Brown Rice Pasta

After Dr. Kooky told me to lay off the wheat (which I haven't, and the pains are subsiding...but that's another post), I bought some brown rice pasta at Trader Joe's.

It sat on the counter and looked at me dolefully daily. I didn't cook it. And I didn't cook it. And after everyone one else in my life convinced me that wheat was not my source of pain, I started to think that there would be something really off with pasta made of brown rice. It would taste bad, I thought. It would smell funky, I thought. It would have a weird texture, I thought.

I thought these things so much that I stopped at the store on the way home to get my regular whole grain spaghetti (200 cal, 0.5g fat, 6g fiber) for our quick spag & meatball dinner. And when I poured the whole grain spaghetti into the pot of boiling water, the brown rice spag silently sat there. Judging me.

So I cooked some of each, and we had a taste test. The brown rice pasta was definitely stickier as soon as I took it out of the water; I did not rinse it, which may have minimized stickiness. We all tasted the brown rice pasta first. It didn't have a strong taste, nor did it have a "bite"--I only cooked it for 7:30 minutes--and people who like an overtly nutty, flavorful pasta would dislike it.

But if you like your pasta a little more well-done, you would love brown rice pasta. Now, I'm not saying this is mushy pasta. It just isn't as toothsome. Moving onto the whole grain pasta--which has 4g of fiber more per serving than brown rice--I found it to be almost hard in comparison.

My soon-to-be teen said, "I like all pasta, so they're both good." But when I pointed out it was rice-noodle pasta like his beloved "bun", he perked up and gobbled it down.

I think my husband prefered the brown rice pasta because he said, "I don't hate the normal stuff. Is the first stuff [brown rice] expensive or something?"

We've got brown rice pasta converts here, I think!

Linguine & Clam Sauce, Healthy

Did I mention I'm doing WW? I am. I'm doing it. I'm breathing, eating and living it. I'm losing for life, losing for good. I swear, I will be the Weight Watchers poster woman in a year. No one will recognize me, god knows, I won't recognize me.

I'm at -24lbs, and hope to hit -26 on Wednesday. Blow negative calories my way if you're reading this.

One of my problems has always been my love, my passion, for food. Good lord, I'm sitting here typing with a can of smoked oysters propped in front of my keyboard for no good reason! I've cooked a lot of yummy things in the past, usually things that could compete with Paula Deen or Two Fat Ladies for calories, if not pizazz.

The Bug's favorite dish that I make is Linguine and Clam Sauce. So I decided to trim it down, and make it work with my WW. Here's a recipe from 2006, lightened up, but true to it's roots:

Linguine and Clam Sauce--Healthy
Measure all amounts, adjust only pepper to your taste.
Since you'll cook the sauce on low heat, go ahead and use that non-stick saucepan.

Put lots of fresh water, dosed with kosher salt, onto boil.
When it boils, add and cook 10-16oz of Whole Grain linguine.

In the meantime:

• In a non-stick saute pan heat one tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.
  
  
• Add three cloves of finely chopped garlic and turn heat to medium low.
  

• Sweat garlic until fragrant and supple.
  

• While garlic softens, open two tins chopped clams (I like the ones in the yellow tuna-sized tins. You'll find them with the tuna in fact.) RESERVE THE LIQUID.

• When garlic is softened, add half a teaspoon red pepper flakes. Go easy on this, you can always add more. Heat for 30 seconds.
  

• Then add the clam liquid, plus one whole bottle clam juice, which is also found in the tuna section. Be sure to shake the bottle.
  

• Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil.
  

• Add about a two cups of well chopped parsley. (This is a great use for parsley.) Don't worry about the stems--just wash the parsley, shake it, and chop away. My mom uses scissors, I just use my knife.
  

• Immediately turn down to medium/medium-low. Check your pasta.
  

• Now, shake out 2 tablespoons cornstarch in a measuring cup and add enough cold non-fat chicken broth or water to liquify. Mix till smooth.
  

