Recipe: Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Today's Thanksgiving recipe comes from an old issue of vegetarian times. The concept of baked macaroni and cheese is not new to me, but this recipe is!

ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat penne pasta
1/2 lb spinach leaves
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

directions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray a 9x11 baking dish with nonstick spray
cook penne according to directions on package. drain and set aside.
in a large pot, cook spinach over medium heat until wilted. drain and chop coarsely
in a large saucepan, whisk together olive oil and flour for two minutes over medium-low heat. gradually add milk and continue to whisk for five minutes, or until mixture begins to thicken.
remove saucepan from heat. add penne, spinach, and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. stir until evenly coated, then transfer to baking dish. sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese on top.
bake 45-60 minutes, or until the top begins to brown.

serves 6

Recipe: Vegetarian Pad Thai

I'll admit it, I'm a little anxious about posting a photo of this dish. I adapted it from a recipe on allrecipes.com to make it veg-friendly and work with what I already have in my pantry, and in the process of doing so this dish became a total disaster.

In retrospect, I probably went wrong when I used different noodles than originally called for. the original recipe called for rice noodles, which I think is what I used. My mom had bought me some japanese noodles at a japanese grocery store during a visit last december, but the label is in japanese so I'm not sure what kind of noodles they are. In the future, I would use udon noodles.

ingredients:
1 (12 ounce) package rice noodles
2 tablespoons butter
1 package extra firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 cups bean sprout
3 green onions, chopped

directions:
1. Soak rice noodles in cold water 30 to 50 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and set aside.
2. Heat butter in a wok or large heavy skillet. Saute tofu until browned. Remove, and set aside. Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat. Crack eggs into hot oil, and cook until firm. Stir in tofu, and cook for 5 minutes. Add softened noodles, and vinegar, sugar and red pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste. Mix while cooking, until noodles are tender. Add bean sprouts, and mix for 3 minutes. top with green onions.

serves 6

Recipe: Pasta with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

(picture to come soon)

I don't know what it is, but lately I've been eating a lot of spinach. At least I won't have an iron deficiency any time soon:) In my continued quest to work through all the grains in my pantry, I've moved on to pasta this week (I finished off my quinoa and basmati rice already). This recipe looked too good not to try, anyway!

ingredients:
1 cup vegetable broth
12 dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) package uncooked pasta
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

directions:
1. In a small saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Remove from heat. Place the sun-dried tomatoes in the broth 15 minutes, or until softened. Drain, reserving broth, and coarsely chop.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place penne pasta in the pot, cook 9 to 12 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
3. Place the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir until lightly toasted.
4. Heat the olive oil and red pepper flakes in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the garlic 1 minute, until tender. Mix in the spinach, and cook until almost wilted. Pour in the reserved broth, and stir in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Continue cooking 2 minutes, or until heated through.
5. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the spinach and tomato mixture and pine nuts. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

This recipe was good, though not what I originally expected before reading the directions. I assumed it would be a cold pasta dish. That being said, the end result was a pleasant suprise!

today's lunch: whole wheat sweet potato gnocchi

i was not as ambitious as i hoped to be when i returned last night from my hoosier weekend, so i didn't make it to the grocery store. i didn't think this would be an issue until I opened my fridge to make my lunch this morning. I stared at the empty fridge for about 30 seconds, then quickly put a plan in action, aka put a pot of water on the stovetop to boil. I boiled 3/4 cup of the gnocchi from Jungle Jim's, then tossed it with 1 Tbsp of my homemade basil pesto, 1 tbsp of grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, and a couple of sundried tomatoes.

This turned out to be a great combination! The pesto is a little on the garlicky side, so the added cheese helps to sweeten it, while the tartness of the sundried tomatoes adds a little punch to it.

Recipe: Goat Cheese and Arugula over Penne

This recipe came to me in perfect timing. The fact that it is served cold makes it the best dish for hot and humid days like today. It took hardly any effort/time to make, too!

Ingredients:
5 1/2 ounces goat cheese
2 cups coarsely chopped arugula, stems included
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces penne pasta

Directions:
1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
2. Crumble goat cheese into a large serving bowl. Add arugula, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper.
3. Drain pasta, and toss with goat cheese mixture.

serves 6

Recipe: Sugar Snap Peas Pasta

I've tried making my own cream-based pasta sauce from scratch in the past and have had little success. It always comes out too runny. But this sauce was perfect! In fact, I caught myself licking the sauce off the bowl (it was that good). The sauce will look thicker than it should when you first combine the cheese with the cream, but the butter will melt when tossed with the sugar snap peas, so it will thin out the sauce to a perfect texture when you combine them.

ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package dry penne pasta
3/4 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 tablespoons butter
salt and ground black pepper to taste

directions:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta, and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, cover pot, and set aside.
2. Stir the cream cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, and cream together in a bowl until smooth. Set aside.
3. Bring another large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sugar snap peas, and cook until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain. Toss peas with butter. Stir cream cheese mixture into peas, and toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately over cooked pasta.

serves four

how i lightened this recipe/made it a little healthier:
1. I used whole wheat penne instead of the regular kind
2. I used neufchatel cheese insead of cream cheese (neufchatel has less saturated fat than cream cheese)
3. I used fat-free half & half instead of heavy cream (it did not effect the sauce texture-wise)
4. I used promise light spread instead of butter

Definitely my new favorite pasta recipe.

Recipe: Linguine with Portobello Mushrooms

Let's clear this up now: I love portobello mushrooms. They're versatile and work with a variety of recipes. This is one of the first recipes I ever tried with portobello mushroom caps.

Linguine with Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients:
4 portobello mushroom caps
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 pound linguine
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven broiler.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Brush the mushrooms with 1/2 the olive oil, and arrange on a medium baking sheet. Broil in the prepared oven 6 to 8 minutes, turning frequently, until browned and tender.
4. Cut the mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices, and place in a medium bowl. Mix with the remaining olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
5. In a large bowl, toss together cooked linguine and the mushroom mixture.

serves 8