Recipe Round-up: Eat Your Veggies

Lately, my husband and my older son have been asking for a lot more vegetables. For a veggie-hater like myself, this is akin to asking me to tear out a tooth without any sort of numbing agent. That's not to say that I won't eat veggies, I will! I'm just not eager to do so. In an effort to appease their more herbivorous natures, I'm introducing vegetarian meals to our menu at least once a week. I figure that for the first week or two, I should just dip my toe in the waters. I'm not the only veggie-hater in this house! So, I'm starting with the following recipe--cream cheese, pasta, lemon...what's not to love?!

Linguine in Lemon Cream Sauce
recipe © and courtesy Vegetarian Times magazine

Ingredients:
8oz dry linguine (I'll use a full 16oz package, the husband loves pasta leftovers)
½ cup light cream cheese (I'm using regular since I don't keep light on hand)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lemon, juiced, plus 1 Tbsp zest, grated
½ cup chopped parsley

Directions:

1.  Cook linguine according to package directions in pot of boiling, salted water.
2.  Warm cream cheese, oil and 2 Tbsp. lemon juice in saucepan over low heat.
3.  Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water.  Stir reserved cooking water into cream cheese mixture.  Add pasta, lemon zest, and parsley; toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information  (per 1 cup serving):  calories 343, protein 11g, total fat 14g (5g sat), carb 45g, cholesterol 21mg, sodium 294mg, fiber 2g, sugars 4g  (for those interested--this dish, as written,  is 9pts through the Weight Watchers Points Plus program.)

And that's it!! I know, you're wondering where the veg is, right? Have no fear, it's covered. I'm serving one of the few veggie dishes I can truly say I love: Parmesan Roasted Broccoli!! Add some crusty bread and enjoy!!