Lemony pasta with smoked salmon

Pasta with smoked salmon and lemon dressing.

I have been trying to eat salmon at least once a week but I am really hate how cooking fish (especially salmon) really stinks up the kitchen.

This week I decided to buy smoked salmon instead. While my favorite way to eat smoked salmon is on a bagel with lots of cream cheese - today I wanted something different.

I had lemon dressing left over from my last salad so I cooked up a serving of spaghetti and tossed it with a bit of olive oil and the dressing.

Best decision ever!

 
The lemon dressing really brightened up the flavor of the salmon. 

A simple and incredibly delicious dish. I love it when that happens:-)

Later today I am off to get ingredients to make my favorite curry - massaman.

Happy Friday all!
 

Pasta Bolognese

Ground Turkey Pasta Bolognese.

One thing I hate having to give up is pasta bolognese. The traditional recipe calls for all kinds of wonderful things like pancetta, cream, sausage, etc - all the things I have to stay away from for the moment.

So, this morning I decided to make a version of bolognese that I could eat.

The bulk of the sauce is filled with vegetables but the trick is that I chopped everything super fine so that the vegetables added a nice texture (not meat-like but still nice and thick) to the sauce.

This meal gives you a nice hefty serving of vegetables without having to face a plate piled high with steamed veggies - which I am beginning to loathe at this point.

Ground Turkey Bolognese

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of ground turkey

1/2 cup marinara sauce

1/2 cup of water

1 celery stalk, chopped fine

6 broccoli florets, chopped fine

1/2 a carrot, chopped fine

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 pinches of dried oregano

3 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/2 tsp of olive oil

1 serving of pasta, cooked al dente

Instructions:

Boil 3 quarts of salted water and add in your choice of pasta. While the pasta cooks start assembling the ingredients for the sauce.

In a small sauce pan add in the olive oil, celery, broccoli and garlic and let saute for a few minutes over medium heat.

Add in 1/2 cup of pasta sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Bring everything to a simmer and add in the turkey meat. 

When the sauce is reduced and becoming thick, stir in the fresh basil.

Drain the cooked pasta and add back to a skillet over low heat. Pour the sauce over the pasta and allow the dish to simmer over low heat until the pasta begins to absorb some of the sauce.

Plate and enjoy!

You asked for it - Mac & "cheese" recipe

A few of you have asked for the recipe for the cheese-less Mac & "Cheese". 

And then when Natalie said she was getting her first package of nutritional yeast this week I decided to make another batch of Mac & "Cheese" and actually bother to measure this time :-)

Keep in mind that this does not give you the same cheesy flavor as Mac & Cheese that comes out of a box with the orange powder, but it is a great alternative.

Also keep in mind that this is a basic recipe and you should feel free to add things or increase certain flavor profiles to fit your own taste. 

But I do think this recipe gives you the same creamy mouth feel of a cheese sauce and I like how easy it is to tweak it and try out something new each time I make it.

My Mac & "Cheese"

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp of Earth Balance Spread
1 Tbsp of All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tsp of Miso Mayo (you can substitute miso paste)
1/2 tsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of onion powder
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp of sweet paprika
1/4 tsp of tumeric

 

Instructions:

In a sauce pan, melt the Earth Balance spread over medium low heat. Add in the flour and whisk together until it forms a paste. Let this cook until the past darkens just slightly.

Add in the soymilk and stir to combine. Add in the rest of the ingredients and let the sauce simmer until thickened.  Feel free to add some water or a little more soymilk if the sauce gets too thick.

Cook one serving of your pasta of choice. Drain the pasta and add back into the pan and pour in the "cheese" sauce. 

Options: Add a bit of yellow mustard if you like tang. Add in more nutritional yeast if you want more of a cheesy flavor.

Enjoy!

Pasta with goat cheese brie and basil

Pasta with goat cheese brie and basil.

The only time I eat brie is usually at gatherings. This is a setting where I fear the social censure of shoving the whole round of brie into my mouth in one go. 

