Scrambled Pasta…

I had a recipe from years ago, when I first started gathering recipes, for a Scrambled Pasta dish.  Oddly, I had never tried it… Odd, because I love pasta, and I do rather enjoy eggs (though I do tend to eat them off and on, in phases).  Anyway, I’ve recently been enjoying eggs in various ways, so I decided it was time to try this dish.

I looked at my old recipe, and also took a gander at some other ones on the web.  I came up with a very basic way to try adding eggs to pasta.  The meal did feel like comfort food and it was fairly good.  I think it would be even better by adding some fresh herbs or some fresh veggies in the summertime.  I did add asparagus on the side to this dish… We’ve finally got some fresh asparagus here, and honestly, I think I was more focused on enjoying that!    But all in all, a scrambled pasta is an interesting way to make a quick pasta meal… It’s filling, somewhat light and overall pretty darn tasty. I’d also say it would make a yummy base with some fresh herbs and/or veggies, too.

• 12-oz. Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta – I cooked the whole box and then set a bit of the cooked pasta aside.
• Olive Oil
• Minced Garlic
• 4 Eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded (plus extra for topping, if desired)

Cook pasta according to directions; drain and set aside. As pasta is finishing cooking, saute minced garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Beat together the 4 eggs in a small bowl, and then stir in the shredded parmesan cheese. Add cooked pasta to garlic and warm through. Pour egg mixture over pasta and stir. While stirring (and also scraping the eggs from the bottom of the pan), cook until the eggs are set, about 4-5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

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Baked Penne with Smoked Gouda…

I mostly followed the recipe for ‘Ziti Baked with Spinach, Tomatoes and Smoked Gouda’ found here. I used penne pasta instead of the ziti, and I omitted the yellow pepper. I just wasn’t in a particularly peppery mood that night. The dish came out quite good. I’ve been enjoying using diced tomatoes in recipes lately… probably because it’s wintertime and you can’t really get good ‘fresh’ tomatoes anywhere here. I quite enjoyed the smoked gouda as the cheese in this dinner. The smokiness complemented very nicely with the tomatoes and pasta. All in all, I’m sure I’d make this again…

• Penne Pasta
• Olive Oil
• Onion, chopped
• Garlic, minced
• 2 cans Diced Tomatoes
• Baby Spinach
• Smoked Gouda Cheese

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Eclectic Veggies and Couscous…

Well, it was definitely time for a bunch of veggies for dinner. Sometimes, I just feel the need for that sort of thing. I basically cooked up the majority of what was in the fridge… And I used the entire stovetop in the process. And the toaster oven. The meal became a bit more involved that I had originally planned, but so be it…

Burner #1 – Fried Cabbage, of sorts. Not really fried, but cooked down in some pseudo-butter stuff, with salt and pepper. The cabbage starts out quite bulky, so that got its own cooking pan.

Burner #2 – Steamed Baby Carrots. That was the only veggie that I was steaming, so that too had its own separate place.

Burner #3 – Garlic, Mushrooms and Zucchini. I added the mushrooms because they were there (of course, it’s rare that they are not there), but I didn’t have anything else specific in mind for ‘em. So, those veggies all got sauteed in olive oil together.

Burner #4 – I decided to make some Parmesan Couscous to with everything. It’s a quick cooker… literally 6 minutes start to finish.

Toaster / Convection Oven – I had picked up an eggplant, because I’ve been having a hankering for it. So, I let the eggplant slices bake as I was cooking everything else. It had been too long… Yum.

All the veggie goodness went on top of the couscous, along with just a smattering of feta crumbles. A bit time-consuming, all good, nice and healthy, and just what we needed.

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Chinese Chicken and Mushrooms Attempt…

I’ve been trying every now and then to make a good Asian type of stir-fry, aka Chinese food of sorts. However, they haven’t really come out all that flavorful. ‘Some’ flavors are there, but they’re just not blending together in the way that I envision. This dish was kinda like that, too… It was okay, but just not something I’d be likely to repeat. I think I used to be able to do a good stir-fry, but I cannot seem to be able to do it lately. Anyway, here are the ingredients that I used for the so-so dish above:

• Chicken Breasts, cubed
• Cornstarch (dusted over the chicken)
• Olive Oil
• Sesame Oil
• Soy Sauce
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Garlic, minced
• Ginger, minced
• Mushrooms
• Zucchini
• Noodles

I’ll have to continue to work on this angle, I guess.  Red Pepper Flakes may help… maybe.  Or find some sort of Asian chili sauce or something…  I also hear that Panda Express has prepared non-MSG sauces available… I might have to try that instead.

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Pizza, with a Mediterranean Flair…

This pizza was created and cooked by Mr. Food Groove, and we both very much enjoyed it! It’s light, very tasty and flavorful. The goat cheese is definitely the star in this one, which is just how we wanted it. He used a Boboli pizza crust as the base and drizzled some olive oil on top. Next, he added crumbled goat cheese. In a saute pan with some more olive oil, he cooked up some minced garlic and red onion. Added to that mix were artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes. Once that was all cooked through, the mixture went on top of the goat cheesed crust. Finally, a small bit of shredded cheese was sprinkled on top. Cook in the oven for about 12 minutes and yum!! Here’s the list of ingredients:

• Boboli Pizza Crust
• Olive Oil
• Crumbled Goat Cheese
• Garlic, minced
• Red Onion, chopped
• Artichoke Hearts
• Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Shredded Cheese

We enjoyed it because it was a lighter style of pizza, without a traditional sauce as the base. The olive oil and goat cheese were the stars of the show, only enhanced by the other toppings. Definitely two forks up!

