Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Tulsa is so flippin' hot right now that words cannot describe the sweaty, sticky, soppiness of my body. Actually, one word can: Gross. It's gross out there. If lunch time is upon you and if my introductory sentence didn't make you lose your appetite, you might want to consider this pasta salad. Try not to relegate this to the side of that same old sandwich...it can stand alone. And, it's cold. Plus, it features some lovely summer ingredients that will make you really happy and you'll forget that you hate summer and want Fall to arrive with all your heart. Except when Fall comes, you really start to miss all those fresh herbs and tomatoes that actually have flavor...it's a harsh cycle. One day, I'll embrace the flavors that are upon me when they are upon me but, what can I say? I'm always thinking ahead.  

Let me say one more thing before I proceed here... I typically dislike pasta salad. I can't get beyond the cold pasta with the salty mayo thing. I mean, it always sounds good in theory but I never quite enjoy it as much as I feel I should. This pasta salad has no mayo or unidentifiable cream laden bits. Instead, it is oil based and gains it's flavor from a rich base of sun-dried tomatoes, salty capers and olives ( which I actually enjoyed in this dish.) Throw in some fresh basil and sliced local tomatoes ( I used grape tomatoes from Livesay Orchards) and you're in summery bliss. 

Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad

(Serves 12-16----- makes for great leftovers!)

Adapted from Ina Garten: Barefoot Contessa Family Style

For the salad:

1lb corkscrew pasta such as fusili or rotini

About 1 cup assorted black olives, roughly sliced

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced

10-15 basil leaves- chiffonade ( roll em up and slice thin!)

About 1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

For the dressing:

7 oz jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil *

4-5 cloves of garlic, slightly crushed.

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 cup extra virgin olive oil**

Optional: 2 teaspoons capers

Salt and Pepper to taste

* You can also get sun-dried tomatoes that have been packed in seasoned oil. This recipe doesn't call for that but it's not a bad idea if you like the flavor variety. Just check your salt levels.
**You can choose to discard the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and add a fresh cup of oil or you can use it here and just add enough new oil to make the total about 1 cup. It is especially tasty to retain that preseasoned oil we just talked about!

 
Add all dressing ingredients to a food processor and puree. That's your dressing! This can totally be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge.

For the pasta, boil until al dente in a large stock pot. Drain and allow to cool. Once cool, toss with dressing to coat. Stir in olives, basil, and tomatoes ( NOTE: if you're planning on making this in advance, I found that adding the tomatoes right before serving keeps things fresh and crisp. I have a thing with tomato consistency... you'll notice I don't even have them in there for the pic! Oops.) Keep chilled until ready to serve. Top with cheese.

Pasta with Shrimp and Cilantro-Lime Pesto

I'm on a pasta kick. Good for my tastebuds, bad for my physique. Also, bad for the butcher because I haven't seen a need to eat meat for dinner all week. We're talking about ME here... this must be some kind of record. Anyway, the pasta...

First, I'd like to give myself props for actually using my foodie magazine this month and also for not abandoning it when I realized I had no jalepenos last night. I grabbed the car keys and dashed to Reasors. I felt so freakin cool. And, it was worth it. Having never had any pesto other than basil pesto, I was hesitant but quite relieved to find this meal refreshing and completely repeatable. Plus, it introduced me to COTIJA cheese, a mexican hard cheese that crumbles beautifully much like Feta, though more mild in flavor. I'm already looking for another recipe in which to use it.

Pasta With Shrimp And Clilantro-Lime Pesto

Bon Apetit, July 2010 (Adapted from Tejas Texas Grill and Saloon)

Serves 4

1 1/4 cups (packed) fresh cliantro leaves plus 1/4 chopped

1/4 cup (scant) chopped green onions ---I did the full 1/4 because, why bother?

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 Tbsp chopped, seeded jalepeno ( do take care to seed it with a utensil, not your finger... especially if you wear contacts.)

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb linguine

1 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 Tbsps tequila ( Ole!)

1/4 cup crumbled Cotija cheese ( or good feta will work fine. Bad feta, will not.)

Blend 1 1/4 cups cilantro and next 4 ingredients in a food processor until a coarse puree forms. With machine running, gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil. Season generously with salt. It will taste too salty but this will be fine as it will flavor the rest of the dish well.

Do ahead- this can be done the day before. Just cover and chill.

Cook linguine in large pot of boiling watter until al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat remaining Tbsp of olive oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook until almost opaque (about  minutes.) Remove from heat and add tequila. Return to heat and cook an additional 30 sec- 1 minute until liquids are syrupy.

Add pesto, stir to coat and remove from heat. Toss with drained pasta to coat and season with salt and pepper to taste ( I didn't add any seasonings other than the pesto!) Serve sprinkled with crumbled Cotija and chopped cilantro ( if you remembered it.)

Swiss Chard Spaghetti with Garlic Chips

We are now officially moved! I'm happy to say the only thing we've yet to unpack are several boxes of books due to a severe lack of bookcase space. I'm thinking it might be time to part with some of my college-era books...seriously doubting I'll be reading Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age again anytime soon. Also, twenty back issues of Everyday with Rachel Ray may need to go. Tough decisions. Either way, who needs reading material when you live in a city with a bounty of fresh entertainment options?

My entertainment has consisted of grocery shopping seven times in past two weeks. SEVEN TIMES. One trip was a trip to an Indian grocer where I procured garlic ginger paste and tamarind concentrate which will hopefully come in handy while recreating Bhavna cooks.

