Fresh Summer Garden Pasta

I made note of an Ina Garten pasta sauce recipe in my first blog entry and, while I linked directly to her Food Network recipe, I thought I would extrapolate and give my take on a cheap, easy, and VERY delicious pasta.  Even for people who can't cook, you can make this and look like a champ!

While Ina Garten uses cherry tomatoes, and they are most certainly the best choice for this pasta hands down, regular tomatoes can also be used, but try to use the on the vine tomatoes, or tomatoes that are as fresh as possible.  It really makes a difference with the flavour.  Also, don't store the tomatoes in the fridge, it makes them have less taste.  Instead, keep them in a bowl on the counter or in a cupboard uncovered.  This goes for onions as well, storing them in the fridge makes them much less potent and they lose a lot of their flavour.  Regular tomatoes on the vine cost much less than cherry tomatoes, so if you don't have access to them, or want to keep your meal even cheaper, regular tomatoes are fine here.  Although do be sure that you treat yourself to the cherry tomato version sometime, just slice each one in half and use as I do with regular tomatoes in this recipe.

I was fortunate enough to be able to pick fresh basil and as many cherry tomatoes as were ripe from my mom's garden, which made for a very fresh tasting pasta sauce.  Did I mention that this sauce is NO COOK, again, ridiculously easy.  Because this recipe is no cook, do not try to substitute for dried basil, it will not taste good.  Make this only when you can find the fresh stuff.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
6 on the vine tomatoes diced (or 2 pints of halved cherry tomatoes)
1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves of finely chopped garlic
A large bunch of basil (About 10 leaves, sliced)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 lb of dried pasta (use spaghetti, linguini, or angel hair - something long and thin)
1 cup of grated cheese (parmesan would work, so would any other hard cheese - even white cheddar would be good.  Don't use orange cheddar, that just seems like an unnatural combination)
1 cup of cooked pasta water
Salt and pepper

Directions:
In a large heatproof bowl, dice tomatoes, mince garlic, and slice basil.  Add to the bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of olive oil, a large pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Stir the ingredients together and let them sit in the bowl on the counter at room temperature.  Cover with plastic wrap.  This recipe works best if you can let it sit for a couple of hours (4max), however, it is still tasty if you just prepare it and eat it right away, but give it about 10-15 min to sit so that the salt draws out some of the moisture in the tomatoes and the flavours can meld.

Cook the entire package of pasta in boiling water according to package directions.  Before draining reserve about a cup of the water that it cooked in.  Drain pasta and add noodles directly to the large bowl containing the tomato basil mixture and toss.  Add in 1/2 cup of the pasta water and see if you need more to stretch the sauce at all.  If so, use the full cup.  Sprinkle in most of the cheese (reserve some for topping the individual bowls) and toss to melt.

When serving add the noodles to the bowls and then scoop out extra tomato basil mixture and some of the sauce and pour over noodles.  Top with the leftover cheese.

This recipe is so fast and easy, you'll love it and it's quite easy on the wallet too.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Flatbread

Tonight I was heavily tempted by my husband who, after coming home from a three day work trip, suggested we go out for wings and beer for Wing Wednesday at the pub near our house.  I'm a sucker for both wings AND beer, but I gave up beer 2 months ago and meat two weeks ago for our weekday vegetarian challenge (I know, what's the point in eating or drinking at all without meat and beer? But hey if I can do it, anyone can).  While tempting, I instead drove to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for our broccoli cheese flatbread, a recipe I adapted from the Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook which is an excellent vegetarian food resource. If you don't own a Moosewood cookbook and are trying to eat vegetarian, one of these books is a must!  As for the beer that I passed up, there was no substitution, except water. Less exciting, I know, but I'm on a roll here and gotta keep it going.

This dish is creamy and rich, yet fresh and crispy.  There are three types of cheese included and any of them could be substituted for what you have on hand or for a cheese you more regularly use. I have used flatbread and served it open faced; however, it would work with regular tortilla shells wrapped up and would be much more portable that way, especially if you're taking it for lunch at work.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 medium chopped onion
3-4 cups chopped broccoli (4 small crowns)
4-5 cloves chopped garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg greek style pita bread (naan bread would also work)



Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pan or wok and add onions and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cook until softened for about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the chopped broccoli, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook until the broccoli is bright green and tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the three cheeses.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Toast the pita bread in the toaster or in a dry skillet on high heat for about 30 seconds per side.  Place the pita on a plate and top with the broccoli cheese mixture and serve.

