This is fast becoming a lunch favorite of mine because it is so . . . fast. And fresh. And relatively light (if you go easy on the olive oil) and healthy (if you use whole-wheat spaghetti). Kenton only likes it with meat in it (the one time I made it for him, I included beef strips usually reserved for stir-fry), so I consider this a girl meal. Fine by me.
- Course Salt & Ground Pepper, to taste
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced (when I reduce this recipe to one serving just for me, I just use a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved; they're more flavorful, anyway)
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced (for one serving, I just go with a smaller clove. Can't get enough garlic.)
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (for the measuring challenged like me, one-quarter of that is 1.5 tsp)
- 8 oz. angel-hair pasta
- 2 tablespoons Pine Nuts, toasted if desired
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, garlic, and oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt & pepper. Let stand at least 10 minutes.
2. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain & return to pot. Add tomato mixture and toss to combine. Serve sprinkled with pine nuts.
Serves 4 / Prep time: 5 min / Total time: 15 min
From July/August '08 issue of Everyday Food Magazine
Rebecca's notes: As you can see, this recipe pretty easily makes one serving at a time, which is why I like it so much. I'd recommend going light on the olive oil. I am partial to grape tomatoes (so sweet and flavorful!), so prefer them to whole tomatoes in this. I found pine nuts hanging on the wall o' nuts in the cooking aisle of the regular grocery store. I'm prone to leave salt out of recipes, but this is one where you really need it; it's rather bland, otherwise. I've toyed with the idea of including a little wilted spinach or some other kind of green. It was good with the beef strips, but no longer a light meal.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Lentil Bacon Salad
Stolen again from Katy. Stolen by her from Everyday Food magazine. I haven't tried it yet, but intend to:
Lentil Salad with Bacon (serves 3-4, depending on appetite)
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
4 strips bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
your choice of salad greens, enough for 3-4 people (the original recipe called for frisée, and while I do think that would be a lovely choice, I never have it on hand, and to buy it would somehow negate the inherent money-saving attributes of this meal)
In a medium saucepan, combine lentils and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer and cook until lentils are tender but not mushy, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
Pour off all but about 1 Tbsp of bacon fat from your pan. Add onions and carrots to pan, and cook over medium heat until carrots are tender, about 10 or so minutes. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 2 more minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Using about 1/4-1/3 of the dressing, dress your salad greens in a separate bowl. Add the lentils, onion mixture, and reserved bacon to the remaining dressing in the bowl, and toss to coat. To serve, divide the greens among serving bowls, and top with lentil salad.
Lentil Salad with Bacon (serves 3-4, depending on appetite)
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
4 strips bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
your choice of salad greens, enough for 3-4 people (the original recipe called for frisée, and while I do think that would be a lovely choice, I never have it on hand, and to buy it would somehow negate the inherent money-saving attributes of this meal)
In a medium saucepan, combine lentils and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer and cook until lentils are tender but not mushy, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
Pour off all but about 1 Tbsp of bacon fat from your pan. Add onions and carrots to pan, and cook over medium heat until carrots are tender, about 10 or so minutes. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 2 more minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Using about 1/4-1/3 of the dressing, dress your salad greens in a separate bowl. Add the lentils, onion mixture, and reserved bacon to the remaining dressing in the bowl, and toss to coat. To serve, divide the greens among serving bowls, and top with lentil salad.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Free Breakfast Recipes
Once again, I steal from Katy's blog to tell you that there are some yummy-looking (though untried-by-me) free recipes up right now on Cooks Illustrated.com . . . Unsure how long they'll stay available and free, so see if they're of interest.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Companion to the Tomato Soup
Okay, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever figured this out, but George Foreman grills make wonderful grilled-cheese sandwiches. I made some on Fri. night to serve with The Tomato Soup.... got a baguette, split it in half and cut it into smaller pieces, brushed it with olive oil, and grilled face-down on the GFG for a few minutes. Then I took the bread out, added thin slices of Vermont Cabot cheddar (hallelujah), closed the sandwiches, and re-grilled them to melt the cheese.
Yes. It was the right thing to do. PERFECT WITH THE SOUP.
Yes. It was the right thing to do. PERFECT WITH THE SOUP.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
White Chicken Chili
I LOVE white chili with chicken and figured I should learn how to make it myself. It was my turn to make lunch for my community group today, so I figured I'd give it a go with 12 people (plus kids) as my guinea pigs. It turned out well, I think . . . I got compliments and Sweet Little Chloe had 3 bowls. I thought I'd pass it along. The basic outline of the recipe was found on AllRecipes.com, but I made some additions and changes of my own enough that I'm going to call it mine. Play around with it, if you decide to make it, and let me know what you come up with!!! (Or if you have a white chicken chili recipe of your own, pass it along!)
