A Light and Healthy Cream Sauce is not an Oxymoron

So the other day Craig and I were having a serious discussion about food.  Not to be confused with a serious discussion about what to have for dinner, it was just about food in general.  The topic was about cream sauces – his like of them, my dislike of them.  I’m not a sauce kind of gal.  I hail from the au naturel school of thought (get your minds out of the gutter…that topic is for another day).  I just don’t like my food covered up in sauces.  I know, I’m weird – Whatever!

The discussion came down to whether or not a cream sauce could be made healthy and still taste good.  Sure, there are lots of recipes for healthier sauces available but a healthy cream sauce recipe would be the holy grail.  Taking this on as a challenge, I set forth to come up with a light cream sauce, low calorie cream sauce or healthy creams sauce (whatever verbiage fits best for you).  This sauce is all three – and it’s delicious.

To further challenge things, I decided that a vegetarian pasta with the cream sauce would be the ultimate test for my boo’s taste bud’s and belly.  The result is an orecchiette pasta with a fresh pea and corn cream sauce.  Not only is the cream sauce a healthier alternative to alfredo sauce, but then you’ve also got the added benefit of fresh vegetables.

Craig acquiesced that my cream sauce was delicious.  When I told him that it was good for him I could have knocked him over with a feather.  Score – Girl: 1 Boy: 0

Relationship Advice

Speaking of oxymorons…(not morons – although there are a lot of them out there aren’t there?).  It seems to me that there are many oxymorons in the dating/relationship arena that I think are mis-categorized as such (much like the healthy cream sauce).  I thought I’d list a few and get your opinions on them.  What do you think and do you have any that I missed?

Sexy Nerd
Innocent Women
Sensitive Men
Sexy at Any Age

Makes 4- 6 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 Pound Cooked Orecchiette Pasta
1/2 Cup (half a package) of Neufchatel Cheese
3/4 Cup Low Fat/Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Corn Starch
1 Teaspoon Water
Kosher Salt
White Ground Pepper
1 Cup Peas (I used fresh English peas but frozen will work too)
1 1/2 Cups Fresh Corn Kernels (cut from 2 ears of corn)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions

In a small saucepan, over medium high heat, add chicken stock and neufchatel cheese.  Stir until cheese is melted and combined well with the chicken stock.

Stir in the lemon juice.

Turn the sauce down to low heat and stir occasionally.

In a saute pan, drizzle olive oil and heat over medium high heat.

Once hot, add the peas.

Stir peas so that they don’t burn and keep on the heat for 2-3 minutes (so that they’re heated through).

Add corn and stir for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and stir to cobine.

Turn off the heat.

In a small dish, mix the corn starch and water together until there are no clumps.

While stirring the sauce, gently pour in the corn starch mixture.

The sauce should thicken up almost immediately.

Add pea and corn mixture to cream sauce and stir to combine.

Season with kosher salt and white pepper.

In a large bowl add the pasta.  Pour the sauce over top, stir gently and serve.

Technorati Tags: 30 Minute Meals, cream sauce, Easy Cooking, Easy Recipe, Easy Recipes, Fast Dinner Recipe, Healthy Cooking, Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipes, light cream sauce, Lite Cooking, low calorie cream sauce, Main Course, Meatless Mondays, Relationship Advice, vegetable recipes, vegetarian pasta, Vegetarian Recipes

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