• Turn the heat up again till it's simmering and add your starch mixture. But be careful! Add a bit at a time, as this will thicken your sauce faster than you can imagine. Stir like crazy as you add it.
  

• Once thickened to your liking (we like it THICK), turn off the heat and add lots of freshly ground black pepper and the clams. Please don't cook the clams unless you like Linguine and Rubber Bits.
  

Add-ins to consider: fresh basil, finely chopped white onion, fresh clams.

Serve with a great salad.

Serves six (or a man & boy with hearty appetites and a woman on a mission with lunch left over for her husband).

Sausage Ziti with Four Cheeses

Sausage ziti with four cheeses?! A fat family shouldn't be eating this! Is that what you're thinking? Well you're right. This is a fattening, rich, yummy dinner that is perfect for when the in-laws have descended and you have little time in the kitchen, many hungry mouths to fill, and maybe just a little bit too much wine in your belly.

Yes, it's Easter, and the in-laws are down. We had a lovely time in the afternoon gabbing and drinking, and by 6:30pm everyone was hungry for dinner. This was a hit (and super easy to make). Serve it with a green salad and some good warm Pugliese bread.

Sausage Ziti with Four Cheeses

16oz penne rigatoni (penne with ridges)
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 pound Italian sausage links--if you like a little spice, get hot Italian links
1 jar good spaghetti sauce. I liked Classico's "Traditional Sweet Basil" in this.
Four cups fresh spinach, chopped (get the washed and ready to eat kind)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
5 oz bag of shredded mixed "Italian" cheese, including mozzarella, Parmesan, and provolone.
Red pepper flakes
Pepper

Boil water, add salt and oil for cooking pasta. Cook according to directions. While pasta is cooking, in a non-stick skillet at medium, add bulk sausage. Turn up to medium-high heat and brown, breaking up into bits. If your skillet is big enough, add links, and brown those well. You'll be cooking them entirely in the pan, so give them good color and let them cook through. Drain the pasta, reserving one cup of the pasta liquid. Put pasta in a big bowl--really big, because you're going to be mixing everything in this bowl.

As sausage is done, add it to the pasta. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel, and use the paper towel to lightly grease a 9x13" pan. Add chopped onions to the skillet and brown on medium heat. When brown, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach. If the pan is too dry, add a little of the pasta water. Let the spinach cook down, then add the sauce and heat through. Add red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper to taste.

In the meanwhile, reserve about 1/2 cup of the cheese and add the rest to the pasta. Toss the pasta to mix through. Now add the sauce and mix thoroughly. Put the pasta in the prepared pan and press it down into the pan. Top with the extra cheese.

Heat in a 400 degree oven for twelve minutes, then put it under the broiler for three minutes to gently brown it.

***Test for seasonings. My in-laws don't like a ton of seasonings so I just kept it simple.

Faux Pho

The Bug and I had a craving for Pho and Bun. Who doesn't love noodle soups? I didn't have any rice noodles in the house, and sure didn't have any scrumptious spring rolls. But I did have some good odds and ends, and ended up making a darned good Faux Pho.

Faux Pho
1/2 Yellow Onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
One tablespoon olive oil
One tablespoon sesame oil
About one teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
3-4 alspice seeds
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
Fresh or dried ginger, to taste
Chicken broth
Angel hair/vermicelli pasta
Thinly sliced beef, pork, or chicken (I used leftover steak)

For garnish--use what you have around:
Minced scallions
Mint leaves or cilantro
Sliced jalepenos
Lime wedge
Hot sauce
Bean Sprouts

In a large, deep saucier pan/pot, saute onion and garlic in oils until soft and fragrant. Add spices and cook about 30 seconds, or till fragrant. Add the chicken broth--I've left amounts of the broth and noodles up to you. Some like it soupier, some want to make pho for four, some for one. Heat to boiling and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer about five to ten minutes (this is a good time to prep all your garnishes). Use a hand-held strainer, like a tea strainer, to remove alspice and fennel seeds. If you can't get them all, don't sweat it.

