Spaghetti Squash Primavera

I cheated on my CSA. That was a lot harder to admit than I thought it would be! But it was totally worth it - is it bad I feel that way? Hear me out...

Last weekend, my husband and I took a nice little trip to the beach. It was filled with sun, crabs and Old Bay (this is Maryland, after all!), and relaxation. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is full of farms, so many of the farmers set up produce stands on the side of the road to sell their fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. On our way home, we stopped off at one to pick up some fruit - plums and nectarines - and checked out some of the other produce, canned sauces, and pickled items. My husband spotted a display full of different varieties of squash, so we picked out the best looking spaghetti squash, headed to the counter, and purchased it along with our fruit. Because our CSA is mostly vegetables, the only items I buy at the grocery store each week are fruit, dairy, bread, and meat. I don't want to waste anything that is included in the share, so I deliberately choose items that I know we will eat within the week and only buy a few additional items at the grocery store. Buying this lone spaghetti squash felt wrong!

Now, I am no idiot. Spaghetti squash is obviously NOT something that is harvested in the summer. It is a winter squash, and like other hard squash varieties, such as pumpkins, butternut, acorn, and delicata, is usually harvested and eaten during the late summer, autumn, and winter months. However, it just seemed right to buy it, and I knew we would eat it quickly. And besides, the CSA didn't even have spaghetti squash last year...so that makes it OK to get it from somewhere else, right? Anyway, we put that spaghetti squash to good use in spaghetti squash primavera!

This is another simple recipe:

1. Prepare the spaghetti squash in the microwave by slicing it in half, scooping out the seeds, and placing in a microwave safe bowl (cut side up) with 1/4 cup of water and covered with plastic wrap. Microwave on high 7-8 minutes until the squash is soft and the insides can be pulled with a fork into strands that resemble spaghetti.

2. Meanwhile, chop celery, carrots, and onions. Saute the mirepoix (fancy French term for the combination of these three ingredients) over medium heat in a large pan with olive oil for 10 minutes, or until soft. Add salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.


3. While these vegetables are cooking, thinly slice yellow squash and sundried tomatoes. Add to the pan once the mirepoix has softened. Continue cooking about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. When the spaghetti squash is ready and has slightly cooled, use a fork to pull the insides out. Place spaghetti squash strands into the pan and combine with cooked vegetables. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Tried and True

Ok, so this post is a bit of a cop out, but what can I say - this is really one of our favorite recipes! It was one of the more memorable things that came from the CSA last year, and we've made it a few times since the end of last year's share. It is great with Swiss chard or kale, but spinach (or any other leafy green) would probably work, too.

 Spaghetti with Chard and Goat Cheese

It's a really easy recipe and tastes fresh. Here it is again, for those who don't feel like searching through the archives:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 box spaghetti
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and de-ribbed
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
• olive oil

Directions:
1. Prepare spaghetti as directed by box.

2. Pour 1 tbl of olive oil into medium skillet. Heat to medium. Add onion and garlic, cook 5-10 minutes, until translucent.

3. Add Swiss chard. Cook until wilted, approximately 10 minutes.

4. When spaghetti is done, add into skillet. Stir well to combine all ingredients. Add goat cheese and stir , to melt the goat cheese onto the pasta.

5. If desired, add additional goat cheese, enjoy!

Arugula Pesto

Nothing like the end of the year to remind you it's time to tie up some loose ends! It is hard to believe 2013 is ending in just a few days. I know I say it every year (and I'm sure you do, too!), but where did the year go? I definitely didn't spend the majority of my year blogging - oops. I am hoping to finish up posting the last of the recipes from the CSA so I can start 2014 fresh with some new posts!

What do you do with a giant bunch of arugula? What can you make that will last a while so you don't end up throwing it all out? PESTO! The recipe I used is the same one from the radish leaf pesto post from a while back, just substituting the radish leaf with the arugula.

Arugula pesto is a bit more bitter than traditional basil pesto, but it is still delicious! The bunch of arugula made so much pesto that there's still more than half of it sitting in the freezer! The plan is to use it up sometime this week: spaghetti with arugula pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. Maybe it will be the first meal of 2014!

Eggplant and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

I can't think of a more creative name for this dish besides eggplant and sun-dried tomato pasta. I guess because it's really simple and there isn't much more to the dish, so any other name would be too complicated for such an easy and quick meal to make.