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Hearty Chili…

Mr. Food Groove made an exceptionally delicious chili last week. It was perfectly hearty and warm for the cooler weather that is now upon us. It also had a perfect amount of spice to it… I, myself, tend to be a non-spicy type of person. Oftentimes, dishes such as chili have just too much heat for my tastes, but this one had a wonderful combination of tangy heat and hearty beans. Here are the ingredients that he used… Believe it or not, and it may not be too hard to believe, but the bacon added a nice additional smoky flavor to it too.  Shredded cheese on top, of course… We also added some scrambled eggs to the leftover chili during the week… yum!

• 1-lb. Ground Beef
• 1-lb. Ground Turkey
• 3/4-lb. Bacon
• 2 cans Diced Tomatoes with Garlic
• 3 cans Bush’s Mild Chili Beans
• Green Chilies, diced
• Yellow Onion, diced
• 6-oz. Chipotle Peppers  in Adobo Sauce

Normally, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of adding chipotle peppers to anything, but in the past few years, I’ve come to appreciate the smoky flavors that they can add to a dish.  Never would I have imagined…

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White Bean Spread…

I found an ingredient list for a bean spread that looked, well, interesting. Something to try and play around with… And that’s pretty much how it turned out. I was curious to use the white beans as a base. My only other experience with pureed beans would be hummus, and that has a very distinct chickpea flavor (which I adore, mind you). So for the cannellini beans, I was curious.

It came out okay. I’ve used the spread on a sandwich and as a topping for crackers (see above). I can’t say it’s something that I would crave, but then again, I like knowing it’s a good-for-you type of spread. As opposed to, say, a cheese spread or dip (which I also adore, mind you). I liked using fresh herbs from the balcony, and I will definitely be playing with them quite a bit this season. The red onions in this spread were too strong right away… But after it had some time to meld in the fridge, it did, well, mellow out. So, here’s the ingredient list, take it or leave it. I’m of mixed reviews on it right now…

• Cannellini Beans, one can, thoroughly rinsed and drained
• Drizzling of Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Red Onion, half of a medium-sized – not sure I’d even add this next time, particularly if I’m adding chives
• Fresh Chives – I think I used 6 stalks, and I’d use more next time, while omitting the red onions
• Fresh Thyme – handful of sprigs

I’d probably add a dash or two of lemon juice next time also.  Basically, I put everything in the food processor and whirled away.  Definitely put in fridge to let flavors mix…

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New Salad…

This is a new salad, in that I used several ingredients that I didn’t usually use with last season’s salads. I’m very much liking that fresh salad time is here again. I’m going to try and grow a salad greens mix in one of my balcony containers this year… I thought of that last night, and honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. I’ve already got basil, chives, oregano, tomatoes, and thyme out there for this year. They’re not planted yet, but I do hope to do that this weekend…

Anyway, for the salad above, I tried a few new ingredients. And let me just add, that getting my ingredients from the local farm for the first time this season made it taste all that much better! We really don’t do salads in the winter, because I simply don’t like the taste of store-bought produce bought in the off-season. It’s okay for some things when I’m cooking, but when it’s going into a bowl of greenery, I really do prefer it to be fresh!

• Bit of Romaine Lettuce
• Salad Greens Mix (New – romaine was the typical for last year)
• Tomatoes (Fresh!)
• Green Onions (Fresh!)
• Avocado (New-ish – I only add this on occasion)
• Cucumber (Fresh!)
• Blue Cheese Crumbles (New!)
• Walnuts (New-ish – I can’t wait to try cashews next time)

And that was it… It was deliciously green and, well, fresh.    The avocado and blue cheese added a bit of creamy texture to this salad, enough so that I didn’t use any dressing.  Anyway, it just tasted so darn green and fresh to me.  I think I need to find a synonym here, but it was just so newly-grown good!

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Another Rice Dish…

It’s another rice dish for our dinner. I usually cook some brown rice over the weekend and have it waiting in the fridge. I also blanched some asparagus for this one and had that ready to go. Then, when it’s Rice Dish Night, I cook up the remaining veggies, cook up some eggs, and warm everything through. It’s a pretty easy meal, though I tend to use several pots and pans for it. But, it’s a feel-good type of meal for me, meaning it feels healthy and welcome to my body. Except for my lunch of leftovers the next day… I usually add some blue cheese dressing to the dish and make it a bit creamier. So be it. It still tastes very good.

Here’s the ingredients for this dish:

• Brown Rice
• Garlic, minced
• Ginger, minced
• Green and Yellow Zucchini
• Broccoli  (I can never spell that right the first time)
• Mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Sesame Oil
• Olive Oil
• Eggs  (Omelette-style and then sliced)
• Mine:  Just a bit of shredded Parmesan
• D’s:  Onion and Pepper Relish

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Asparagus Time…

Here are my ingredients for a pasta dinner the other evening. Look at that asparagus! I was so excited to see the big, thick stalks when they first appeared at the grocery store. (I am talking asparagus here…) Which made me think that I have to get to the local garden center, because they should have some nice ones there too! It’s getting to be close to that time…

So, dinner was a light-ish pasta with whole wheat penne. I sauteed the asparagus with handfuls each of mushrooms, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes. And I really don’t have to say it, but some minced garlic was in there too. I let it simmer a bit with a lid mostly on to give it some juiciness. A sprinkling of shredded cheese on top and it was good for eats!

There’s something about asparagus with sun-dried tomatoes that I really enjoy. I also had the hankering for the artichoke hearts to give it a bit of that artichoke lemony touch. And mushrooms because, well, simply because they’re mushrooms. Same can be said for the garlic. Warm, light, springy and just what I needed…

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