power hungry

Supercharge your pregnancy nutrition with our top 20 foods and five-day meal plan.

    Second and third trimesters: 2,282 calories, 20 percent fat (51 grams), 62 percent carbohydrate, 18 percent protein, 2,046 milligrams calcium, 559 micrograms folic acid, 20 milligrams iron.

Recipes

Salmon and Spinach Pasta
Serves 2
This dish is fast and simple.

   6         ounces dry penne pasta
   1         teaspoon olive oil
   4         shallots, minced
   1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
   6         ounces fresh salmon fillet
   1/2    cup low-fat ricotta cheese
    Juice of 1 small lemon
   2         teaspoons fresh dill, finely chopped
   1/4    teaspoon salt
   3         cups loosely packed fresh spinach, leaves torn in half

Cook pasta until tender. While pasta is cooking, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until soft. Add broth and bring to a simmer. Place fillet in broth, simmer for about 7 minutes, and turn. Continue to simmer until salmon is opaque in the center. Remove salmon from broth.
    Add ricotta, lemon juice, dill and salt to broth and stir until the ricotta melts. Add spinach, a handful at a time, and stir until it wilts. Remove pan from heat and add cooked salmon, breaking it into bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, combine pasta and sauce and stir.

Nutritional information per serving: 546 calories, 18 percent fat (11 grams), 52 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent protein, 7 grams fiber, 354 milligrams calcium, 97 micrograms folic acid, 8 milligrams iron.

Grilled Vegetable Kabobs With Couscous
Serves 4
Keep this recipe in mind when it comes time to pull out the barbecue.

Kabobs
   2    red or green bell peppers, cut into chunks
   2    small zucchini, cut into chunks
   16 white mushrooms
   8    asparagus spears, each cut into 4 pieces
   8    wooden skewers
   2    cloves garlic, minced
   1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
   1    tablespoon olive oil
   1    tablespoon Dijon mustard
   1    tablespoon water

Couscous
   1 1/4 cups water
   3/4    cup low-sodium vegetable juice
   11/2    cups whole-wheat couscous
   1/3    cup dried currants
   3/4    cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
    Juice of 1 lemon
   1         tablespoon olive oil
   1/4    teaspoon salt

Make 8 kabobs by pushing pepper, zucchini, mushroom and asparagus pieces onto skewers, alternating vegetables as you go.
    Meanwhile, combine garlic, vinegar, oil, mustard and water in a bowl. Coat kabobs with marinade. When barbecue is ready, set skewers on grill and cook, turning as needed and brushing with remaining marinade until vegetables are tender (10–15 minutes).
    While vegetables cook, make couscous. Pour water and vegetable juice into a small pan and bring to a boil. Add couscous and currants, stir, cover with a lid, and remove from heat. After 5 minutes, add remainder of couscous ingredients and stir again with a fork. Divide couscous among 4 serving plates and place 2 kabobs on each plate. Serve warm.