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cans (~16 oz) Great Northern Beans (I actually substituted in one can of Navy Beans and one of White Kidney Beans.)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespooon minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin (plus more to taste)
2-3 cups chicken broth
Roughly a pound of cooked chicken (I used chicken tenderloins which made cooking and shredding into bitesize pieced easier)
Directions:
In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic until tender. Stir in 3 of the cans of beans (hold one out) parsley, lime juice and cumin. Add in broth. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, blend up (I used food processor) one of the cans of Great Northern Beans to a puree and add into the mix. (This adds thickness to the chili.) Reduce heat to simmer and add cooked chicken in bitesize pieces. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Add in more beans, broth, etc as needed to desired consistancy. I also added some pepper and extra cumin to taste.
I served with sour cream to dollop on top and a mix of shredded italian cheeses.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cans (~16 oz) Great Northern Beans (I actually substituted in one can of Navy Beans and one of White Kidney Beans.)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespooon minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin (plus more to taste)
2-3 cups chicken broth
Roughly a pound of cooked chicken (I used chicken tenderloins which made cooking and shredding into bitesize pieced easier)
Directions:
In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic until tender. Stir in 3 of the cans of beans (hold one out) parsley, lime juice and cumin. Add in broth. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, blend up (I used food processor) one of the cans of Great Northern Beans to a puree and add into the mix. (This adds thickness to the chili.) Reduce heat to simmer and add cooked chicken in bitesize pieces. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Add in more beans, broth, etc as needed to desired consistancy. I also added some pepper and extra cumin to taste.
I served with sour cream to dollop on top and a mix of shredded italian cheeses.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Smoothies
Okay, I know everyone probably already knows how to make smoothies, but if not, here's an easy and yummy recipe... and people should still have their blenders out of storage from making the tomato soup! (Hint: The quality of the yogurt really matters--if you use non-organic, you can really taste the artificial sweetener and other fake stuff.)
~1 cup Stonyfield Farms vanilla yogurt (lowfat or fat-free)
~Several ice cubes
~2-3 servings of fruit (I usually use 1 fresh banana plus about a cup of frozen strawberries and/or orange or pineapple chunks.. you can buy pre-cut frozen fruit that is especially made for smoothies)
~a few squeezes of fresh lemon
~1-2 tbsp honey
Combine in blender. Easy and yummy! If you like your smoothie to be more drinkable, you can add orange juice.
~1 cup Stonyfield Farms vanilla yogurt (lowfat or fat-free)
~Several ice cubes
~2-3 servings of fruit (I usually use 1 fresh banana plus about a cup of frozen strawberries and/or orange or pineapple chunks.. you can buy pre-cut frozen fruit that is especially made for smoothies)
~a few squeezes of fresh lemon
~1-2 tbsp honey
Combine in blender. Easy and yummy! If you like your smoothie to be more drinkable, you can add orange juice.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Hummus
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
(This is my faithful party recipe. Credit to Angie Brown for passing it on a few years ago. It's a big hit. I get requests for it.)
2 cans cooked garbanzo beans
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
7-8 cloves of minced garlic
1 Tablespoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons (plus more "to taste") Tabasco sauce
1 roasted red pepper - roughly diced
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until pureed. I've recently learned that adding in a little water or more lemon juice may help it be a little smoother.
*Serve with pita chips, blue corn chips, vegetables, etc.
Plain, Easy Hummus
(I made this recently to go with the Pakistani Kima. It's nice because it's easy and a nice, more bland element to go with the Kima. Credit to "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman.)
2 cups drained, well-cooked or canned chickpeas (I use cans (1 can = 2 cups) and cook 'em up on the stove top)
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small clove garlic (I'm gonna have to say, the recipe could use more garlic)
1 Tablespoon grounc cumin
Juice of 1 lemon (I used about 1/2 cup of lemon juice)
1/3 cup water (plus more, as needed)
salt and pepper to taste
Place everything except the water in the food processor and blend. Add the water in as needed to make a smooth puree. Add more garlic, salt, lemon juice or cumin as needed.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of cumin on top.
(*Note: I am still wanting to "tweak" the recipe to give it a little more flavor. I think using more garlic and lemon juice may be the trick.)
(This is my faithful party recipe. Credit to Angie Brown for passing it on a few years ago. It's a big hit. I get requests for it.)
2 cans cooked garbanzo beans
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
7-8 cloves of minced garlic
1 Tablespoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons (plus more "to taste") Tabasco sauce
1 roasted red pepper - roughly diced
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until pureed. I've recently learned that adding in a little water or more lemon juice may help it be a little smoother.
*Serve with pita chips, blue corn chips, vegetables, etc.
Plain, Easy Hummus
(I made this recently to go with the Pakistani Kima. It's nice because it's easy and a nice, more bland element to go with the Kima. Credit to "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman.)
2 cups drained, well-cooked or canned chickpeas (I use cans (1 can = 2 cups) and cook 'em up on the stove top)
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small clove garlic (I'm gonna have to say, the recipe could use more garlic)
1 Tablespoon grounc cumin
Juice of 1 lemon (I used about 1/2 cup of lemon juice)
1/3 cup water (plus more, as needed)
salt and pepper to taste
Place everything except the water in the food processor and blend. Add the water in as needed to make a smooth puree. Add more garlic, salt, lemon juice or cumin as needed.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of cumin on top.
(*Note: I am still wanting to "tweak" the recipe to give it a little more flavor. I think using more garlic and lemon juice may be the trick.)
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