tablespoons of avocado
2 tablespoons Homemade dressing

Spinach is loaded with vitamins and is a good source of fiber and protein so spinach is always my first choice when making a salad. I used turkey bacon to cut out the fat real bacon has, and discarded the egg yolk to avoid the cholesterol. Bottled salad dressings contain a lot of sodium, preservatives and dyes. Here's my favorite salad dressing recipe:

Balsamic Vinegarette Salad Dressing
2/3 cup Olive oil
1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon water
Combine all ingredients in an enclosed container and shake. This can keep in the refridgerator for about one week.

Bethenny Frankel also has a healthy recipe for Ranch Dressing. 

TIP: Know how much salad dressing you're consuming.   Measure before pouring!

Ravioli Lasagna

Two friends brought us versions of this recipe when Jack Henry was born.  I had never heard of lasagna made with ravioli and thought it'd be super easy to make so I doctored up the basic recipe.  This is now my go-to dish that I make for new neighbors or friends who've just had a baby.  If we have friends or family over and I make this dish, I'm always asked to forward the recipe.  You can make one huge casserole, or make 2 smaller ones.  They freeze great, too.

1-24 oz jar marinara sauce (more if you prefer more sauce)
1 large bag of spinach & cheese ravioli, thawed (Costco)
1-10oz box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
8oz  shredded mozzarella cheese
1 zucchini
1 squash
1 container mushrooms
3/4-1 lb. chicken sausage
2-3 cloves minced garlic
preheat oven to 400.
wash and slice veggies then sautee the zucchini, squash and mushrooms in a pan.  i season them with olive oil, salt, pepper, & italian seasoning.  set aside. 
using the same pan, brown chicken sausage (remove casings), season with olive oil and red pepper flakes.  set aside.
spoon a thin layer of sauce into the bottom of a 9x13inch baking dish. layer the ravioli, spinach, veggies, and meat.  sprinkle minced garlic on top.  layer half the sauce and half the mozzarella.  put one more layer of ravioli on top then finish with sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella.
cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. uncover and bake until bubbling 10 minutes.
prep time: 30 min.

It's pretty hard to mess up this recipe.  I'd love to try this vegetarian style, adding in broccoli and eggplant, but that wouldn't fly with the hubs.  He has to have meat.  I rarely eat red meat so I always use chicken or turkey sausage when I make this.  I buy whatever is on sale at the meat counter. The chicken sausage was on sale this week at Sprouts for $2.99/lb.   It's fresh and so good.  Also, I would've preferred to use whole wheat ravioli (it's high in fiber and protein) but I used what I had in my freezer.

TIP:  Instead of using a dinner plate, serve this on a salad plate.  It will help with portion control. 

Costco Ravioli