Food for Fuel: Amy Hastings’ Artichoke Lasagna

July 18, 2008 at 9:52 am | Posted in Baked Goods, Food, From The Runner's Cookbook, Literature, Nutrition, Pasta, Poultry | 4 Comments

Geno (The Boyfriend) is visiting, and he likes lasagna, which he (boringly) orders every time we go to an Italian restaurant. So, since he has been a decently good boy, I decided to make the Artichoke Lasagna from The Runner’s Cookbook for dinner last night. Proceeds from the sales of this book go to the Ryan Shay Memorial Fund and the Jenny Crain “Make it Happen” Fund. The recipe contributions are from elite runners, and Amy Hastings, winner of the USATF National Club Cross Country Championship and U.S. representative in the 2008 World Cross Country Championship, is responsible for this wonderful pasta recipe. I have also made Jen Toomey’s Lemon Rosemary Chicken, and it is delicious. Unfortunately, Paula Radcliffe was not a cookbook contributor, which is probably lucky for me because if she was I would have to make her recipe and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day for the rest of my life.

In the picture you can also see the “hotdog bun” breadsticks that I made and what’s left of my side salad. Unfortunately, I would be violating copyright if I posted the recipe for you, but I did make a few changes. I substituted Jennie-O ground turkey for the beef, used Hodgson Mill whole wheat lasagna noodles, and lowfat versions of all the cheeses (4 different kinds!). I also added crushed red pepper to the sauce. Luckily, the meal turned out well because there are TONS of leftovers. Let me know if you live in the Austin area and I will come feed your family of 8.

Nutrition of this Recipe

This recipe contains 8 ingredients from the World’s Healthiest Foods list:

• Garlic
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Black pepper
• Oregano
• Lowfat cheese
• Turkey
• Whole wheat

This recipe contains 1 food from the Best Food for Runners list:

• Whole grain pasta

But wait, there’s dessert!

Yesterday I made brownies right after the High Fiber Bread, but didn’t try them because I didn’t want to cut them before Geno got here, thus ruining their “presentation.” So, by the time I got to eat one I had been thinking about its chocolatey goodness for AT LEAST 36 hours. This recipe did not disappoint, and did indeed live up to its name as Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies.

 

This is not the best picture and I may be replacing it later. Because I had them on hand, I added some peanut butter chips to this recipe. I was a little nervous about this, because Geno DOES NOT LIKE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (!!!). In fact, he is one of those people who claims that he will eat anything, but is in fact extremely picky. I’m relatively certain that he only thinks he will eat anything because he has been served delicious food his entire life that he has had no reason not to eat. I’ve been to his parents’ house and I think that they serve his dad’s pancakes and his mom’s turtle cheesecake in Heaven. To the Angels. Only when they’ve been especially good.

But these brownies made a picky eater say “Mmm…peanut butter!” so I think they passed the test.