Photo Recipe: Pasta with Arugula and Chicken

Hello there! Many moons ago, when this blog was still new, I did a photo recipe post about fried rice. I like photo recipes - they allow me to post when I don't feel like typing out a recipe and work well for easy recipes that are just meant to inspire some ideas. Well at least I hope they inspire ideas.... :) Here we go with another photo recipe then.

Tonight, I made pasta for dinner (with no intention of immediately writing a post about it). Pasta is good for lazy days when all you have the energy for is boiling water and opening a jar of sauce. But it's also great for creative days when you want to experiment with sauces. And experiment I did. Here's what I had left of this week's grocery: arugula, poached chicken, heirloom yellow tomato and a decent, cheap Riesling. This is what it ended up coming together as:

How you ask? Start with putting a pot of salted water to boil. Then bring out a skillet or saute pan and throw in some olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, throw in garlic, red pepper flakes and thyme. Let it sizzle around in the pan. Choose your own herbs if this is not your combination.

Then it's time for some chopped, cooked chicken. You can also go with raw, marinated chicken. If you're a vegetarian, I'd say mushrooms....or bell peppers....or whatever else you're craving. Get the meat/veggie to brown up a little and then throw in your wine of choice. I had a Riesling...you could go with Marsala or Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir. Or no wine if you don't drink or are serving this to kids. Go with a splash of stock or some lemon juice....or a mix of the two. Let the meat simmer away for a few minutes, smelling glorious.

In the meanwhile, get some tomato chopped up and clean the arugula. If you don't like arugula, try spinach or chard. At this point, the pasta should also be cooking...just in case you forgot. :) The scene at this point is about like this :

When the liquid in the skillet has almost evaporated, throw in some salt, pepper and the vegetables from that beautiful scene above. Let the greens wilt.....won't take more than 2 minutes. Now add a little bit of the water the pasta was cooking in just to have enough liquid for the pasta. Simmer for a minute or so and then throw in the drained pasta. Et voila!!

Dinner is ready! Add some grated cheese if you like that.....I'd say Parmesan or Gouda. Slurp the deliciousness off your plate!

Fusion Fun

Hello, readers! A new post has been long overdue. Vacation's over, the work rhythm has been found again, and it's time to say hello to some creative inspiration. So let's go back to talking food. And the topic du jour is.......cauliflower!!!

That wasn't very exciting, was it? Yeah, cauliflower doesn't exactly make most people jump up and down with joy, but I'm going to make it fun. Cauliflower can be bland and a tad overwhelming (natural flavor wise), so infusing it with other flavors is key. I think roasting and spicing are two processes that can really elevate recipes involving cauliflower. I used both to create what I'd like to call a fusion recipe that combines pasta with cauliflower and a fragrant spice blend. I am not a fan of mayonnaise for the most part, and rely on lemon juice, vinegar and oil to dress salads. But this time around I decided to use mayo (the low fat kind) and realized that it makes the whole cauliflower-spice combination even better. Ok enough chatting…..let’s get to the food.

By the way, I split the recipe up into three sections. That way if you only want cauliflower roasting tips (because nowhere else will you find how to do it...haha) or a salad dressing, you're good to go.

Curried Cauliflower and Pasta Salad

Step 1: Roasting Cauliflower

1 large head of cauliflower

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

Salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).

Chop the cauliflower into small to medium sized florets. You want to avoid very small florets, since they shrink when roasting.

Mix the florets with oil and salt. Spread them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes…a little more or less depending on your oven.

Step 2: Curried Mayonnaise Dressing

¼ cup mayonnaise (whatever kind you like…I used light mayo)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

a small pinch each of turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander (small pinch….literally)

2 pods of green cardamom

2 cloves

a little mace (optional….can use a pinch of nutmeg instead)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Note: It is totally ok to use garam masala or curry powder instead of this spice mix. It will taste a little different, but still good. Try to keep cardamom in though.

Grind the cardamom, cloves and mace together. Add all the spices to the mayonnaise and mix well. Season with salt if required.