But I found this at the store the other day.

A small round of goat cheese brie.

And as is my habit recently,  I was up at 4am and just started writing.

Then at 7am I was incredibly hungry.

And so entered my breakfast. I boiled up one serving of spaghetti and put it in a pan with a big wedge of goat cheese brie, a bunch of torn basil (fresh) and some salt and pepper.

When the basil was wilted and the brie melted I added in one whole egg for protein. I kept it on low heat and just kept stirring and the whole dish became incredibly glossy and creamy.

Oh-my-yum.


I definitely recommend.

I am going to get some sleep.


Happy Thursday!!

You had me at pasta and bacon

Pasta with bacon and watercress.

Ever have one of those work days when you do a huge amount of work and then feel like you produced a huge amount of crap?

I had one of those days last night. I was up all night writing. I wrote a lot of pages.

But at 5am when I was taking the dogs for a long walk, all of the work I did last night seems awful, without merit and will never see the harsh fluorescent lights of a book store.

I am sure it is just because I am way too over tired and I should sleep.

But at 6am I was starving so I made some pasta.

I cooked the pasta according to the package directions. While that was boiling away I pulled out two pieces of bacon out of the freezer and set them sizzling in a skillet.

When the pasta was cooked al dente I drained it and set it aside. When the bacon was nice and crispy I pulled it out of the pan and let it dry on paper towels.

I drained off most of the bacon fat and tossed the pasta back into the skillet along with one clove of garlic, minced, the bacon and 1 cup of watercress.

Just so you know, I added 1/2 a piece of bacon to my dish – the dogs got to enjoy the other 1 1/2 pieces

When everything was warmed through, I plated the pasta and added a generous shaving of Parmesan on top.




Happy Friday!

All about the pasta and the accents

Took the dogs out for their afternoon walk and I get the usual, "What breed of dog are they?".

I tell the woman that they are Silken Windhounds.


This always results in a puzzled expression.

Then they ask the name of my dogs. My female dog's name is easy. Her name is Abby. There is no way to be confused about that one. 

My male dog's name? It is also easy but I pronounce it in a way that it confuses everyone. 


My dog's name pronounced with a Boston accent - "His name is Conahhhh."

This results in perplexed looks. I always have to spell out his name - C-O-N-N-O-R. 

My dinner:

Spaghetti with tomato, basil and a Tbsp. of Tofutti sour cream.

 When you are having a carb craving I really recommend this one. 


Simple, yummy and flavorful.


Enjoyable with or without a Boston accent.

Ooey, gooey goodness

With all the news about the continuing surges of waves at Santa Cruz harbor - I knew I wanted something comforting for lunch.

I decided to use up the rest of the plum tomatoes and the one yellow tomato that was left.

I sauteed one shallot and two cloves of garlic in a little bit of olive oil. I then added two pinches of basil, oregano and the chopped up tomatoes.

While that simmered, I cooked up some pasta.

The gooey part?

I added chunks of mozzarella to the sauce.

When the mozzarella had melted into the sauce it was time to eat!

I did go on a long walk with the dogs. About 3 miles by mapmyrun.com.

 
And I do have a shot of my kitchen which is slowly - very, very slowly - getting more organized.

 

Movies and a meal for convalescence

Since I still only have enough energy to sit on the couch and watch movies - Here is the list of ones I have watched so far (note: not all of them were watched in their entirety):

1) Boondock Saints II

2) The Host

3) Cabin Fever


And I am about to start watching

4) Max Payne


Clearly, death and mayhem are the only things that cheer me up when I am sick.

I decided I could deal with boiling water so I had this for lunch.

Spaghetti with pesto.

I only managed a couple of bites - the rest went into the fridge for leftovers.

Movies and a second attempt

Today I went to see this:

I know everyone has been raving about this movie. Was it enjoyable? Yes. Was the acting superb? Yes. 

