{38 Power Foods} Weight Watchers Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage and Kale

Weight Watchers Pasta with Sausage and Kale

I came across this recipe for Weight Watchers Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage and Kale while searching for a kale recipe to make for this week’s 38 Power Foods Blogging Group.

For the past eight weeks, a group of bloggers, led by Mireya of My Healthy Eating Habits, has been posting recipes using the healthy ingredients from Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients, by Martha Stewart and the editors of  Whole Living Magazine.

We’re now up to ingredient #9 in the vegetables chapter: kale, a real nutritional powerhouse, rich in vitamins A, B6 & C,  fiber, iron, calcium, and carotenoids.

I was introduced to kale several years ago while attending The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and have been a fan ever since.

As soon as I read all the great reviews on weightwatchers.com  for this simple pasta with Italian chicken sausage and kale, I knew I wanted to try it. The recipe suggests you use rigatoni, but any short cut pasta (such as penne or ziti) would work. I think this dish would be tasty with whole wheat pasta too, which I plan to try next time. Also, I bumped up the amount of kale from 4 cups to six with good results.

Enjoy!

Weight Watchers Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage and Kale

5.0 from 1 reviews

Weight Watchers Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage and Kale

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

A simple, quick and easy dinner your whole family will love

Recipe type: Pasta, Main

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups short-cut pasta such as penne or rigatoni
• 8 ounces chicken or turkey sweet Italian sausage
• 6 cups kale, tough stems and ribs removed, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions

1. Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, remove sausage from casing and cook in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up sausage as it cooks, about 3 minutes. Add kale; cook, stirring frequently, until limp, about 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add broth to skillet and scrape up browned bits on bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon; season with salt and pepper. Cover skillet and reduce heat to low; cook until kale is tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in pasta and heat through. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
4. Sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons of cheese before serving.

Notes

Nutritional Estimates Per Serving (1-1/2 cups): 8 PointsPlus Value (PPV) I like to add some crushed red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning when I add the broth to give the dish a little more zip Be sure to remove the tough stems and ribs from the kale before chopping.

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For more great delicious kale recipes, check out the blogs of these talented food-blogging ladies who are participating in the 38 Power Foodsgroup today:

Alyce More Time at the Table, Ansh - Spice Roots, Jeanette - Jeanette’s Healthy Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink, Casey - Bookcase Foodie, Bambi - Adobo Down Under

Links to more Weight Watchers Friendly Kale Recipes

• How to Cook Kale – A basic 0 PointsPlus value recipe
• A Collection of Kale Recipes – from my files and around the Webs, many with PointsPlus values
• Raw Dinosaur Kale Salad – colorful and tasty with 1 WW PointsPlus Value
• Lentils with Sausage & kale – an easy one-dish dinner with 7 WW PointsPlus