Italian Inspired Noodleless Side Dish

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I'm Kelly. I am one of the Massachusetts reps here at Northeast Bloggers, and I write A Lovely Life, Indeed. 

Getting to our healthiest selves is important to my husband and me, so I want to do whatever it takes to make the journey more fun. He has been doing a great job on the 21 Day Fix; he's making a great effort to clean up his diet and he is working out with a trainer as well. 

One way I am pushing outside the box is in finding ways to make comfort food more 21-Day friendly. We like Italian flavors, so I wanted to find a way to bring that comfort food flavor into a "cleaner" side dish. 

Here's what I did. 

Italian Inspired Cabbage Slaw Saute

3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
Olive oil for sauteing
1 bag of cole slaw mix
Spaghetti sauce to coat
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: feta cheese, chopped bacon or pancetta

Saute the garlic (and bacon or pancetta) in the olive oil. Add the onion, pepper, and cook until softened. 

Add the slaw mix and cook down until it is tender. 

Finally, add the spaghetti sauce to coat and add another level of flavor. 

Make pockets in the mixture to add the sauce. It makes a full skillet easy to mix. 

Before serving, add feta cheese, if desired. You may also add Parmesan cheese. 

That's it. It's super easy and surprisingly flavorful. And, if you're avoiding rice or pasta, you can find the Italian comfort food sweet spot with this convenient substitution. 

Buon appetito!

Do you use vegetable substitutions in comfort food favorites? Please share. 


Thank you to Northeast Bloggers Network for letting me guest post. If you're looking for an upbeat blog about love, travel and the good life, visit me at A Lovely Life, Indeed. Have a great week!

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