If you're using a pita you'll need a fork and knife, while a tortilla is more of a wrap and go format.  Either way this dish is cheesy and delicious and will definitely satisfy you...even on a day when you're offered hot wings and beer!

Lentil Coconut Curry

Today was a day I was excited to be eating vegetarian.  Last night I did a quick grocery shop for the week, stopping mostly in the bulk section for things like lentils, spices, and grains and I was surprised at how cheap it was.  I had no real plan for my week's meals, I had intended to do some planning, but with the increased work this week I ran out of steam.

I had intended to make a Korean meal tonight because I had all of the supplies, but I wasn't feeling like it after last night's kimchi stew (recipe to come at a later date).  Instead I figured that I had to be able to do something Indian inspired with what I had on hand: green lentils, a large can of diced tomatoes, and some coconut milk.  It turned out to be really satisfying and quite easy to make, not to mention inexpensive.  I likely cooked a meal for six for about a total of $6, which otherwise is almost impossible to do.  I highly recommend this for budget conscious weekday vegetarians.

Ingredients 

1 cup dried green lentils (use these or mung beans, but not split red lentils or the texture will differ)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp tumeric

2 tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tbsp cayanne

2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger (or dried may be substituted here)

2 tbsp chopped garlic 6 medium cloves

1 small diced onion

1 large can of diced or pureed tomatoes

1 can of reduced fat coconut milk

2 tsp salt

4 cups water

2 cups uncooked basmati rice and 4 cups water

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan on high heat for about a minute. Add ground cumin and ground ginger if not using fresh. Add chopped garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. It should brown lightly, but not burn. Add diced onions and sautee for about 1 minute stirring frequently.  Stir in the full can of tomatoes, fresh ginger (if not using dry), tumeric, coriander, and salt and cayanne pepper.  Cook, stirring occassionally for approximately five minutes.  Oil will become shiny and mixed thoroughly.   Add water and green lentils.  Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for about 40 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare basmati rice, either white or brown would work well. Stir the lentil mixture occasionally throughout the cooking process.  Taste lentils to make sure that they are cooked, they should be soft but not mushy. Stir in coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve over basmati.  Optionally top with a dollop of plain yogurt and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

This is great, healthy and an incredibly easy one pot meal.  Give it a try!

Weekend Indulgences

We made it!  Not entirely a huge accomplishment, but we ate well as vegetarians this week and were rewarded with some burgers and bbq this weekend at a friend's.  It was a nice treat.  When we returned Sunday night we realized meat was still on the menu if we chose so I went with a pasta with chicken brown butter sage cream sauce.  The recipe came right out of my very own brain and it was completely delicious!

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp olive oil
4-5 torn sage leaves
4 bone in chicken thighs
4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
6 chopped mushrooms (brown or white)
3/4 cups milk (1%)
3/4 cup chopped zucchini (I used patty pans)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup pecorino romano (or any hard cheese)
Salt and pepper
Enough pasta for 4 people. I used spaghetti.

Sautee onions in 1 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add chopped mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add whole bone-in chicken thighs and lower the heat.  Cook chicken thighs for about 7 minutes per side.  Meanwhile in another small pot melt butter on medium heat.  Once the butter is melted it will begin to brown, watch it carefully and as soon as it turns brown add torn sage leaves and fry for about 30 seconds.  Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute before whisking in milk.  Simmer milk and add chopped garlic cloves to the milk mixture.  Cook the milk mixture until thick and then add it to the pan with the chicken, onions and mushrooms.  Add red pepper flakes and zucchini to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

While sauce is simmering with the chicken boil a pot of water for the pasta and cook until al dente.  Save about 1 cup of the cooked pasta water.  Drain the pasta and add the reserved cup of pasta water to the white sauce pan.  Mix well before adding the noodles to the pan.  Once everything is together in one pan, mix together well and cook for about 2 minutes so that the pasta can absorb all of the flavours.  Add the grated pecorino romano cheese and serve.

The sauce is creamy without being heavy and is a beautiful light brown colour.  This was a fantastic quick meal that I made with what I had on hand.  It was satisfying to eat such a great meal after traveling home from our weekend away and easy enough that I didn't feel like it was too much work.

This week it's back to school starting Tuesday and with 2 teachers in the house it should be a challenge to eat vegetarian only for school lunches and quick dinners.  I'll take today to brainstorm some fast and easy ideas.  Something tells me that with the enormous tub of kimchi in my fridge that it's going to be a Korean week.  Looking forward to it.