Last night I made Fettuccini Alfredo for dinner. I was craving it and I decided to give in to that craving. After I served it up “The Man” looked at his plate.. and then looked at me and said “This doesn’t seem particularly clean to me”.
I replied that -technically- it was clean. But it got me to thinking.
Fettucini Alfredo
Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
2 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 carton of whipping cream
Whole Wheat fettuchini noodlesInstructions
Cook chicken until slightly browned. Add whipping cream. Simmer slightly. Remove from heat and let it cool for 20 minutes. Serve over noodles.
It’s a terribly simple recipe. (also terribly good)
Ok.. so let’s assume I used pastured chickens who frolicked madly in fields of green grass eating greens and bugs before their lives were (humanely) cut short. Let’s also assume the chicken was organically packaged and not washed in chlorine (which happens to a lot of commercially purchased chicken). Let’s further assume that I used pastured butter** and whipping cream, that is butter and cream made from the milk of dairy cows who have wandered the green and rolling hills eating only the freshest of grass. Lastly let’s assume that I bought the wheat noodles from a reputable source.. and the noodles consist of wheat flour, salt and eggs.
So far, it’s totally Clean. Squeaky clean in fact. According to the rules laid out by Tosca this, with a plate full of nice green veggies, would totally qualify as a clean meal.
The problem.. is I don’t think it’s particularly healthy. Now I could be wrong.. it’s totally possible that full fat cream over noodles is actually good for you.. but for the sake of argument I’m going to assume not.
So.. then it stands to reason that beyond the rules laid out for “Clean Eating” there should be another couple rules.. something about limiting your consumption of dairy and carbs.
I haven’t totally worked that out.
That said, when I read of people posting that they’re looking for “a clean recipe for XYZ” I just.. I get puzzled. As long as you cook without processed foods.. it’s clean. There’s no secret handshake that makes a meal clean. It’s not that hard.
**Organic pastured butter -is- actually available at my local chain grocery store. It -is- noticeably better.. but they note on the wrapper that it’s only available from May until September.
Here’s an “alfredo” recipe I found that has a LOT less fat in it:
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Ingredients
4 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (The “powdery” kind, but fresh. The Kraft version is not clean.)
1 tbsp. garlic powder (1-2 tsp. if you have to talk to people the next day)
1/4 cup soy milk + some reserve (or any milk you’d like to use)
Directions
Step 1 – Add all ingredients to a pot and turn on the heat. As the mixture begins to warm, blend in the pot with a hand blender. If you don’t have one, warm the ingredients and transfer to a blender.
Step 2 – Blend till smooth, and the continue to warm until it’s nice and hot.
Step 3 – Pour about a half a cup over your pasta and serve.
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Sounds pretty tasty. It did look a little ‘grainy’ in the picture on the website, though. Maybe they didn’t blend the cottage cheese enough?
Oh, and I am going to make another attempt at a blog, if you want to follow me. 🙂
There was another “clean” version in the Sept/Oct Clean Eating Magazine:
1 cup 2% low-fat milk
2 1/2 tsp arrowroot
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
I think that using yogurt instead of cottage cheese would lend a smoother consistency.
I’m still trying to get to a Whole Foods to get some arrowroot.
Okay, that sounds uber-tasty!
Hmm… Arrowroot… Guess I’ll have to make my way down to Whole Foods or Trader Joes.