But for me, in the end, I left with the feeling of, "Meh, not a horrible way to spend a couple of hours." I wasn't blown away. It could just be that no movie could measure up after hearing all the rave reviews - or it could have just been the subject matter. 

I did spend a bit of time wondering what "tricks" Wallis Simpson had picked up that caused a king to abdicate his thrown. I think that bit of information would be handy to know.

When I got home I decided to be brave and make another attempt at creating a recipe that included sardine - after all I did have the sad, lonely sardine fillet sitting in a Tupperware container in the fridge.

I didn't take any pictures of the dish in process. I was rushing through it so I wouldn't dwell on the fact that a sardine was an ingredient. 

It came out looking like this:

Pasta with sardine

Serves 1

1 large sardine fillet
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1 pinch of basil
1/2 a cup of jarred spaghetti sauce
2 tsp of olive oil
1 portion of spaghetti cooked al dente

Put a sautee pan on low heat and add in the olive oil. Chop the shallot fine and add to the pan. When the shallot becomes translucent add in the garlic and cook another 5 minutes.

Mash the sardine fillet (I mashed it so that it was impossible to tell what it was). Add the 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce to the pan along with the mashed sardine. Let this mixture cook down until it is a thick sauce.

Add in the cooked pasta and toss till everything is warmed through.


Was this the best dish ever? No. Did I eat a good portion of it and manage to take the first step to incorporating sardines into my diet? YES!

The concentrated sauce did a good job of masking any fishy taste but I am still having trouble with the whole - tiny bones - texture issue. 


Oh, well, one step at a time I guess :-)

Easy weekday dinner and challenges

Cooking for one is challenge enough. Things in supermarkets are usually sold in 4 - 6 portion size packages. Or, for example,  the asparagus I picked up at the European market. The bunch of asparagus was a size that would easily be enough for a side dish for a family of four for at least 2 meals.

Since I am sleep deprived today, I knew by the time dinner time rolled around I would barely be able to keep my head up, so I planned ahead.

I steamed about 12 spears of asparagus and I decided I should make a pesto of sorts.

I chopped up the cooked asparagus and added some chopped garlic, black pepper, dried parsley, dried basil and olive oil and gave it a whirl with the immersion blender.

Then I cooked enough pasta for two servings (so I will have leftover pasta for another easy dinner or lunch).

Cooked pasta and the asparagus pesto.

They both went into the fridge until dinner time. 


When my stomach started to rumble I pulled out the pasta and heated up one portion (on low heat) and then added in the asparagus pesto.

Toss together until the pasta is coated with the pesto and everything is warmed through. 


You will end up with this:

Now, keep in mind if you wanted to make this more like a traditional pesto you would add in pine nuts or walnuts - but I wanted to keep things on the lighter side.


It tasted rich and green without a strong asparagus flavor - it was almost like a pea puree - just more savory and less sweet. MMMMM.


Asparagus Pesto

serves 1

12 spears of aparagus

1/2 tsp. of chopped garlic

3 Tbsp. of dried parsley

1 tsp. of dried basil
 
ground black pepper to taste

a pinch of salt

3 Tbsp. of olive oil

1 portion of pasta cooked al dente


Steam the asparagus until it turns a bright green. Pull it off the heat and run the asparagus under cold water (or immerse in an ice bath) to prevent it from continuing to cook.

Chop the asparagus and add in the garlic, parsley, basil, black pepper and a pinch of salt. Get out your immersion blender and while the blender is running drizzle in 3 Tbsp. of olive oil or until you have a thick paste. Put the paste in a container and pop it in the fridge.

Cook 1 - 2 portions of pasta until al dente. Drain and place it in a container and into the fridge it goes.

At dinner time - put a sautee pan on low heat. Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and toss the cooked pasta till coated. Then add 1 Tbsp. of the aparagus pesto to the pasta and toss until well coated.

When the pasta is warmed through - pull it off the heat and transfer to your dish.  Top with a small dollop of the pesto and possibly a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.


Have a great night - and wish me undisturbed sleep tonight - I need it!