Fresh Vegetable Sauce with Pasta

This is a really quick way to eat your vegetables and have dinner on the table in under 20 minutes. This dish appealed to the lazy daisy inside me, who doesn't always want to spend an hour or two cooking on a weeknight. Sometimes I need something quick, that is also nutritious, and of course yummy. Especially when cooking for healthy boyfriend, he is not a fan of the ole bread and cheese dinner I used to be so fond of. It's good to keep him around because he is constantly making sure there is enough healthy food on the dinner plate.
This sauce is easy, and most of the vegetables are in season right now. Not sure about the rest of the country but in NC you can still buy tomatoes, eggplant, onions, and garlic at the farmers market.
The combination of these vegetables was lovely, which makes sense given they all grow around the same time. Food that grows to together, stays together. Or should anyway.
Only a few chops and 15 minutes stands between you and a healthy dinner!

Pasta with Fresh Vegetable Sauce

Adapted from Jacques Pepin's Table

Be sure to boil the pasta-cooking water before you begin the vegetable sauce. It only takes about 7 minutes to make the sauce and 8 minutes to cook the pasta, so have your water boiling before you begin.

The Goods: Serves 4

1/2 pound spaghetti (number 4)
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
1 large red onion (1 1/2 cups), halved and thinly sliced
1 small eggplant (6 ounces), diced into 1/2-inch pieces
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 ripe tomatoes (12 ounces), seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons parsely, coarsely chopped
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

The Deal: 

1. Bring water to a boil. Add pasta, return water to a boil, and cook for about 8 minutes, until pasta is just tender to bite.

2. Meanwhile heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the onions and eggplant until soft and browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and mix in the garlic. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Mix throughly and set aside.

Accidently diced my onion, but just slice thin into strips

3. Remove 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water, and add it to the eggplant mixture. Drain the pasta, add it to the saucepan, and toss to coat it with the vegetables. Serve immediately, and sprinkle with parsley and parmesan to taste. 

Cold Sesame Noodles

Seed-a-licious

The elusive perfect pasta salad. It's become so rare for me to enjoy pasta salad, I started avoiding them at potlucks. There are either full of mayo, or the vegetables are overcooked and under flavored. There was one cold asian style noodle salad Trader Joes sells in its fresh section that drove me wild. Im talking had dreams about this salad. Living in Asheville is a gift, except of our lack of Traders Joes. Oh Traders, how I miss you. This one was not like the Traders one, it was tasty, but still not exactly what I wanted. You elude me again perfect pasta salad!

Don't get me wrong, this was great, but when you are seeking a particular flavor, nothing else will do.

Next time I will add more vegetables and less pasta. Of course I "forgot" the red pepper, aka I still dont vibe with red peppers and dont add them to things. Walking into a kitchen when peppers are cooking makes my mouth water, I want to eat them, but then I do and regret it. Someday red/green peppers...someday.

 I think next time Ill use a different type of noodle. Chunky peanut butter was recommended but I had creamy so thats what I used. Always follow ingredients, but be careful when buying food that could go to waste. If you don't eat crunchy butter, don't buy it. 

I made them Sunday night, tasted them and had them again for Monday lunch. Sadly they were tastier Sunday night, but by no means gross on Monday. I ate them again today, and they were still tasty. I made enough for the week, so Ill see how long it holds. This would be a fantastic dish for a potluck, especially in the summer, because it whips up quick and the ingredients are cheap.

Sesame Seeds are healthy too, full of copper, magnesium, and calcium. Also the phrase "open sesame" comes from sesame seeds. When sesame seed pod reaches maturity they burst open, hence open sesame. I tell ya, the things you learn online. I knew there must be a reason they are on so many asian dishes. You can read all about them here: Sesame Seeds

I found this recipe in America's Best Test Kitchen: Family Cookbook, a cookbook I think every person should have. It has every basic recipe you would need, plus information on everything from the best olive oil, to how cook every bean, to a list of every type of cheese and what it goes well with. I've been missing sleep just to read this wonderful book, I would say its a "must have".
Do not let the ingredient list scare you, a lot of components are things you probably have around the house. Specifically the kitchen, hopefully you dont keep peanut butter in your bathroom, though to each his/her own.
Noodle note: Chinese eggs noodles may not be in your pantry, they sadly arent in mine, so use what you have on hand. I only buy whole wheat noodles these days, its good habit to get into. I used angel hair, but think rotini, spaghetti, or farfelle would all be great.

Cold Sesame Noodles

Crap picture, I promise the taste is better

The Goods: Serves 4-6

5 tablespoons sesame seeds

5 tablespoons soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Amino Acids

1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Tabasco

1/2 cup hot water

1 tablespoon salt

1 pound fresh chinese noodles(see note)

4 scallions, sliced thin

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced thin

The Deal: 

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the sesame seeds. Puree the remaining 4 tablespoons sesame seeds with soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic, and Tabasco in a food processor (or blender) until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, add hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce has the consistency of heavy cream. You may not need all the water, the texture is key. 

Pre-pureed

Creamy and healthy. Yes!

2. Cook the noodles as directed until tender. Drain and rinse the noodles under cold water until cool. Shake out excess water and transfer to a large bowl. Add the scallions, carrots, red pepper, and sesame sauce and toss to combine. Serve on a platter, or divide into bowls and sprinkle with reserved sesame seeds. 

Vegetable Stir Fry with Marinated Tofu

Ah Stir frys. Nothing better than a recipe that has mostly vegetables and simple cooking.  Stir frys are great because you can use almost any kind of vegetable you want, add a few spices and/or sauces and it will be delicious. I find almost everyone likes stir fry and why wouldn't they? Plus you get to use your wok which is not only fun to say, but looks pretty.

