pasta

Creamy bacon bow-tie pasta with Brussels sprouts

/ Meg / 10 Comments

You know what’s weird? My lack of bizarre pregnancy cravings.

Where I spent last time constantly fantasizing about Coke Slurpees, chips and spicy salsa, frosted lemonades from Chick-Fil-A and jalapeno poppers (something I rarely eat in “real” life, by the way), this pregnancy has been strangely devoid of oddball snacks.

I mean, I’m eating fish. And vegetables. And salad. With the help of my anti-nausea medication (which I’m still taking at 30 weeks), nothing feels disgusting or off-limits.

Even Brussels sprouts.

I love these leafy greens when I’m not expecting, and they’re something Spencer and I have in weekly meal rotation. But vegetables while I was pregnant with Oliver were . . . a no-go. Like, at all. I think I subsisted on processed carbs the whole nine months, favoring bagels and potato chips over anything that could be even vaguely considered healthy.

I mean, I’m not complaining. By keeping these cravings in check, I’ve only gained half the weight so far that I did with Oliver. Though I started 30 pounds heavier, so . . . I’m pretty much breaking even?

Still.

weeknightI haven’t been the best about making home-cooked meals lately, but I requested a new cookbook for Christmas and Santa obliged. The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook by Mary Younkin (of BarefeetInTheKitchen.com) is inspiring, and each of the five meals I’ve made so far have been big hits. I love that it features easy-to-find, familiar ingredients used in new ways, and it is — true to its title — all about quick, from-scratching cooking on busy nights.

That’s what we need. Desperately.

Meals are categorized according to how long you’ll need before having them ready: 15 to 25-minute meals; 30 to 45-minute meals; 5 to 10-minute prep (slow cooker meals, for example, or meals you just throw in the oven); plus quick desserts, simple sides and condiments/spices. I’ve found Younkin’s timing to be very accurate, unlike the “30 minutes to the table!” nonsense recipes that don’t account for the hour it takes you to slice, dice and prep everything. Big pet peeve.

The variety of meals is pretty awesome. There are plenty of Mexican-inspired dishes (Younkin lives in Arizona), complete with green chiles, but Italian, Asian and good ol’ American meals pop in there, too. The offerings are a good mix of seafood, pork, chicken and beef, as well as vegetarian sides and pastas. A little something for everyone.

The Bow-tie Pasta with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts is easy and awesome. You could throw in some onions and mushrooms, too, but we made this one as instructed and loved it. The caramelized Brussels sprouts — cooked down with the bacon fat — made my mouth water. The author notes that you could substitute asparagus for the sprouts, if your family favors one over the other.

Full disclosure? I used an entire pack of bacon here (about 12 strips), double what the recipe calls for. But I think this is acceptable because the leftovers were amazing and protein-packed, especially since I went ahead and boiled the entire box of pasta. So did I double this recipe? Informally, yes. But you’ll want to double it. Trust me.

img_6182

Creamy Bow-Tie Pasta with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

Recipe from The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook by Mary Younkin

 

6 strips bacon, cut in 1/2-inch-wide strips, about 1/3 lb
1 lb Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and halved
8 oz bow-tie pasta
1/2 cup cream (or half-and-half)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is heating, prep the bacon and Brussels sprouts. Cook the pasta until it is tender but still a bit firm, about 12 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, warm a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and let it cook for 2 minutes, then add the Brussels sprouts. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until the bacon is cooked through and the Brussels sprouts have browned. Transfer the bacon and Brussels sprouts to a plate. Drain the grease, leaving a teaspoon or so of grease in the skillet.

Place the skillet back over medium-high heat. Scoop 1/2 cup of pasta water out of the boiling pasta pot and carefully pour into the hot skillet. Use a flat spatula to scrape up the brown bits and deglaze the pan. Add the cream, salt and pepper to the skillet and stir to combine. Lower the heat to medium and let the sauce simmer for 1-2 minutes, until it thickens slightly. If the pasta hasn’t finished cooking yet, move the sauce off the heat until the pasta finishes.

Drain pasta well and add it to the skillet with the sauce, stirring to coat well. Add the Brussels sprouts and bacon to the skillet with pasta and stir to combine. Taste and adjust salt, if needed. Sprinkle with cheese before serving, if desired. Enjoy!

 

 

Italian pasta salad. Like, half a recipe.

/ Meg / 15 Comments

Pasta salad

I haven’t made much that’s recipe-share-worthy in ages, friends.

Lest you be ridiculously disappointed with me, in my own defense? Our kitchen is still only half unpacked, which means Spencer and I are looking at each other with befuddled expressions searching for spoons or meat thermometers or butter at least once a night. I mean, we have the basics covered; the fridge is stocked with diet soda, I have plenty of chips and salsa, and Spence and I haven’t resorted to arm-wrestling for the last of my grandmother’s homemade peanut butter cups from a recent birthday party.