This meal can be adapted to other vegetables, such as broccoli. There is no real "recipe", but here are some steps to make this dish:

1. Sauté 1 chopped onion and 1 garlic clove over medium heat in a preheated pan with oil, until soft.
2. Add chopped eggplant, that has been presalted to drain some of the water content. Cook 10-15 minutes, until soft and the eggplant turns brown. Season with salt, pepper, and chili pepper.
3. When eggplant is cooked through, add sun-dried tomatoes (in oil). Stir until warm.
4. Add to pasta, cooked according to package directions. Top with fresh mozzarella balls. Enjoy!

Pretty simple, right?

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Another variation on traditional lasagna: roasted butternut squash lasagna! This dish is so delicious and perfect for a cold autumn night. The tomato sauce is replaced with a creamy béchamel sauce. The recipe calls for blending the butternut squash after it's been roasted, but it was so soft that it was easily mashed with a fork. The filling was so good that I was tempted to eat it all before it went into the pan!

I know that the picture doesn't really showcase the different layers, but it does seem to adequately show how creamy the lasagna was! But the creaminess is a bit deceiving, as it really is mostly mashed butternut squash. Yum - this lasagna was so delicious, I can't wait to eat it again!

Easy Pasta Sauce Variations

Ever try to figure out what to make with that half used jar of pasta sauce sitting in your fridge? You know you want some spaghetti for dinner, but you just aren't sure there's enough sauce...and let's be honest, there's no such thing as too much pasta sauce! Or maybe you are tired of the plain sauce on your pantry shelf and want a way to make it a bit more exciting? Here are some easy ways to change up the jarred sauce that you have just waiting to be used:



Pasta Sauce with Kale

Add kale to a preheated pan with olive oil, over medium heat. Add salt, pepper, and garlic. Let cook for 5-7 minutes. Add pasta sauce until warm. Serve with pasta of choice.

Pasta Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes

Over medium heat, heat olive oil in a pan. Add 1 small chopped onion and 1 chopped garlic clove, cook until translucent. Add one pint of chopped cherry tomatoes, cooking approximately 10 minutes until tomatoes begin to break down. Add pasta sauce until warm. Serve with pasta of choice. Enjoy!






Easy enough - right? I apologize for the messy pictures...sometimes I'm just too hungry to make a pretty plate!

Simple Pasta Sauce

It doesn't get much simpler than this when it comes to making pasta sauce! You probably even have all of these ingredients sitting in your kitchen at this very moment - although, if it's my kitchen there are rarely any tomatoes present. This pasta sauce was simple and fresh tasting - a perfect end of summer meal.

Simple Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• 6 small tomatoes, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced.
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• dash of oregano
• 1/2 box of pasta (I used fettuccine)

Directions:

1. Prepare pasta as directed on box. In a medium pan, heat 1 Tbl of olive oil over low-medium heat. When hot, sauté onion and garlic until soft, 3-5 minutes.

2. Add diced tomatoes and seasonings, cooking until tomatoes begin to break down and the juices are released, approximately 7-10 minutes. 

3. Serve over pasta - enjoy!

Best Thing SHE Ever Made

The view from the side

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were watching TV and we flipped to "The Best Thing I Ever Made" on Food Network. The episode's theme was Family Dinners, so everything the chefs made were big dishes that can be served family style and are pretty comforting to eat. One of the chefs, Marcela Valladolid, host of "Mexican Made Easy", featured her Corn and Poblano Lasagna. It sounded sooooo delicious and relatively simple! Instead of a traditional Italian lasagna, hers is stuffed with poblano chiles and zucchini, and the sauce is a blended corn/cream mixture (which I probably could have eaten on its own as a soup). After we saw this episode, we couldn't stop talking about how much we wanted to make and eat this meal. As fate would have it, what did I find at the farmer's market that week?? POBLANO CHILES! We were destined to make this meal, and it was oh so yummy! The recipe calls for Oaxaca cheese, but she said you can substitute mozzarella, which is all we could find in our local grocery store.

And the view from the top - look at that melty cheese!

The lasagna was really easy and delicious and it will definitely be made again, but this post also comes with a cautionary tale:

Be careful when you slice spicy peppers! Only recently have I started to experiment with peppers, and so I never really knew much about peppers or their oils. A few weeks ago, we made jalapeño poppers, and later that night, I felt as though I had burnt my finger. I just assumed that I accidentally hit the side of the oven or pan while I was taking out the peppers, and although it really hurt, I just brushed it off as nothing. Doesn't every good cook burn themselves once in a while in the kitchen? A few hours after we had finished the lasagna, my hands were in excruciating pain - tingling and burning. At first I thought I might be dying; I had never felt this type of pain before in my life! I quickly typed in my symptoms into Google and I found out that, no, I was not dying, but my hands were burning from the capsaicin in the peppers. A quick search for remedies led me to pour rubbing alcohol over my hands and then coat with a thick lotion. Although the pain didn't go away completely, it was lessened enough so that I could fall asleep. Lesson learned. Next time - GLOVES!

