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Warmed Tomatoes and Basil over Garlicky GreensThis was a let's-cook-whatever's-in-the-fridge dish, and yet the flavors turned out to be perfectly balanced and wonderfully complex. You could use just regular sweet basil if you didn't have both kinds (and maybe try adding just a bit more sherry vinegar to compensate for losing the hint of lemon).
Servings: 2- Olive oil
- Bread
- Canned cannellini beans
- Garlic
- Mixed salad greens
- Sherry vinegar
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh basil leaves
- Heirloom tomato
- Basil
Prep Instructions
1. Wash and chop the Tomatoes and greens.
2. Slice the Garlic.
3. Cut multigrain bread into squares, like croutons.
Cook Instructions
1. Heat a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add a generous glug of olive oil and swirl around the pan. Add the bread and toss to coat lightly, then shift to the side of the pan and scatter the beans on the other side (everything should be just one layer thick). Toast, shaking or stirring occasionally, until everything begins to turn golden brown.
2. Turn the heat down slightly, add the Garlic and a bit more olive oil, and toss to combine. Saute for about a minute, then add the greens and Saute until they begin to wilt. Season to taste with salt and pepper, add a few dashes of ñora pepper if you have it, drizzle with 1/2 tsp sherry vinegar, and throw in the basil leaves. Stir a few times, then serve into bowls.
3. Replace the pan on the heat, add about 1 tbsp olive oil, then slide the Tomatoes in and sprinkle with salt. Saute for about a minute, stirring occasionally (you basically just want to warm them up without really cooking them). Add the lemon basil, a little black pepper, and a half tsp (or just a little more) of sherry vinegar. Saute for about another minute or until the Tomatoes are just barely warmed through, then serve over the beans.
Garnish with basil, and serve hot.
Serves 2 for lunch, or pair with a salad and bread for dinner.
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Sometimes I get desperately sick of normal pasta sauce. Betsy and I eat pasta at least a few times a week and at some point in the week I’ll exclaim, “I’ll put anything in the world on that pasta except tomatoes.” It’s not that I don’t love tomatoes. I definitely do. But a dude can only eat so much ragu. The sauce I worked up on this particular night has a sesame base and has a delicious, rich flavor. At the same time though, it’s pretty light. You can’t really even see it on the pasta, but you can smell and taste it. I wasn’t sure if Betsy would like my sesame sauce so I just served it with her favorite pasta, angel hair. I figured that would probably win her over. Luckily, the sauce turned out to be so good that I could’ve served it on a plate of kitchen twine.
Servings: 4- Angel hair pasta
- Soy sauce
- Safflower oil
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Sesame oil
- Rice wine vinegar
- Sugar
- Garlic Chili Sauce
- Edamame
- Red bell pepper
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Garnish - Sesame seed
- Green onion
- Sriracha sauce
Prep Instructions
1. Set aside sesame seed, green Onion (chop them) and sriracha sauce as garnish.
2. Add all your sauce ingredients (everything else except pasta, edamame and red Bell Pepper) to a medium bowl and whisk them well to combine them. I knew this was going to be a winning recipe when I tried out the sauce on its own.
It’s slightly spicy, but its main characteristic is a deep savory flavor.
3. Dice the Bell Pepper.
Cook Instructions
1. Boil the pasta according to package instructions
2. Steam or Blanch the diced Bell Pepper and frozen edamame. If you can’t find edamame, any pea would work great. You can Blanch directly in the pasta water. Throw the pepper in 4 minutes before the noodle finishes, and the edamame about 30s before, if you are just defrosting them.
3. Drain the pasta, toss with the sauce. You might not need all the sauce for your pasta so start with half of it, toss the pasta a bit to combine everything. Taste it and add more sauce if you think it needs it. I used almost all of my sauce.
As soon as the sauce hits the hot pasta, an intense sesame flavor will smack you in the nostrils.
Then just stir in your edamame and red peppers and you’re ready to go!
I served this garnished with chopped scallions, sesame seeds, and Sriracha sauce.
