Recipe: Summer Pasta with Garden Tomatoes and Basil

I have to remember to take a picture of this the next time I make it!

This recipe is very simple and it makes a delicious meal. As with any dish that is simple, you must make sure you are using the most fresh and flavorful ingredients. Right now, we get the tomatoes and basil from our garden.

12 oz penne pasta
2 pints small (cherry ish) tomatoes - washed and whole (minus stems)
1/2 cup chicken broth (can be substituted with vegetable - I use the Trader Joe's broth packets that you add water to)
1 small bunch basil - leaves torn
Shredded parmesan cheese to taste
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Additional Onion / Garlic Sauce if Desired:
3 cloves garlic - roughly minced
1 small white or red onion - sliced thin or thick, depending on your preference
1/4 cup chicken / vegetable broth

Put water on to boil. While water is heating, wash tomatoes and basil. If adding garlic / onion sauce do the following at this point:

1. Slice the onion
2. Pour about 1 tbsp olive oil into a pan
3. Over high heat, add the onions and caramelize it  (start high until well browned, lower to medium to simmer out the sugar)
4. Meanwhile, roughly mince the garlic
5. As onion approaches your desired level of caramelizing, add garlic and lower the temperature until garlic is sauteed
6. toss in broth, stir and simmer for another minute or two
7. Pull off stove and set aside to add to pasta later

BACK TO THE PASTA:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions
2. During last minute, pull out 1 cup boiling water from pot
3. Throw tomatoes into pasta water for last 10 seconds of cooking pasta
4. Drain pasta and tomatoes
5. Return to pot
6. Toss in a little olive oil to prevent sticking
7. Mix reserved pasta water with 1 packet broth mix from Trader Joe's (or bouillon cube)
8. Add broth to pasta & tomatoes*
9. Dish out food
10. Top pasta with torn basil and cheese (the basil wilts easily which is why you add it after plating)

*If you opted for the garlic / onion sauce, add here. If you are like me and are the only one who will eat onions and / or garlic in your family, you can toss your added sauce in after plating.

Other Ideas:
You can easily add leftover meats to this dish and completely change the flavor. I often make extra to use as a hold over a few days later with a meat as a "fresh" leftover meal.

A New Love: Sriracha

A few years ago I was wandering the aisles of a grocery store and another customer asked me if I knew where the "rooster sauce" was. I had no idea what she was talking about. The then launched into a lengthy explanation of how much she and her 5 year old daughter loved this sauce and put it on everything. It was spicy and full of garlic and it sounded divine. The woman told me how it was usually found in the Asian section of a grocery store and that it had a rooster on it.

Time went by and I forgot about it until one day I spotted some of this mysterious sauce, just as she'd declared, in the Asian section with a rooster on it. The sauce is called "Sriracha" and the brand is Huy Fong. It's an American-made sauce that's based on an old standby from Thailand. It has been the most amazing addition to my culinary arsenal.

Warning: Always Shake the Bottle!!!
It's actually not that spicy, or rather, the spiciness and garlic flavors are pretty well balanced when you first open the bottle. It's critical, however, that you shake the bottle every time prior to squeezing sauce out of it or you'll end up with less garlic and more heat. I actually had to toss out about 1/4 of a bottle once because it got too spicy.

Another Warning: Be Sure You're Getting the Real Thing!
The greatest variant of Sriracha I've found is the Huy Fong version. Sadly, when you have an enviable product, people like to copy it and apparently this holds true for Sriracha. Yes, that's right... along with Chanel, Gucci and two dollar bills, there's a quick market for counterfeit Sriracha out there. Learn about how to get the genuine article here.
 
What to Eat Sriracha With
I hit the golden ticket the first time I tried the Sriracha - I used it as a condiment for a plain old cheese quesadilla and it was AMAZING. A friend of mine told me it goes great with "sweet" flavors. I wonder if it would be good with mango, and I intend to find out when I try this recipe for Grilled Chicken with a Mango Sriracha Glaze.

I eat boiled eggs with Sriracha a lot too, and it really perks up anything you would normally eat either hot sauce or ketchup with. In fact, it's really easy to combine Sriracha with ketchup and / or mayo / sour cream to create a great dipping sauce.

My love affair with Sriracha is only just beginning and I can already tell this is going to be a lifelong fascination. Please share any thoughts you have about good Sriracha recipes! 

Menu Plan Monday 3 - Week of August 2

Feeding Hungry Athletes


This is what our family will be eating this week:

Special Notes: This week my husband will be out on Tuesday night, so I get to prepare a simple meal that he usually isn't fond of. On Saturday, he's riding a century on his bike (100 miles... like a marathon for cyclists), so I really want to carb and protein-load him afterward. In addition, we belong to a CSA, which we pick up our food from on Wednesdays. This last week's box had a fair amount of beets and potatoes, which I'm going to need to use ASAP. Finally, our pear tree is booming... I think on Saturday I'll plan to make pear-based pierogies for Sunday. We're off to a family gathering on Sunday, so it would be nice to show up with something in-hand. 