Yet.

But dinners around here? A little sparse. Simple. Full of fresh vegetables, which is certainly not a bad thing — but I do miss having more at my disposal. Much like before the move, we’re all about streamlined eating around here . . . and though I’m optimistic that we’ll repair our battered pantry before too long, allowing me to un-box about half of our former kitchen, we’re still trying to get organized and find all the things we’ve lost.

Luckily, you don’t need much for pasta salad.

A few years back, Spencer and I went to New York City for a long weekend (and the Book Blogger Convention of yore!) and met up with some of his college buddies in Queens. We had a picnic out in Corona Park, very close to the Unisphere (cool!), and a friend had a big bowl of this pasta salad there for the taking.

We were hooked.

The thing is? It’s really rather simple. Simple enough that I feel a little weird sharing it like I’m a side dish aficionado, but . . . it’s a Thursday, pasta is delicious, and we’re friends, so I know you won’t judge me.

We’ll call this Katie’s Italian Pasta Salad, because Katie is super-nice — and she didn’t get mad when I, a suburban girl with apparent balance issues, fell on her on the subway that day. So. Thanks, Katie! Your kindness has not been forgotten.

And shall be rewarded, someday, with more pasta.

Please note that measurements are, um, suggestions; you can modify as desired to transform this into the side dish of your dreams. Double the tomatoes, double the salami, make it meat-less — whatever floats your boat. This is how we made ours, but I’m pretty sure you can’t mess this up.

IMG_5087

Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1 box orzo pasta, cooked
1 bottle Italian salad dressing
2 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
1/2 lb. salami, thickly sliced, diced
1/2 lb. provolone cheese, thickly sliced, diced
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp black pepper

Cook orzo pasta according to package directions; strain and rinse under cool water, then pour into a large bowl. Add half the bottle of Italian dressing, cherry tomatoes, salami, cheese, Italian seasoning and black pepper, then stir well to combine. Add additional dressing and stir again. Chill before serving. Make and refrigerate for 24 hours for extra flavor and awesomeness.

IMG_5086


My love of capers knows no bounds — so we made Chicken Scallopine

/ Meg / 20 Comments

So I’m kind of going through a thing with capers.

It all started on my birthday weekend in July, when Spencer and I went up to Annapolis and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. If you’ve never been to a Cheesecake Factory, friends, let me caution you: don’t. It’s so good, fatty, filling and delicious, it will ruin you for every other restaurant. And, um, the cheesecake? Cheesecake, people. In a billion different varieties. But if you’re going for dessert, you should skip the whole meal thing altogether. By the time you’re done plowing through your massive entree, any space in your belly for cool, scrumptious cheesecake will have been invaded by meatloaf.

On this particular evening, riding high off a solitary strawberry margarita in honor of the 25th anniversary of my birth, I ordered a chicken piccata dish. On a whim. Because it featured a lemon and caper sauce and, well, that sounded good.

So I ordered it. Spencer and I chatted and made moony, lovey faces at each other. I drank more of my margarita.

And then my chicken piccata came.

And I ate it.

And it was the most delicious thing I’ve ever had in my life.

Was it the perfectly-cooked chicken dripping in the lemon herb reducation? Or maybe the mushrooms — wow, I love mushrooms. Perhaps it was the tender pasta drenched in all that delicious sauce, or . . .

Yes, yes, it was the capers. Totally the capers.

Since I’ve been getting more interested in cooking lately, as we all know, and have had some successes, I decided earlier this week I would whip this one up with Spencer, my favorite sous chef. (Yeah, right — I’m totally his sous chef. Especially since I spend more time taking pictures of dinner than making it.)

After discovering this recipe for Chicken Scallopine over at The Pioneer Woman, one of my favorite blogs, we went to work. And everything went swimmingly! Aside from a mishap wherein I dropped the jar of capers (eek), our stove wouldn’t get hot enough to reduce the white wine (another eek) and our linguine became sticky from sitting too long while the chicken fried (our fault for boiling it too quickly), it was delicious — and relatively simple.

I’d recommend it — especially if you’re all into capers, like I am. Though the recipe calls for a “heaping teaspoon” of the delicious little pickled buds, I could have happily added the entire jar to our pan.

And next time? I’ll be doing just that.



