Courtesy of Elaine Magee

I threw this dish together a month ago and it was so easy and delicious that I’ve made it once a week ever since. Yes, I’m using whipped real butter to make a light white sauce. There is no replacement for the flavor of browned butter. Margarine doesn’t brown because it doesn’t have the impurities that butter has which help develop the caramelized flavors. Since we are using “whipped butter” it is adding 3.5 grams of total fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat per serving. The rest of the white sauce ingredients are adding very little fat and saturated fat to those totals—fat free half and half and light cream cheese.

Makes 3 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup light cream cheese (in tub)

1/2 cup fat free half and half

1 1/2 tablespoons whipped butter

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

3 cups cooked whole-wheat or whole-grain blend fettuccine pasta (or similar shape), drained

1/3 cup chopped smoked salmon (lox), packed (1.5 ounces to 2 ounces)

1/4 teaspoon dill weed (dried)

Black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine cream cheese with half and half in a small food processor (or electric mixer) pulsing until smooth.
2. Spoon whipped butter into a medium nonstick saucepan and cook, stirring often, over medium-high heat until nicely browned (it will smell like caramel).
3. Pour in the cream cheese mixture and continue to stir and gently boil until starting to thicken (about 30 seconds). Stir in the Parmesan cheese and then stir in the cooked noodles and cook and stir for an additional 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and stir in the smoked salmon and dill. Add black pepper to taste and serve!

Nutritional Analysis per serving: 320 calories, 16 g protein, 41 g carbohydrate, 10.5 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 34 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 586 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 29 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .3 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = 1 gram. Weight Watchers POINTS = 6.