Monday: Apricot Chickenwith Green Beans and Almonds (p. 291 You on a Diet)

Tuesday: Summer Pasta with Garden Tomatoes, Basil and Parmesan

Wednesday: Rosemary Shallot Pork Tenderloin with Fig-Balsamic Compote by Gabi Moskowitz over at Broke Ass Gourmet, served with roasted potatoes and beets

Thursday: Taco Thursday with Ground Turkey

Friday: Asian Steak and Noodles (p. 48 The Working Mom's Fast & Easy One-Pot Cooking)

Saturday: Pasta with Sausage Spaghetti Sauce

Sunday: Leftovers, Gabi Moskowitz's Sweet Potato and Pear Pierogies with Chilies (after a Mid-Day Family Meal at Sister-in-Law's)


Further Inspiration:
Looking for more menu planning ideas? Check out "Meal Plan Monday" on OrgJunkie.com.

Info on Who I Feed:

Our family consists of myself, my husband, our preschool daughter and toddler son. Everyone has different food preferences. I love onions, garlic and peppers and flavors like stir-fries. I'm not fond of meat, but eat it sparingly. I don't ever eat pork (no, not even bacon), lamb, rabbit or veal. I love carbs. My husband is directly opposite - no garlic, onions or peppers, lots of meat. Our children fall in the range between us. 


I try to be budget-minded and healthful, but some weeks are easier than others. Every now and then I get on a diet type of kick. I'm going to label each week's meal plan according to the overall healthfulness of it. 


At the end of the week, I will make notes about whether or not we stuck to the plan, adaptations and how the meal went over.

Dishwasher Lasagna

Holy cow. Now I've heard of everything.

Perhaps this is better served in my blog on thrifty living, since it capitalizes on using the dishwasher while you're washing dishes, but it also looks like a definite dinner disaster in the making.

Apparently it's possible to cook fish, and now lasagna, or anything else that can be cooked via a steam packet of tin foil, in your dishwasher.

Am I bold enough to put this on a future menu? I might just have to try it out.

Here's the step-by-step recipe on cooking lasagna with a dishwasher, and here's a video about it.

This is the penultimate dishwasher poached salmon recipe by Bob Blumer on Salon.com.  

Speaking of Bob Blumer, it seems his complete set of "Surreal Gourmet" articles are no longer on Salon, so here's a link to one of his books, "Surreal Gourmet: Real Food for Pretend Chefs."

Menu Plan Monday 2 - Week of July 26

Yummy Healthful Meals from All Over the World 

Most of these recipes are relatively fast. They're all fresh and healthful.

This is what our family will be eating this week:

Special Notes: Some links point to the book that I'm getting the recipe from with page number after.

Monday: Asian Salmon, Brown Rice Pilaf, (both adapted from "You on a Diet" p. 285 - adaptation: no garlic) Sautéed Spinach

Follow Up Note: Super easy to cook. Used leftovers in salad the next day. 

Tuesday: Rice Noodles with Vegetable Chili Sauce (p. 170 The Detox Cookbook)

Follow Up Note: Ended up cooking on Thursday night. Took about 20 minutes of prep, 45 minutes total. Very easy and delicious.

Wednesday: Crockpot Sweet Potato Andouille Sausage Stew from Gabi Moskowitz's Mom at Broke Ass Gourmet (leftover vegetable chili sauce over leftover brown rice pilaf for me)

Follow Up Note: Cooked on Tuesday. The children wouldn't eat it. Fortunately there were lots of leftovers (that's sarcasm). Froze to serve in a few weeks. Had about 5 extra servings. Husband wants more sausage next time.

Thursday: Roasted Chicken with Carrots, Onions and Potatoes from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Follow Up Note: Cooked on Wednesday. Used extra vegetables. Served Thursday night for children. I always forget it takes 1.5 hrs to cook. Whoops. 20 minutes prep, started at 5:30. Must remember next time that I need to start prep at 4 if I want to serve it at 6.

Friday: Indian Rice with Tomatoes and Spinach (p. 176 The Detox Cookbook)

Follow Up Note: This was DELICIOUS - everyone in my family ate some of it. Very quick to make (10 min prep, 30 cooking). I added a few teaspoons of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. I used fresh tomatoes, as per the recipe, and it's a great meal to make to use up super ripe tomatoes (though they don't have to be super ripe - it's just that when they're past salad or sandwich ripeness it's harder to find uses for them). This recipe could be more cookie cutter by using a can of diced tomatoes and frozen spinach.

