Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta

I have been doing alot of reading about Diabetes, Healthy Eating and Healthy Living.  I subscribed to a couple of really good Diabetic and Healthy Lifestyle websites to get daily newsletters. I purchased 2 amazing magazines that I am asking for subscriptions to for my birthday. Clean Eating and Diabetic Living. Cant wait to get them! Thanks Mom!! I even bought a Diabetic cookbook. To change my lifestyle I have to change some of my cooking techniques. I am driven to find alternative ways to cook and eat the foods I love. Being a Chef also gives me the benefit of loving most foods and training and want to be creative. I have put together a new binder of recipes and culinary information that will help my Diabetes and change of lifestyle. One of the newsletters I get has a daily recipe that usually sounds pretty awesome. I am vowing to make at least one recipe, from assorted resources, a week. I am also going to work on taking my own recipes and making them healthier and Diabetic friendly. This weeks found recipe,  I added the crushed red pepper to spice things up a bit, and I changed some of the preparation to make it easier. I love Arugula's peppery taste, but you can substitute another green if you prefer.

Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta

Ingredients:

12 oz whole wheat pasta ( I used bowties )

1 package Turkey Italian or Hot sausage ( there were 6 links )

3 cloves garlic (chopped )

8 cups arugula

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes ( cut in half )

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated or shredded

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup pasta water reserved

Cook pasta according to package directions. While Pasta is cooking, Cook turkey sausage in a nonstick skillet over med-high heat. I actually cook mine in some water first until its mostly cooked thru, then remove any excess water from skillet and brown the sausage whole. Remove from pan, slice sausage to bite size pieces on an angle. Put back in skillet and brown on both sides. This will also insure that the turkey is cooked fully. Add 1 tsp olive oil and add garlic, 1 tsp crushed red pepper,  and tomatoes to turkey. Add all the arugula and let cook on medium heat until tomatoes break down and arugula wilts. About 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.  Drain pasta but remember to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water,  and add directly to sausage and tomato pan. Add 1/2 cup pasta water, salt and pepper and combine. Drizzle 1 tbs olive oil and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top and serve. It was delicious! Again with this recipe you can switch things up a bit. Use grilled chicken, basil instead of arugula and thai red chilis instead of crushed red pepper and you have a Thai inspired dish. This recipe serves 6 and each serving is under 400 calories. Its easy and quick. Hope you try it and enjoy it!