30 Before 30 - February's Healthy Dinner (Tortellini Vegetable Bake)

Sorry I'm behind on my healthy cooking posts... February has no doubt been a crazy busy month for our family! PHEW! But here I am... only a few days late! I ran across this recipe and thought it would be good for Dan and I to munch on for several days afterwards. Let's face it, we are left over people since neither of us are home much together. In terms of healthiness, I saw several veggies were included in the ingredients and figured it would work ;)

Tortellini Vegetable Bake (www.bhg.com)

Ingredients

• 2 - 9 ounce packages refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1 1/2  cups fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved crosswise
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot (1 medium)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese, cubed and softened
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped red or green sweet pepper (1 small)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook tortellini according to package directions, adding sugar snap peas and carrot for the last 1 minute of cooking; drain.

  

Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms; cook about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet.

 

In a screw-top jar combine broth, flour, oregano, garlic salt, and black pepper. Cover and shake until smooth. Add to the same skillet; add milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add cream cheese; cook and stir until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.

 

Stir tortellini mixture, mushrooms, tomatoes, and sweet pepper into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into an ungreased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Bake, covered, about 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

    

Surprisingly Dan was more of a fan of this meal than I was. Eh, it was okay... but nothing spectacular in my book. Dan on the other hand gave me several compliments. You all know that I'm no Betty Crocker so I'll take whatever I can get :)