Bring broth back to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to directions, stirring frequently. You should have a lot of pasta in relation to your broth, but remember, it will continue to suck up the broth as it sits in the pot, so not too much pasta!

Add sliced meat about one minute before serving. Serve in a deep bowl with garnishes on a plate on the side.

For a bonus, I threw in a couple of Ling Ling's potstickers--it was a wierd combo dish of pho and potsticker bun.

The Bug said it was as good as the pho we get when we're at pho places. I take that as a big compliment, since he's become a pho expert!

Pasta Primavera Salad

Juiceboy got all his favorite veggies this week...and forgot all about them. Last night I made a big pasta salad in celebration of spring. Cheese and salami can be omitted, but it's really tasty with them in!

Pasta Primavera Salad

One package penne or rotelli pasta, cooked, drained and cooled
3 ribs celery, diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 large English or regular cucumber, seeded and diced
1/2 to 1 cup shredded or julliened carrots
Asparagus, blanched and sliced to size of pasta
1/2 cup frozen petite peas, cooked and cooled
1 cup brocolli florets, cut into little pieces
(any other favorite veggies work here too, like red or green pepper)
1/2 cup shredded romano/parmesan cheese
Genoa salami, sliced (amount to your preference, but I used about 1/8 pound)

Dressing
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar to taste (I add it in little bits until it's at the tartness I like)
Fresh or dried basil
salt and pepper

Mix the dressing in a small jar or liquid measure, testing for flavor. I like mine garlicky and pretty strong on the vinegar. Put pasta in a large bowl and toss with dressing. When fully coated, add all other ingrediants, and toss. Let flavors mingle for about 30 minutes. Can be made ahead of time and refridgerated, but note that the vinegar will make pasta brownish and peas and asparagus will lose their lovely bright green hue.

Pasta e Fagioli

Fast, cheap and satisfying...Pasta e Fagioli is a perfect soup/stew for those dreary days of January. This dish was a hit with the whole family--The Bug had thirds!

It's a rustic dish, so don't worry about perfect sizes on the vegetables. Also, while it seems like a lot of ingrediants, it's really a "what's in the fridge that needs to be used" dish. Add and subtract items as you wish. I like to make this when I have some leftover crusty bread to throw in. Total cooking time should take no more than an hour. This is a fresh, fast dinner. (To make it vegetarian, skip the chicken and make with your favorite veggie stock.)

Pasta e Fagioli

2 Tablespoons olive oil
Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I use the flash-frozen kind, so they're fairly big)
1/2 large yellow or white onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 head of celery, including center stalks, diced
1 large carrot, sliced or diced
1 head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized pieces
1 large can chicken broth
1 large can skinned, diced tomatoes
1 can white or black beans, with some liquid drained
1/2 cup small pasta, like tubetini or alphabets (if you do a mixture like me, watch cooking times)
8 oz frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup romano cheese, shredded
crushed red pepper, to taste
freshly ground black pepper
day old sourdough bread, torn into bite-sized pieces (optional)
fresh herbs (basil, thyme, or parsley work well)

Heat olive oil in large stock pot on medium high; add whole chicken breasts. After they have browned on both sides, add onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Lower heat immediately to medium/medium low, saute until fragrant. Add chicken broth, turn to high heat and bring to a boil, then turn down to med/med-low again. Add cauliflower and tomatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add pasta. Stir occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking to the pot.

Halfway in the pasta cooking time, add beans; stir well. Remove chicken breasts and slice into bite-sized pieces, return to pot with any juices that have collected in the cutting process.

When pasta is cooked, add frozen spinach. After about 3 minutes, add the bread, red and black pepper, and cheese. Check for seasonings.

Ladle into bowls and top with chopped fresh herbs.