I use normal pasta for my noodles, you can use whatever you have on hand. If you like/buy chinese noodles, then use them in your dish, but I find standard spaghetti noodles work great and I always have some around. Also if you put a dash or sesame oil or braggs in the noodles once they are cooked, they get more of an asian flavor.

Tofu. BAH! I used to really hate this stuff, it reminded me of eating a sponge. Over the years I've grown to appreciate it and even love it. The annoying things about tofu is drying it out and trying to get it flavorful. What I have found is marinades are your best friend and the longer you marinate them the happier your taste buds will be with you.

Everyone has different methods for drying tofu out. I place paper towels or dish towels on a plate, cut the tofu into strips and lay them on the towels. Then place more paper towels over the tofu and place another plate or heavy pan on top. I rotate the towels once they are soaked through, and do this for 30 minutes or up to a few hours if I have the time. Basically you need your tofu dry, so use my method or find one that works for you.

Healthy boyfriend knew he wanted to have tofu in the next few days, so he found the simple marinade below and let it sit for two days. It can be hard to remember to plan ahead of time, but not impossible. A good rule, is if you know you'll eat tofu within the week, just whip up the marinade on monday and let the tofu soak. It will keep in the fridge for a few days and one day you'll come home and have nice flavorful tofu! The marinade could also be baked, or sautéed in a regular pan.

Neat trick: When cooking pasta, put the strainer over the pasta bowl in the sink. When you drain your pasta the hot water goes into the bowl, heating it, which helps keep your pasta warm until its ready to be served. Great trick I learned from my parents.

Bummer Note: This tofu was not as crispy as I wanted it. Tofu is something I still struggle with, I think next time I will bake the tofu. The rest of the dish is great and the tofu was good, just not as cripsy as I desired. If you have a great way of cooking tofu that always works for you, then just cook it that way and stir fry your vegetables as directed below.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Marinated Tofu

The Goods: Serves 2-3

Marinated Tofu, cut into small cubes(recipe below)
1/2 package whole wheat spaghetti noodles
1 ear of corn, kernels chopped off
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1 large zuchhici, sliced into discs
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil(or olive oil)
4 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

The Deal: 
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook spaghetti as instructed on the package.

2. Heat oil in a wok or large saute pan on medium high heat. Heat until hot, about 1 minute, and then add garlic. Saute until aromatic, about 1-2 minutes.

3. Increase the heat to high and add tofu and marinade. Saute until crispy about 5 minutes.

4. Add the broccoli and zucchini and cook until tender about 3-5 minutes. About 3 minutes after you added your broccoli and zucchini, add corn.

5. Once your vegetables are tender, remove from heat and serve over pasta.

Marinated Tofu

The Goods: enough for one package of tofu
1 package extra firm tofu, as dry as possible

1/3 cup soy sauce or braggs

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/3 cup oil

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons ketchup

The Deal: 

1. Combine all ingredients besides tofu in a shallow bowl. Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch strips or cubes.

Toss tofu in marinade and let soak for at least one hour or up to 3 days.

Wheat Spaghetti with Buttnernut Squash

Saturday night meal! Thats what Im talking about!

Well Saturday was a night of wild and crazy cooking. My sweet boyfriend was in charge of dinner and I did dessert. He decided to cook with wheat berries, and after 2 hours of attempting to cook them, we gave up and made spaghetti.

Wheat berries are whole wheat kernels, so they are very rich in fiber. They are an interesting grain, but one I still have yet to try. We knew that they would take a while to cook, we just didnt know HOW long. (hint it was REALLY LONG) We had not soaked the wheat berries ahead of time in water, and they just would not cook. We tried different pots, adding more water, and in the end, the wheat berries won. I will try wheat berries again soon, and do some more research on how they cook best. One site said you can cook them for an hour and they will come out fine, but that was not our experience last night...

Luckily we did have a REALLY delicious meal, and whole wheat spaghetti made a great last minute substitution. Its very important in cooking to be persistent, but not to the point that you ruin your evening. Live and learn, and try again!

The squash and red onion are ridiculously good together, and the fresh tyhme makes this dish really memorable. The goat cheese also adds the perfect creamy texture, without overpowering the dish.
This is a GREAT elegant way to dress up ordinary pasta, use some winter vegetables, and feel very fancy.

This recipe is based on 101 Cookbook website, a beautiful healthy website, with some changes:

WHOLE WHEAT SPAGHETTI WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Serves 2, increase as needed

Ingredients: 

1/4 box of whole wheat pasta, or small handful 

1 1/2 cup butternut squash, diced into small even cubes

1 medium/small red onion cut into 1/8ths

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced 

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil 

1 tablespoon walnut oil, optional

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup goat cheese, garlic and herb preferred 

2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375. 

2. Toss squash, onion, thyme with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a few pinches of salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Put in a single layer on sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Toss the squash and onions every 5 minutes or so to get even browning on all sides. Remove when fork slides easily in squash, or taste for preference. I like my squash a bit softer, others enjoy it tougher, so the cooking time depends on how well you like your squash cooked.

3. While the squash is cooking, boil a large pot of water. Add spaghetti and cook as directed. 

4. Once both are ready toss in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of walnut oil(or olive oil). Salt to taste if desired. 

5. Serve into bowls and add goat cheese to plates individually. If you are like me, controlling your goat cheese portion could prove difficult :)

This was a great meal on its own, but a simple salad and a quality french bread would round out the meal nicely and be appropriate if you are having guests.