Saturday: Bean Salad with Tuna and Red Onion (p. 158 The Detox Cookbook) Saved!!! Got an invite to dinner at a friends house! We are OUTTA Here! :-)


Sunday: No idea. Again. I'm thinking "leftovers."




Further Inspiration:
Looking for more menu planning ideas? Check out "Meal Plan Monday" on OrgJunkie.com.


Some of the recipes come from these sources, all of which I find inspiring and have simple, relatively quick, very healthy and diverse recipes:


The Brokeass Gourmet


The Detox Cookbook (don't follow the "program" outlined - it's aggravatingly complex, but the recipes are great)


The Barefoot Contessa (not exactly healthy... somewhat fattening, but will teach you how to roast like nobody's business)


You On a Diet (every recipe I've tried has been delicious and easy)



 Info on Who I Feed:

Our family consists of myself, my husband, our preschool daughter and toddler son. Everyone has different food preferences. I love onions, garlic and peppers and flavors like stir-fries. I'm not fond of meat, but eat it sparingly. I don't ever eat pork (no, not even bacon), lamb, rabbit or veal. I love carbs. My husband is directly opposite - no garlic, onions or peppers, lots of meat. Our children fall in the range between us. 


I try to be budget-minded and healthful, but some weeks are easier than others. Every now and then I get on a diet type of kick. I'm going to label each week's meal plan according to the overall healthfulness of it. 


At the end of the week, I will make notes about whether or not we stuck to the plan, adaptations and how the meal went over.

Freshening Up Our Toddler Snacks

Here's a word you hear all too often as a parent: "snacks," or "'nacks" as my son says it. On the one hand, I think it's adorable how my son says it and how my two little ones light up with delight at the sheer prospect of something as simple as "snack time." On the other hand, I cringe almost every time snack time rolls around because we're definitely stuck in a rut.

My son will eat blueberries until his poops are blue, literally. Both of them will knock back peanut-butter pretzels, cheddar bunnies, raisins or cut up apples, but that sort of brings us to the end of the line. We need more snacks to choose from!!!

This is especially important because my two year old essentially lives on snacks. G-d forbid the boy would deign to eat more than a single bite of a meal, especially dinner. Tell him something is a "snack" though and he'll power it back!

I've been troving for snack ideas and came across a few really good ones. Wholesome Toddler Food lists some great ideas like Energy Balls with grated carrots, yogurt cereal bars and baked apples with muesli.
This site, Alli 'n Son, lists waffle sandwiches as a lunch idea, but I think it would make an equally good snack. Also, I like the simplicity of the idea of Kix and raisins as a to-go snack that's listed on the "Snacks for Toddlers" site.

Do you have any other ideas?

MOTW: Gouda Turkey Cheeseburgers with Fennel Relish and Sweet Potato Fries

This was the big hit last week (Jul 11-17). I got the relish and fries recipe from Real Simple, but opted for turkey burgers instead of beef (much leaner). The fennel relish is extremely fast and easy to make, but sounds delightfully gourmet. When I relayed the meal to a friend last week she stopped me when I mentioned the relish and said "you made all this?"

Instead of sweet potatos, I accidently bought yams (the white fleshed ones - I always get the two confused). They were delish!

I pulled a quick turkey burger recipe off the web which worked great. The trick with turkey burgers is that, if they're from 100% breast meat, they'll dry out very fast. Thus, adding egg whites plumps them up and the minced onion adds some flavor. I skipped the garlic because it really does bother my husband, though I'm sure it would have tasted great. The only thing about the burger recipe --- it didn't state the obvious that you need to either put butter or cooking spray in the pan. That's not necessary with beef burgers because of their fat content, but with turkey burgers... well... let's just say they stuck to the pan really well!

This meal was a hit with the whole family.
Real Simple Recipe for Burgers (minus turkey part), Fries and Relish:

Serves 4 Hands-On Time: 30m Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 2 pounds medium sweet potatoes (about 4), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 small fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef chuck
• 4 ounces Gouda, sliced
• 4 hamburger buns
• Arugula, for serving

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes, 2 tablespoons of the oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until golden brown and tender, 22 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, toss the fennel, onion, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper; set aside.
3. Form the beef into four ½-inch-thick patties and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. During the last minute of cooking, top the burgers with the cheese and cook, covered.
4. Place the burgers on the buns with the fennel relish and arugula, if desired. Serve with the fries.

Turkey Burger recipe at AllCooks by Trudi Davidoff:

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 4

"Turkey burgers are a delicious change of pace. Slap these moist patties on the grill for a special summer treat!"

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon seasoned bread crumbs 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon finely diced onion 2/3 egg whites, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley 1/3 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

You have scaled this recipe's ingredients to yield a new amount (4). The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield (12).

1.	In a large bowl, mix ground turkey, seasoned bread crumbs, onion, egg whites, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Form into 12 patties.
2.	Cook the patties in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning once, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C).