Garnishes are fun. The really nice thing about this dish is that it keeps really well and is awesome cold. So it works great for lunches!
In fact, I think I liked this dish better as a cold noodle salad on day two.
If you’re feeling the Tomato twinge and need a change, try this guy out!
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Tuscan White Beans and ChardA perfect summertime recipe for leftover home-cooked cannellini beans. You can substitute canned beans if you don't mind them clumping and mushing a bit (which affects looks more than taste) -- just be sure to rinse and dry them well first, and handle them a bit more gingerly than their less-overcooked homegrown cousins.
Servings: 2- Olive oil
- Canned cannellini beans
- Garlic
- Chard
- Tomatoes
- Fresh basil leaves
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- Black pepper
Prep Instructions
1. Cut the Garlic into slivers
2. Was hand chop Chard.
3. Wash and slice Tomatoes into large chunks
4. Julienne the basil.
Cook Instructions
1. Heat a wide Saute pan over medium to medium-high heat. When hot enough that a drop of water evaporates immediately, add a generous glug of olive oil. Wait about 15 more seconds to let the oil heat, then add the cannellini beans. Shake the pan so that the beans spread out in a single layer. Toast for 2-3 minutes until they turn lightly golden, then shake the pan again to turn them. Continue for another couple minutes until the beans are golden on multiple sides.
2. Add the Garlic and a bit more olive oil and stir once or twice. After about 20 seconds, add the Chard and a pinch of salt (as always, go easy on the salt if your beans are already salted). Saute, stirring occasionally, until the greens wilt and the stems are just cooked through, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the Tomatoes and stir gently to combine. Cook for only about a minute more (you basically just want to warm the Tomatoes), add the basil, and turn off the heat. Sprinkle in the parmesan and a generous grinding of black pepper, stir well, and serve.
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Spinach Salad with Orange, Avocado, and FetaBy: Opera Girl CooksIt’s a well-balanced melange of California’s produce, dressed simply with oil and lemon juice and topped with some crumbled feta cheese.
Servings: 2- Spinach leaves
- Lemon juice
- Virgin Olive Oil
- Orange
- Avocado
- Feta cheese
Prep Instructions
1. Cut orange and avocado into similar sized pieces.
2. In a salad bowl, toss the spinach with the lemon juice and olive oil.
3. Arrange the dressed spinach on a serving plate. Top with orange, avocado, and feta cheese.
Cook Instructions
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Pasta with Pea Pesto and BaconSeriously, make this. It's delightful. If you have fresh peas, use them, and I'm thinking that some asparagus thinly sliced at an angle would make it even better.
Servings: 2- Linguine
- Green Pea
- Fresh basil leaves
- Pine nuts
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Bacon
- Cooking wine
- Arugula
- Parmesan cheese
- Black pepper
Prep Instructions
1. Cut the bacon into small strips.
2. Toast the pine nuts if not already toasted.
3.
Cook Instructions
1. Blanch the peas and remove from the Boiling water. Keep the water for Boiling the pasta.
2. Combine the peas, basil, whole clove of Garlic, and pine nuts in a Cuisinart (food processor) and blend until smooth.
3. Heat a wide Saute pan over medium heat. When very hot, add just a bit of olive oil, followed by the bacon. Cook until it starts to turn golden (you can remove some of the bacon grease at this point, if you want, and add a bit more olive oil in its place), then lower the heat and toss in the slivered Garlic. Cook for another minute or so until the Garlic is tender.
4. Add the pasta to Boiling water and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until al dente.
5. Meanwhile, add the pesto to the bacon and stir to combine. Allow it to warm through, then add a slosh of wine to help thin. Turn off the heat, and add the greens.
6. Reserve a ladleful or two of pasta water, then drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the sauce. Toss to combine, adding pasta water as needed to thin the sauce (add just a little bit more than you think you need if the pasta is homemade, since it will soak up a bit more liquid on the way to the table). Stir in the grated parmesan.
7. Serve hot, with a little freshly ground white pepper and some shaved Parmesan over the top.