But, the trip that's nearest to my heart at the moment was my visit to the farmers market where I scored some swiss chard. Some people have a strong aversion to swiss chard despite being greens eaters in general. I have no idea if I like greens or not (seeing as this is the only type I've ever had) but it's dang tasty and the fact that it hums a soothing melody of health as it melts in my mouth makes it my current heart of hearts.

I've adapted the following recipe as found on Smitten Kitchen. The difference is that I substitute feta cheese for freshly grated parmesan and I remove the olives....olives me no likey. The resulting version is bold and earthy and it doesn't get ruined by nasty olives. Bleh.

Swiss Chard with Spaghetti and Garlic Chips

Adapted from Gourmet: November 2008 as represented by Smitten Kitchen

Makes 4-6 servings (we halved this)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced (lengthwise or crosswise)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 pounds Swiss chard, stems and center ribs finely chopped and leaves coarsely chopped separately (Green Swiss chard is recommended though I used red and green this time with no problems... plus, it looks pretty.)
1/2 cup water
1 pound thin spaghetti ( plus water for cooking)
6 ounces freshly grated parmesan (1 1/2 cups)

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. (Be really careful not to let it burn. It's a total jerk when it burns. Believe me.)

Cook onion in oil remaining in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir chard stems into onion mixture with water and 3/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook, covered, over medium-high heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and cook, covered, until stems and leaves are tender, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 5 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water and drain spaghetti.

Toss hot spaghetti with chard leaves and 1/2 cup cooking water, adding more cooking water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with garlic chips and more cheese if desired.

Summer Vegetable Farfalle

I can't claim to go way back with this hippie of a meal. We're relatively new friends. To me, a meal wasn't a meal unless it included a nice helping of meat or, as some midwesterners like to call it, food. Fortunately, I decided to try this dish with absolutely NO MEAT last summer. Much to my surprise, I dug it. Really. Plus, there's something completely peaceful about preparing a meal of fresh veggies and herbs from your own garden. Mine are growing like freaks right now...

So, in addition to being super tasty, this dish helps make good use of the basil attempting to consume my pots and my fantasies. What could go wrong with basil on basil? It's not like I'm baking it. And, yes, I realize there's no basil in the pic... it was being shy today.

Summer Vegetable Farfalle

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman's "Farfalle with Zucchini Recipe"

Liberally serves 2 plus leftovers!

Ingredients

2 small to medium sized zucchini, diced

1 small pkg. grape tomatoes, halved

1 medium white onion, diced

3 cups Farfalle pasta

1/2 cup white cooking wine ( I used Chardonnay I had open)

1/3 cup half and half

A generous amount of chopped herbs including basil ( I used about 12 large sweet basil leaves, a large sprig of oregano, and about 15 leaves of another basil variety that I don't know the name of...)
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup freshly grated parmesean cheese

Kosher salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

1. Get your pot of water on and cook the Farfalle according to directions until al dente.

2. Add 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil to a pan ( one that you can scrape to deglaze) and heat medium- high. Add zucchini and brown. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Remove zucchini to a plate. Set aside. Add remaining oil and onions, scraping the browned bits from the zucchini. Saute over medium to medium-high until softened and nearly carmelized.

4. Lower heat to medium low and add halved grape tomatoes.

5. Add wine. Simmer until reduced by 1/3.

6. Add half and half. Bring to a simmer and reduced until thickened. If it gets too thick, add some of the starchy water from the pasta!

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper. It needs a bit of the stuff so don't be afraid.

8. Add drained pasta and herbs and cheese. Mix.

9. Serve immediately garnished with more herbs and more cheese, of course.

There you have it. All the chop chop, none of the butcher block. Enjoy.

Fettucine Alfredo

Fettucine Alfredo has sadly found it's way out of my regular rotation of meals since I decided I needed to lose weight. It's sudden absence might just start to explain how hubby and I recently lost 40 pounds. Each. Yeah, that's a fourth grader.

Lately, though, I've been missing it and, since I want to make these calories count, I shunned Bertolli and went straight to my dear friend, Natasha, for her fabulous alfredo recipe. FROM SCRATCH! I learned how to make this with her last winter when we made noodles FROM SCRATCH to go with it. ( Note: We also tried this in the summer to no success...make noodles in the winter, friends.) I used this handy, pasta press. These will run you about 70 bucks unless you're cool like me and know Natasha who hands these out for housewarming gifts. Seriously. Buy a house and it shows up like magic. Natasha and the gang also show up demanding fresh pasta but that's the price you pay...

Anyway, here's the recipe. I halved it (perfect for two) and added grilled shrimp and mushrooms prepared on the side. ( Butter, shrimp, and mushrooms plus garlic, italian seasoning, and.... presto!)


Natasha's Fettuccine Alfredo from http://www.mylifeastoldbyfood.blogspot.com/

Click here for a printable version


Serves 4

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 c. heavy cream
2/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
3 large cloves garlic, pressed
12 oz. fettuccine


Put some water on to boil in a large pot.

Melt butter slowly in a medium saucepan. Whisk in cream and bring mixture to a slow boil.
Simmer for five minutes, whisking constantly. Whisk in Parmesan incrementally, making sure cheese is melted before adding more.Add salt, freshly ground pepper and garlic to taste.


If using dry pasta, cook according to package directions, being careful not to overcook.
If using fresh, drop pasta the boiling pot of water all at once. Quickly bring the water back to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Cook the pasta 2-3 minutes, being careful not to overcook, and drain well.


Add sauce to noodles and toss until noodles are thoroughly coated. Serve immediately, with extra cheese and red pepper flakes handed around at the table.