I Swear I'm Not Lying...

I do really hate tomatoes! Well, just raw ones. Considering this is my second post dedicated to tomatoes, it may seem like I like them...but I promise that I don't. I just really like homemade tomato sauce with my pasta. The last time I made homemade tomato sauce from scratch was in 10th grade, in my high school cooking class. Yes, we had cooking as an elective in high school. It was amazing. I've made tomato sauce many times since, but I've always used cans of whole peeled tomatoes.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• extra virgin olive oil
• at least 2 pints tomatoes
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• basil

Directions:

1. Boil 2 quarts of water in a medium pot. Score the bottom of the tomatoes with an "X". Blanche the tomatoes in the water for 20-30 seconds. It is easier to do 2 or 3 tomatoes at a time, so do not try to get them all in the pot at once. Allow to cool, and peel the skin. Chop the tomatoes into large chunks.

2. Add 1 Tbl olive oil to a sauce pan and heat over medium. Saute onions and garlic until soft, 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and bring to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add basil and serve.

Disclaimer: The tomatoes cook down A LOT. When I made this, there was barely enough sauce for two bowls of spaghetti. I only used 1 pint of tomatoes...and it did not make very much sauce, even though it was delicious. The more tomatoes the better...and you can always increase the onion and garlic, to your own taste.

They Weren't Leeks

Remember those tall green things with a white bulb at the end? Those things I said were leeks? Well...they weren't leeks. They were onions! Who knew onions had tall green stalks?! They definitely don't look like that at the grocery store. Anyway, I didn't realize they were actually onions until after I found and made Mark Bittman's recipe for Pasta with Leeks and Parsley. Luckily, leeks and onions have similar flavors, and since these onions were rather young, they didn't have too much of an oniony taste. So basically, it didn't make much difference in the dish.

Not leeks.

This pasta dish was really easy to make - the onions and parsley gave it a fresh flavor. It was a nice alternative to tomato sauce, which can be very heavy. This is definitely a dish I would make again, and Mark Bittman is one of my favorite food critics. He has a really interesting philosophy on eating healthy and enjoying all food in moderation - you should be a vegan for breakfast and lunch, and at dinner, you can eat whatever you want. His reasons are for both environmental and physical health benefits. I want to read his book to learn more about this lifestyle and see how easy it might be to make some of his suggested changes. Maybe it will be my first book review on this blog? 

Radish Leaf Pesto Pasta

During the fall of my junior year of college, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in one of the most beautiful cities in the world - Florence, Italy. This was one of the best times in my life, and I have been dying to go back! Being surrounded by my best friends, delicious food and wine, and gorgeous art and architecture made it close to impossible to leave at the end of the semester. One of the best parts of the study abroad program was all of the extra-curricular activities that they arranged for students: day trips to other cities, tickets to soccer games, wine tastings, volunteering in the community, and cooking classes (side note: the other highlights include a 3-week orientation in Lido di Camaiore, a beach resort town, and the most delicious meal plan).

Firenze...la città più bella del mondo

The cooking classes were always the fastest to fill up - no surprise there! I learned some of the most delicious recipes in those classes, including a recipe for one of the best Italian soups, papa al pomodoro (recipe will be in a later post - maybe when tomatoes come in the CSA!). One of my favorite classes that I took was a pesto class, where we made a traditional basil pesto and a Sicilian pesto with tomatoes and sardines, different yet delicious. Pesto itself just means "to grind with a mortar and pestle", so any type of sauce made via this method is considered pesto. In an attempt not to waste anything from our CSA, we used the leaves from our radishes to make...

Radish Leaf Pesto

Ingredients:

• leaves from one bunch of radishes, rinsed with stems removed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 Tbl olive oil, more to taste
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, more to taste
• salt and pepper
• optional: 1 can tuna (not shown)

Directions:

1. Place garlic cloves and olive oil in food processor. Process until garlic is finely chopped.

2. Add radish leaves, process until mixture begins to form a paste.

3. Add cheese, salt and peper to taste, and additional olive oil, if needed.

4. Pour over pasta and add tuna. Enjoy!

The pesto was surprisingly really good! On its own, it tasted a little more bitter than traditional basil pesto, but on pasta it tasted great. To be honest, I had to google if radish leaves were poisonous before we ate dinner - good news, they're not! So far, this has been the most creative dish we've made from the produce from our CSA...it's only week 2, so who knows what we'll be making by Thanksgiving!