Cookbook Recipe: Rigitoni al Forno

For Christmas Eve I made Nigella Lawson's Rigitoni al Forno, from her Feast cookbook. The cookbook itself is glorious, with Nigella's wonderful voice making it a great read. However, I found that many of her recipes turn out flat. I used her recipes for baked potatoes and yorkshire pudding for Christmas dinner, and we were all disappointed with them. Of course, I didn't have the required two cups of goose fat for the potatoes, so my substitution might have been a large part of the problem.

As for the rigitoni: since it was a recipe for 16 and we were only 5, I reduced the recipe, which wasn't hard. It originally called for 3 pounds of rigitoni and 3 pounds, 4 oz of ground beef, so I just reduced everything to 1/3-- one pound of rigitoni and one pound 1.5 oz of beef.

I did increase the amount of bechamel sauce from 1/3 to 2/3 of the recipe, due only to bad math. And in the end, it needed it!

This was the MEATIEST pasta dish ever. It was supposed to be a take on lasagna--but boy, it was saucy ground beef with some pasta noodles. In the end I had lots of meat leftover because I'd had to pick out all the pasta to serve it round.

Also, the recipe calls for cooking the meat sauce for two hours. If there were other meats in this ragu that would be called for, but I think 30-40 minutes is more than enough.

Finally, she mixes the rigitoni first with the bechamel to coat it, then adds the meat sauce. If you stir it too much it gets gray and looks like something the dog threw up.

In the end, this was a good concept that needs some tweaking to be a 100% success.

Linguini and White Clam Sauce

One of The Bug's favorite dishes is Linguine and Clam Sauce. In fact, this weekend Juiceboy is off camping, and I gave The Bug his choice of any dinner. And that included eating out? His choice? You guessed it. Linguine and Clam Sauce. My "Fast & Cheap" version is incredibly fast and easy. Watch for when your supermarket puts the tinned clams on sale.

Linguine and Clam Sauce
Eyeball all amounts, adjust to your taste.
Since you'll cook the sauce on really low heat, go ahead and use that non-stick saucepan.

Put lots of fresh water, dosed with kosher salt, onto boil.
When it boils, add and cook 10-16oz of linguine.

In the meantime:

• In a big saucepan melt about one and a half tablespoons butter over low heat. Add one tablespoon of olive oil and about three cloves of finely chopped garlic.
  

• Sweat garlic over low heat until fragrant and supple. Do not turn up the heat past medium low, and if butter starts bubbling, turn it down. There's nothing worse than browned garlic in this dish.

• While garlic softens, open two tins minced or chopped clams (I like the ones in the yellow tuna-sized tins. You'll find them with the tuna in fact.) RESERVE THE LIQUID.

• When garlic is softened, add a shake of red pepper flakes. Go easy on this, you can always add more. Heat for 30 seconds.
  

• Then add the clam liquid, plus one whole bottle clam juice, which is also found in the tuna section. Be sure to shake the bottle.
  

• Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil.
  

• Add about a half bunch of well chopped parsley. (This is a great use for parsley.) Don't worry about the stems--just wash the parsley, shake it, and chop away. My mom uses scissors, I just use my knife.
  

• Immediately turn down to medium/medium-low. Check your pasta.
  

• Now, shake out some cornstarch in a measuring cup. About 1/8 cups worth and add enough cold white wine, chicken broth, or water to liquify. Mix till smooth.
  

• Turn the heat up again till it's simmering and add your starch mixture. But be careful! Add a bit at a time, as this will thicken your sauce faster than you can imagine. Stir like crazy as you add it.
  

• Once thickened to your liking (we like it THICK), turn off the heat and add freshly ground black pepper and the clams. Please don't cook the clams unless you like Linguine and Rubber Bits.
  

Add-ins to consider: fresh basil, finely chopped white onion, fresh clams, even thick-cut and diced bacon.

Serve with Parmesan cheese and garlic bread and a great salad.

Should serve four.

The Red-Headed Stepchild of the Buffet

Tonight at work we had food delivered from Pasta Pomodoro (we have a dinner party for 50-100 people once a month). One of the dishes was "Healthy Chicken Pasta." I knew just by looking at it that we'd have tons of it left over. And we did.