Step 3: Assembling the salad

½ cup pasta (I used a mix of macaroni and thin spaghetti)

1 tomato, chopped

2/3 cup roasted cauliflower

10 black olives, pitted and halved

¼ cup green peas, boiled

Canned artichoke hearts (optional), chopped

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Combine the cooked pasta and vegetables, pour the dressing and mix well. Ready to serve.

Notes:

1. The mere mention of curry powder is enough to send me off an a rant, but hey it's all about convenience. Besides, this is not Indian food, so curry powder is legit. Some curry powders are better than others. Try Trader Joe's if you live in the United States.

2. Play around with the other vegetables in the salad. Use carrots and bell peppers or simply stick to cauliflower and peas

3. It's a salad so ingredient quantities are to be played with until you find what works best.

Comfort Food (a.k.a Gimme Some Cheese)

This has probably been the longest I’ve gone without writing a post so far. Between defending a dissertation proposal, celebrating a million holidays (ok fine….two) and travel prep, I really have felt like there has been too much on my plate. But at 36,000 feet above ground, there is no better use of my time than to get back to blogging. Yes, I am that person who keeps staring at the map on the little personal screen you get on airplanes. And yes, writing certainly trumps staring at the screen and counting the hours to home.

Anyway, celebrating two major holidays (Diwali and Thanksgiving) meant that a lot of cooking and eating took place. In addition, being in India on vacation means it’s going to be food all the way. So much to post about…….

Crappy airplane food reminded me of good old comfort food, so that’s what this post is going to be about. While anything cooked by mom tops the comfort food charts, macaroni and cheese is a pretty good substitute when I am left to my own devices. Mac and cheese - so good, yet so bad for you. I am sure most of you have eaten it in restaurants or have made your own versions at home. Now call me crazy, but I like my mac and cheese to have more substance to it. I've figured that vegetables do that very well for me. Plus they take a little bit of guilt out of eating all that white sauce and cheese. Some of you are probably very skeptical about this, so I’d say give it a shot and tell me if you like it.

Here’s my version of veggie mac and cheese with broccoli. You can use other vegetables too…more about that in the notes that follow.

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

1.5 cups macaroni (uncooked)

1 cup broccoli florets

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)

2 tablespoons flour (all purpose or whole wheat)

1 cup milk or half and half

½ cup pasta cooking liquid or water

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

up to ½ cup breadcrumbs, more or less as you prefer

salt, to taste

ground black pepper, to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take a square 8 inch baking dish and grease it lightly with cooking spray or butter.

Using a large enough pot and a lot of water, cook the macaroni according to the directions on the package. About 3 minutes before the pasta is done, add the broccoli. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and set aside. At this stage, you will want to save some of the cooking liquid. It is advisable to avoid overcooking the pasta until mushy. It will get cooked in the oven again.

Heat the butter in a pan and cook onion until it starts softening.(Skip if you’re not using onions. Start with flour in that case.) Then add the flour and cook until it turns a nice golden color. Avoid browning the flour…doesn't yield very good results. Once the flour turns golden (and smells nice), slowly add the milk or half and half, stirring continuously to ensure that there are no lumps. Then slowly add the water or cooking liquid. Stir away for 2-3 minutes. At this point the mixture should start thickening. Don’t worry if it doesn't thicken much….so long as it’s not very watery. Mix in 1 cup of cheese and turn the heat off. Mix well until it is combined. Then add in the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Mix the sauce with the pasta and broccoli, and transfer it to the baking dish. Top with the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes, and then serve.

Notes:

1. If the sauce seems too thick before adding the cheese, add extra water/cooking liquid/milk – up to half a cup.

2. If you want to use other vegetables such as carrots or mushrooms, I would suggest sautéing them separately in a pan until just cooked and mixing them with the sauce and pasta. Green beans can be used in the same way as the broccoli.

3. If you like more spice, experiment with nutmeg or a pinch of garam masala. It works wonders.