Knife-wielding Feminists

This is a great recipe year-round, because it's flexible about what veggies you can put in it. It's simple to make and takes very little time. Here goes:

For two people you need:
1 tomato
1 leek (1 thing of leeks?)
2 in season veggies (I used 1 zucchini and a couple handfuls of mushrooms)
some goat cheese
coarse salt
enough pasta for two people (you want smallish pasta like macaroni or fusili)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 pot for pasta
1 cast-iron frying pan

You want to time things so that the pasta is ready just as the veggies are cooked. When you should start the pasta water depends on the size of your pot, the amount of water you're using, and which veggies you chose. I used a large saucepan, 2/3 full of water, and I started it just after I turned the heat on under the oil.

Pour your oil into the frying pan and turn the heat on low-medium. Slice all the white part of the leek into circles and toss it into the pan. You want the heat low enough that the leeks will turn transparent and sweet, not brown, even if you ignore them for a few minutes.
While the leeks are cooking, chop the other veggies into bite-sized pieces, stopping occasionally to flip the leek circles.
When the leeks are sufficiently done that all your veggies will finish at the same time, add the other veggies. Chop your tomato into bite sized pieces and reserve it. Saute all of the stuff in your pan, adding the pasta to the water when appropriate, until it's all cooked. If you've timed things right, the pasta should be done at approximately the same time.

Drain the pasta, but don't shake out too much of the water, and then add it to the frying pan. Dump the tomato on top, and add a sprinkle of course salt. Stir the whole mess around just until the salt is all dissolved, then turn the heat way down. (If you're using an electric stove, now would be a good time to turn the burner off, but leave the pan on the burner.) Let it sit in the pan for the time it takes you to crumble half the desired amounts of goat cheese into the bowls. Divide the pasta and veggies between the bowls, crumble the rest of the cheese on top, and stir to melt the cheese.

The noodles and veggies need to be quite hot to properly melt the cheese, so this is a dish you want to serve as soon as it is done.


A word on choosing your veggies:
Since salt is the only seasoning in this, you want to choose vegetables that can really hold their own, but are light enough not to bog down the dish, which is supposed to be light. I don't recommend green peppers, which are kind of blah when cooked, or any kind of fall or winter squash, which will overpower the dish in flavour, and be too heavy in texture. If you cook them only lightly, red, orange, or yellow peppers would probably be okay. I find mushrooms a really good choice because their juices tend to coat everything, which ensures that all your pasta will have some flavour, provided you stir sufficiently. To replace the zucchini, you can use asparagus, spinach, or pretty much any brassica (broccoli, cauliflower, red or green cabbage). Just make sure, if you use cauliflower especially, that it's fully cooked but not overdone. You can also use carrots, but if you do you'll want to put them in before the leeks. Carrots take a damn long time to cook.

cross-posted at my blog.

From Linda McCartney on Tour

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of 2 limes (or one lemon)
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 tbsp coriander
1 clove garlic

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Serve with tortilla chips or vegetable sticks. If you want to use this as a spread (excellent on whole grain crackers or hefty toasted bread), use just one lime and/or reduce the olive oil a bit.

Cross-posted from my own new and shiny blog. I made these last week and they were fantastic.

Cabbage Rolls

Filling

• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef (or turkey)*
• 3/4 cup cooked rice**
• 1/2 cup finely chopped (or grated) onion
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1-2 ounces grated parmsesan or romano cheese

Sauce

• 1 cup V8***
• 1 big can whole tomatoes, chopped

For the top

• 1 container saurkraut, drained and rinced
• 1-2 oz sliced pepperoni (optional)

Drop cabbage leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well. For filling, combine ground beef, rice, onion, egg, and salt, pepper, cheese, and milk. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Place a portion into the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll leaf around filling. Place in a baking dish. Place saurkraut around the rolls. Pour V8 and tomatoes over the cabbage rolls, and scatter the pepperoni on top. Bake covered in a preheated 350° oven for one hour. Remove rolls and allow to rest for 30 minutes. (Cabbage rolls are actually much better the next day.)

* I used turkey

** I didn't have rice (!!), so I used uncooked quinoa, and it worked very well.

*** I prefer the low sodium

A new era of baking has come into being for me. A couple weeks ago, with the help of a friend who knows how, I made my very first yeast bread. It was cinnamon raisin bread, which I had been craving for weeks, but not buying on the grounds that it was too much of a luxury, and it was super yummy.

So tonight, I am making German rye bread. All by myself. I am so proud.

I posted this on my own (new! new!) blog, and have been thinking about them ever since. As I mention there, I learned only recently that they're apparently a regional thing. Bread and pepperoni, who'd have thought? Where I grew up, they were everywhere.

Pepperoni Rolls

1 lb Bread dough

1 T oregano

6 oz sliced pepperoni

8 oz shredded mozzarella (optional)

2 T oil

1/4 c flour

Grated parmesan

On a floured surface, roll out dough into 12" x 16" rectangle. Sprinkle oregano over dough. Spread with pepperoni and cheese. Starting with long side, roll up jelly-roll style. Cut into 12 rolls. Place on a 9" x 13" pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle rolls with parmesan cheese. Cover with plastic wrap that has also been sprayed. Let rise until double in size. Remove wrap. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Grilled cheese and pickle sandwich. Yum.

I have a jar of it, and now I need to figure out what to do with it. Please leave suggestions in the comments.