It was penne pasta with what seemed to be a very dry tomato sauce, and not much of the sauce. There was big chunks of zuchinni (and we all know I hate zuch.) and little bits of chicken. There were some green bits--but were they spinach? Basil? Watercress? I couldn't tell by aroma--there wasn't any.

I know this was dubbed a "Healthy" dish, but couldn't it have been made to look yummy, too? The "healthy" salmon looked good, as did the fagioli (white beans) and the insalata caprese. And the unhealthy shells with gorgonzola sauce was perfecto!

So, what I want to know is...is the tomato-based pasta dish the red-headed stepchild of the buffet? What do you pass up or avoid altogether?

Fast and Cheap and Oh SOOOO Good!

We went to Casteneda Bros' farmstand today and picked up some good, big heirloom tomatoes. They are way bigger than mine.

I wanted to make a good dinner, but cheap and fast, as it's the first of the month and that means rent comes before fancy dinners. So what to do when you want to make a nice dinner for three, but you have about ten dollars? In California, where meat is expensive--as well as everything else?

One fresh (picked today!) green pepper, sliced. That's it! Cost: 50 cents
Two top loin sirloin steaks, total weight, just under a pound. On sale at Safeway: $4

Fresh Tomato & Basil Pasta
(I eyeballed all of this, so all measurements are approximate)

• About two to three cups chopped, FRESH tomatoes
• One big clove garlic, minced
• Fresh basil, about 10 big leaves, gently chiffonaded (cut in thin strips)--be careful with basil because it gets damaged and bruised easily. Handle it as little as possible.
• Approximately 8 oz ricotta cheese
• Two to three tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• red pepper flakes (if you need some heat)
• About 16 oz rugged pasta, like rigatoni or cappelletti

Put water on to boil, with olive oil and salt to taste. When boiling, add the pasta. As it cooks combine all other ingredients in a bowl, stir and taste for seasoning. Let sit. When pasta is al dente, drain well, but do not rinse. Add hot pasta to tomatoes, toss to coat.

Cost: Assuming you have the olive oil and other seasonings, about $4.

Here's an interesting pasta recipe site: http://www.barillaus.com/recipes__cooking.aspx

Steak Marinade

• Two cloves garlic
• About 1/4 C olive oil
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh basil, about 2 tablespoons, chopped

Blend in a food processor. Then marinate steaks in a glass bowl for approximately 10 minutes.

I seared the steaks in an iron pan at high heat, treated with olive oil first. I cooked on both sides quickly, then deglazed the pan with about 1/4 cup red wine.

We enjoyed this dinner with homemade bread and fresh, local honey (cost: $5.50).

Would You Like a Little Thumb with That?

DH sharpened knives this afternoon. I was enjoying the fine edge while I was chopping tomatoes for a delicious no-cook pasta dish. As I was cutting I thought, "It's a wonder I never cut myself while this was so dull" and adjusted my fingers inwards. Just then, chop! Right into the tip of my thumb.

DH and the Bug ended up finishing up cooking dinner, while I "supervised." I really enjoyed them working together with me in the kitchen and hope to do more of the same tomorrow(minus the maiming). We wrapped it up with a great 30-minute walk around the neighborhood, enjoying the rising full moon.

Note about dinner: Marie's Spinach Salad dressing is really strong; a little goes a long way.

No-Cook Pasta Sauce
3 Cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
A bunch of fresh basil, torn by hand
One small clove garlic, pressed (this won't be cooked, so make it a smaller clove)
One cup ricotta
Handful of shredded mozzarella
1/2 C chopped red onion
1/4 C olive oil
salt and pepper
Large pasta such as penne, wagon wheels, rotinni, etc.

Mix everything but the pasta in a large bowl. Cook pasta according to directions; drain. Mix into tomato mixture--serve immediately.

We had spinach salad (spinach, red bell pepper, celery, and red onion) and crusty bread with this. And we added a HUGE clove of garlic--half would have been fine.