Pasta with Spinach, Tomato, & Feta

Apr 4, 2015

Somehow I totally forgot about this recipe.

I started making it in college, and pretty soon it was my standby recipe. I made it at least once a week while I was doing my internship, and later once I moved to Atlanta. Sometimes multiple times a week. It was easy and cheap, came together in the time it took the pasta to cook, and felt kind of fancy. Before I started this blog I basically had a 3-recipe rotation…

Then somehow I totally forgot about it once I started trying out lots of recipes for this site. But when I was at the grocery store last weekend trying to figure out what to do for dinner (since my Kroger was totally out of avocados, which I’d kind of needed), I saw these beautiful heirloom tomatoes and this recipe popped into my mind. It’s very forgiving, the veggie amounts aren’t super exact and neither is the feta amount. You could substitute kale for spinach, though it definitely would change the texture a little. I recommend this for a night where you just need something on the table fast, and want fresh, healthy ingredients.

Pasta with Creamy Butternut Leek Sauce

Nov 16, 2014

So, we basically got like two weeks of fall in Georgia before it got COOOOLLLLD! But those two weeks were really beautiful.

This tree outside my window is absolutely glorious, like flame.

And these leaves form an awesome natural stoplight.

The changing of the seasons has also meant that the grocery stores and my CSA box have been all-gourds-all-the-time. I got a couple beautiful butternut squashes and, since I finally learned how to peel and disassemble them last winter, I was actually excited to try out this recipe.

Also, sage. Because sage is always the answer.

This sauce is deceptively creamy and rich, but doesn’t have any cream or milk, or even cheese until the very end. The leeks form a super flavorful base, and the pureed butternut squash is like butter and cream and squash all in one. This was a super easy and healthy dinner.

Kale & Walnut Pesto with Whole Wheat Pasta

Apr 6, 2014

As I mentioned in my last post, last weekend I made a few healthy additions to my lifestyle, things I felt like I could manage. The first was guzzling a full glass of water before getting up every morning, and the second was making sure I ate a healthy breakfast every day. I also started to make sure I took vitamins every day.

This meal was about the last one—trying to eat more raw foods.

Cooking foods can make them more delicious, but can also destroy valuable nutrients and enzymes. That’s not to say you should never eat anything cooked, but adding more raw foods to your diet (such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts) can significantly up the amount of benefits you’re getting from your food.

Of course, the best way to really get the most out of your food is to make sure you’re buying local and organic, since the longer since a food has been harvested, the more it loses. That’s not always feasible—either financially or availability-wise—but I am trying to get certain things organic, such as apples and carrots (two of the worst pesticide-contaminated foods).

This dino kale was in my CSA box, so it’s both local and organic. Rather than sauteeing it up like I normally do, I decided to puree it with some raw walnuts, garlic, salt, olive oil, and a little ground flaxseed for a different take on pesto. Toss with some curly whole wheat pasta, and you get the best of both worlds—cooked whole grains with a potent creamy raw sauce.

Pasta with Garlic Spinach, Chicken, & Goat Cheese

Aug 31, 2013

I’ll preface this one by admitting that it’s a tad rich for my blood. Which probably puts it right in most people’s wheelhouse since I have a low tolerance for that kind of thing. But the combination of flavorful rotisserie chicken, garlicky chicken, and creamy goat cheese really packs a wallop.

This is another of my infamous “kitchen sink” pastas, which have a pretty doggone good track record over the years. There seem to be some really odd but delicious combinations of random pasta-friendly ingredients sitting around my house when I’m hungry. This one, while not my favorite ever, was warm and comforting—it would have been a great winter dish. And for someone with a taste for these things, a dash of spice (like red pepper flakes or something along those lines) would add an interesting bite to the creamy richness.

Pasta with Peppers, Sausage, & Goat Cheese

May 13, 2013

My made-up pasta dishes seem to follow a certain theme—namely, chicken sausage, veggies, and deeeelicious cheese. This is definitely comfortably in that wheelhouse. But somehow I like it better than other recipes I’ve made, it had this great mellow flavor.

I think the key was forgoing red peppers in favor of their paler yellow and orange siblings, and using red onion instead of white. That, combined with roasting instead of sauteing, took this up a level.

Traditional Tuscan Pasta with Walnut Sauce – Version 2

Mar 3, 2013

As you may or may not remember, when I was in Italy last fall I became slightly obsessed with this pasta with walnut sauce the hotel in Grosseto. I ate like three helpings—the waiters kept coming around with their giant platters and giving me this knowing look, then heaping more onto my plate. I did some research on the dish and found out that it was a traditional Tuscan pasta with walnut sauce and rocket (arugula, in our world). I tried recreating it once a few months ago…it was good, but not as creamy and awesome as what I had in Italy.

So this is the second try, a slightly different recipe. It’s been a few months in-between, so I’ll have to try really hard to directly compare the two. But know this—this pasta is VERY hearty, since the walnuts are full of protein.

Tomato, Spinach, & Roasted Garlic Pasta with Ricotta

Sep 26, 2012

I didn’t really plan on cooking last Sunday. I have a bunch of travel coming up and my schedule’s so busy, I figured some nice pre-made ravioli or a Kashi pizza with wine would make a lovely end to the weekend. But then as I was browsing my Pinterest boards that morning, I came across this little pasta recipe and decided I could handle something this simple  despite being tired (that was before, of course, I decided to make some chocolate hazelnut biscotti at the last minute, but that’s a story for another time).

This recipe was easy, a little different from what I normally do, very budget-friendly, and was a nice last “hurrah” of summer.

I also learned how to do a pretty great facsimile of oven-roasted garlic (which takes like almost an hour) in about two minutes, which is a very useful skill to have with my busy schedule.

The ricotta sauce (with a little help from some starchy pasta water) was creamy and light, and the parmesan if you use it adds a nice flavor. It was delicious fresh, though a little bland as leftovers a few days later (had to use much more salt and pepper).

The ugly tomato (Pasta with Heirloom Tomatoes & Ricotta)

Jun 8, 2012

I’m weirdly obsessed with heirloom tomatoes, given that I’d never had one until I finally tried this recipe. So I’ve been fascinated with this recipe for a few years, since I found it in Real Simple and tore it out (that’s right, kids, out of a magazine made of paper). It’s been languishing in my “must try” cookbook since then, because heirloom tomatoes are surprisingly hard to find.

But a few weeks ago, serendipity struck. My chiropractor (Austin, who’s awesome) had a box of peppers, squash, and heirloom tomatoes for the taking, from his and his wife’s own garden.

I snatched a couple, trying not to look like a greedy pig. I practically squealed with glee when I got back to my car. Then I got super lucky and found a third at Publix, which gave me enough to work with.

It’s said that each type of heirloom tomato has its own unique flavor, so by mixing them together you’ll have something different each bite. They are indeed delicious. But would this recipe live up to my three years’ imagining? Time to find out.