Chicken Scallopine

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:
1 pound Linguine
6 whole Boneless, Skinless, Trimmed Chicken Breasts
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Flour
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Butter
12 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced Thin
1 cup Dry White Wine
Chicken Broth (optional)
1 whole Lemon
½ cups Heavy Cream (can Use Half-and-Half)
1 teaspoon (heaping) Capers
Chopped Fresh Italian Parsley
Parmesan Cheese, For Topping

Preparation Instructions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness. Salt and pepper both sides, then dredge in flour. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry chicken breasts until golden brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Throw mushrooms into the pan and stir. Immediately pour in wine and chicken broth (optional), and then squeeze juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon. Stir to deglaze the pan, and then cook vigorously for 1 minute, until sauce reduces.

Pour in cream and stir, then add capers and parsley and stir. Turn off heat. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Don’t under salt!

Place pasta and chicken on a platter and top with every last drop of sauce. Generously sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the top.



Beginner’s cooking with Meg: Cottage cheese noodles

/ Meg / 1 Comment

In the tradition of the mighty “pot luck,” we’re always looking for something quick, easy and delicious to take with us to parties. My mom’s been preparing a recipe courtesy of my grandmother for quite some time: Polish cottage cheese noodles! They’re easy, quick and hearty — and definitely a comfort food.

So, of course, we need to gather together our ingredients. I wandered into the kitchen on Sunday to see what my mother was up to before we left for my grandmother and cousin’s birthday party. Another successful venture for one of our favorite Polish dishes! All we need is bow-tie pasta, butter, one package of cottage cheese, pepper and minced onion.

So we boil up our pasta, which took about ten minutes or so. I think Mom actually used two boxes of noodles — making sure we had enough for the party and for home, if there are leftovers (there are always leftovers).

 

Ah, the lovely aroma of freshly cooked pasta!

After the pasta is cooked and drained, I put it all back in the pot in preparation of adding our final few ingredients. I popped three heaping spoonfuls of low-fat margarine, about three tablespoons of minced onion (I’m just eyeballing here), an entire package of cottage cheese (you can’t really have too much cheese), then sprinkled the entire casserole, at Mom’s suggestion, with black pepper. Voila!

Then the only tricky part is figuring out how to eat all of the delicious party food . . . and making sure the dish is still hot when you reach your destination. Check and check!

Beginner’s cooking with Meg & Palmer: Chicken & vegetables

/ Meg

My boyfriend graciously offered to make dinner for my family the other night! And, since we’re all trying to eat better and Palmer is steadfastly improving his own diet, we had to go healthy.

I’m not embarrassed to admit Palmer is a much better cook than I am! We all know about my adventures (and extreme misadventures) in the kitchen. I was happy to lean back, relax and take some tips from someone else for a while. And hey, Palmer bought us a really nifty vegetable steamer! Which was a very nice complement to the chicken, sliced thin, he seared.

We had fresh green beans (steamed with the new gadget, served with just a little butter) and chicken with seared peppers and zucchini. I was getting a little nervous listening to all the sizzling and popping coming from the pan, but I’m told this is normal. I just have a little PTSD from the oil poppin’ incident of early October ’08.

But everything turned out great! Palmer carefully watched the meal and whizzed around the kitchen like a pro. I, of course, swooped in still in my work clothes toting my digital camera to document the process. He cooked whole wheat pasta to be served beneath the chicken and vegetables, and it tasted quite delicious. I wasn’t sold on the idea of whole wheat after last week, but I realize that — like everything — it’s all in how you prepare it. He added some butter and, I think, a little onion? Very good!

Delicious! Healthy, quick and easy. Though my parents aren’t big on the peppers and zucchini, they gamely went along with it! It’s definitely a nice, fresh alternative to eating leftovers — or the crazy stuff I concoct. But don’t worry, I’m getting back in the culinary ring very soon!

Beginner’s cooking with Meg: Spaghetti & meat sauce

/ Meg / 1 Comment

So in an effort to become more and more of an adult — and so my parents will begin to stop worrying that I’m going to starve once I move out of the house — I’ve slowly begun taking over small cooking responsibilities around dinnertime. Since I love spaghetti and it’s reasonably simple to throw together, that’s been my pet project lately . . . and tonight, things turned out well!

You know, it certainly wasn’t a masterpiece . . . but my basic cooking skills are improving! Tonight I figured out how to defrost ground turkey, whip together a tomato sauce with garlic, heated some green beans and stuck frozen biscuits in the oven. Again, not nearly a culinary treasure — but hot, filling and pretty tasty.

Once I leave my second job and and more “time” on my hands, I definitely want to get heavier into cooking. Like most people, I love food — and my parents are both tired of cooking after preparing 28 years of meals in a time crunch.

So here’s to jumping into the culinary world without any real idea what I’m doing . . . but armed with lots of Food Network knowledge. I can’t get enough “Good Eats”!

My culinary weapons!

The finished project