Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Lasagna Baked Chicken

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Easy, healthy, cheesy and delicious lasagna baked chicken breast is the perfect dinner to get your new year started off right! All the taste and comfort of lasagna in a healthy chicken entree that comes together before you know it.

Lasagna Baked Chicken: Healthy, easy, delicious and low-carb baked chicken with all the flavor and comfort of classic lasagna!

If there’s one thing that drives me crazy (okay, there’s probably, like, a zillion…), it’s the idea that healthy eating means you can’t eat your favorite things. Before I was finally successful with my weight loss, I had so many failed attempts because each time I felt like I couldn’t eat anything, and it’s just not true. It’s just about finding ways to make your favorite things fit into your healthy lifestyle, and this chicken does just that!

Lasagna Baked Chicken: Healthy, easy, delicious and low-carb baked chicken with all the flavor and comfort of classic lasagna!

Lasagna has to be the ultimate comfort food. With melty, gooey cheese and pasta you really can’t go wrong, but I honestly have never felt like pasta even adds much to a dish. It is the vehicle for cheese and sauce. I’m happy just eating cheese and sauce. By themselves. With a spoon. But I guess I should eat protein or something too.

Lasagna Baked Chicken: Healthy, easy, delicious and low-carb baked chicken with all the flavor and comfort of classic lasagna!

I love stuffing chicken. It’s one of my favorite, easy ways to make my dinner more fun without having to do much. Chicken on its own can quickly become boring and monotonous, but there are so many fun varieties and flavor combinations you can use to dress it up a little. I just made my favorite lasagna filling, butterflied the chicken, stuffed that cheesy goodness inside, then baked it. Finish it off with a little mozzarella, stick it under the broiler to get brown and bubbly, and top it off with your favorite marinara sauce. Mine came from a bottle because, like I said, I am a totally lazy cook.

Lasagna Baked Chicken: Healthy, easy, delicious and low-carb baked chicken with all the flavor and comfort of classic lasagna!

The result was total cheesy dreaminess, and I literally haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

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Lasagna Baked Chicken
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 40
 
Easy, healthy, cheesy and delicious lasagna baked chicken breast is the perfect dinner to get your new year started off right! All the taste and comfort of lasagna in a healthy chicken entree that comes together before you know it.
Ingredients
  • 4 large chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ cup part skim ricotta cheese
  • ½ cup nonfat cottage cheese
  • 1 teaspoon dried or finely chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried or finely chopped fresh basil
  • 1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella
  • 1 cup marinara sauce (or more if desired)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper. Butterfly each chicken breast then set aside.
  2. To make the filling, combine ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, oregano and basil in a medium bowl. Fill the center of each chicken breast with cheese mixture and fold the top half of the chicken back over on top. Make sure chicken can fold back over completely, and that cheese isn't spilling out. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts, you may have some cheese mixture left over.
  3. Carefully place filled chicken breasts in a large, rimmed baking dish and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake until chicken is completely cooked and juices run clear. This will vary depending on thickness, but I usually start to check around 20 minutes. You do not want to over cook them.
  4. Top with mozzarella cheese and broil until cheese is bubbly, about 2 minutes. Watch closely--it can burn quickly. Plate and top with marinara sauce. Serve immediately. Leftovers may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

 

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

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Rich, creamy ricotta ice cream loaded with mini dark chocolate chips with underlying flavors of honey and vanilla bean. All the flavors of a classic cannoli in ice cream form!

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {{with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

Do you ever love something so much that you feel like no matter how much you try to describe it, you can never quite put it into words? It’s how I feel about Mia Michaels’ choreography, or when I saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on Broadway, or when I first discovered CILANTRO! I can’t tell you how good it is, you just need to experience it with me.

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {{with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

That’s how I feel about this ice cream. I felt like no matter how many pictures I took, or adjectives I thesaurus-ed, nothing could quite capture my new favorite ice cream. I loved it more than any ice cream I’ve ever purchased at a homemade ice cream shop, and definitely more than anything I’ve ever bought at the store.

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {{with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

First of all, I am OBSESSED with ricotta cheese. Once upon a time, I spent like an entire year on phase 1 of the South Beach diet. It was not a good year. I can tell you, however, that my favorite part was “snacking” on low-fat ricotta cheese. And by “snacking”, I mean opening the tub, grabbing a spoon, and looking down to see half the container had disappeared. Whoops.

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {{with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

But it’s not just the ricotta that makes this so special. It’s the hint of honey, the little specs of vanilla bean that carry a bold flavor (one of my very favorite flavors), and the multiple dark chocolate chips you get in every bite. I don’t know what it is about the mini chocolate chips that make them so much better, but they really do make a difference here, and although you are free to use whatever chip you like, I highly suggest the tiny guys for this recipe. Mini chips = more chips in every bite = automatically better.

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Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours

Yield: 5-6 cups

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

Rich, creamy ricotta ice cream loaded with mini dark chocolate chips with underlying flavors of honey and vanilla bean. All the flavors of a classic cannoli in ice cream form!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 15 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
  • seeds from 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon, optional
  • 3/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. In a medium pot, combine whole milk and sugar over medium to medium-low heat. Stir constantly until sugar is fully dissolved and incorporated. Remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature.
  2. Add heavy cream, honey, ricotta, cream cheese, vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract and blend in a large blender or food processor. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
  3. Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. If desired, add bourbon during the last few minutes of freezing. Fold in chocolate chips then transfer to freezer safe container to finish freezing completely.
https://arismenu.com/ricotta-chocolate-chip-ice-cream-with-honey-vanilla-bean/

Ricotta Pesto

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Ricotta Pesto

Ever since I was little and my dad used to take me out for Italian food a minimum of two nights per week, I have been obsessed with pesto sauce. Sure, during my teens and early 20’s I was always ordering whatever came with alfredo sauce, but my dad’s a real good sharer, and he would always give me a little plate of his pesto sauce. I considered this the “healthy” sauce because it was green and there was no cream.

Ricotta Pesto

Well, pesto sauce although loaded with healthy fats from the olive oil and pine nuts, is still incredibly calorie dense. Especially if you’re me and you like a side of pasta with your sauce. It’s funny that adding extra cheese actually makes this sauce lower in calories and fat. I can’t argue that it’s necessarily “healthier” than traditional pesto, but it makes me feel a little better about the whole thing. 😉

Ricotta Pesto

Not to mention it is ridiculously good. In fact, I think I even like it more than a traditional pesto. The ricotta cheese makes it thick and creamy–perfect for lasagna, calzones or pizza (coming soon…). It’s great with pasta too, or just as a dipping sauce for veggies. Or, you know, a spoon. It’s ridiculously easy to make and comes together in about 3 minutes flat. Yes, 3 minutes. Of course depending on how quick and nimble your food processor is, but it makes creating a dish with it a total breeze!

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Ricotta Pesto

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: approx 1 cup

Ricotta Pesto

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed fresh basil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/3 cup low fat (or part skim) ricotta cheese
  • 1/3 cup olive oil

Instructions

  1. Place basil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheeses in food processor and blend. Slowly, stream in olive oil until everything comes together to form a thick sauce. If sauce is too thick for your taste, stream in a little more olive oil. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Notes

Lightly adapted from Rachael Ray

https://arismenu.com/ricotta-pesto/

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