Pasta with Peas and Feta

This is probably the dish I make most often. It's very quick, has three food groups, and I always have all these ingredients on hand (thanks, super cheap feta at Foodmaster). The fennel brings out the sweetness of the peas and the saltiness of the feta.

Pasta with Peas and Feta

1/2 box cavatappi or other short pasta
2 or 3 oz. crumbled feta
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp olive oil
1 pinch fennel seeds
black pepper

Cook pasta. In the last minute or so of cooking, add the peas to the pasta water and continue cooking just until hot, one to two minutes. Drain pasta and peas. Combine with feta, olive oil, fennel seeds, and pepper. Serve right away.

Serves 2 (or one very hungry person).

Quinoa Pilaf with Dates

Really on a quinoa kick here. This is subtly sweet, a little spicy, and a nice deep brown color. Some chopped pistachios would be a really great addition.

Quinoa Pilaf with Dates

2 cups red quinoa
4 cups water
2 small sweet yellow onions (or 1 large), sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, crushed
25 or so dates, chopped roughly
2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper
good pinch salt
three shakes hot pepper flakes
olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
6 tsp sesame seeds.

In a large pot, bring quinoa and water to a boil. When boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer until the water is absorbed and the germ separates from the quinoa, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute the onions in olive oil over medium-low heat until just starting to caramelize, about 12 minutes. (After about 10 minutes, add the crushed garlic.) While they are cooking, in a separate saucepan toast sesame seeds over low heat until they turn golden, about three minutes. Immediately remove from heat and put in a separate bowl. When the onions are soft and starting to color, add cardamom, black pepper, and hot pepper; cook over medium heat until the spices become very fragrant, about one or two minutes. Remove from heat.
When the quinoa is done, add the onions, sesame seeds, 3/4 of the dates, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix well. Mound in a large bowl and garnish with the remaining dates. Serve at room temperature.

Serves one billion as a side dish.

Quinoa Salad

This salad has a wide variety of flavors that match well together--bitter mustard greens, sweet apricots and onions, mellow Brie. It's also pretty. I used 2 cups of mustard greens and that turned out to be a little too much for my taste, but it can easily be varied. Red quinoa is prettier but regular would be fine as well.

Quinoa Salad


1 cup red quinoa
1-2 cups chopped frozen (or fresh) mustard greens
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
10 dried apricots, quartered
about 2 oz. Brie cheese, in small cubes
2 tbsp olive oil plus more for sauteing
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 pinch dried basil
salt and pepper

In a saucepan, bring quinoa and two cups water to a boil. When boiling, turn the heat down to low and simmer about 15 min, until all the water is absorbed and the spring-like germ has separated from the quinoa.
Meanwhile, saute the onion in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mustard greens (do not thaw if frozen; if not frozen, also add enough water to prevent them from burning). Saute over low heat about 10 more minutes, until the quinoa is nearly done. Combine greens/onions and quinoa in a large bowl. Season with basil, salt, and pepper. In a small cup, beat together the oil, vinegar, and mustard; pour over the quinoa mixture and toss to coat. Add the chopped apricots and Brie and toss. Chill and serve. Noticeably better the next day after the flavors have blended.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Poppyseed Butter

I wanted something filling yet vegetarian for a dinner party, and came up with this experiment (based on beet ravioli with poppyseed butter that I've been served elsewhere). The ravioli do stick together a lot, which causes some of them to rip and leak contents--this is a problem that oil helped with but did not cure. I used drained yogurt to lighten the filling, but probably ricotta would work too. It looks like a lot of butter--and is--but the recipe also serves 10 people. Also, it is more appetizing than in the badly-flashed picture!

Pumpkin Ravioli with Poppyseed Butter

3 packages won ton wrappers
3 15 oz. cans pumpkin
12 oz fat-free plain yogurt
1 small shallot, diced finely
1.5 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cumin
a few good shakes red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ginger
1 stick butter
2 tbsp poppyseeds
olive oil as needed

An hour a head of time, line a strainer with two sturdy paper towels. Empty the yogurt in the lined strainer and drain one hour.

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, shallot, drained yogurt, allspice, cumin, ginger and red pepper flakes. Lay out several won ton wrappers. Place 1/2 tsp pumpkin mixture in the center. Dip your fingers in water and wet the edges, then fold the wrapper in half around the filling. Make sure to seal the corners. Continue until you have used up all the wrappers and filling. Working in batches, boil the ravioli for about 2 minutes--do not overcook or they will become gummy and even stickier. As each batch drains, drizzle with olive oil to prevent sticking. When all ravioli are cooked, melt butter in a saute pan. When it starts to foam, add poppy seeds and cook for a minute or two, until the butter JUST starts to color. Pour the butter-poppyseed mixture over the ravioli and toss to coat (it may be helpful to put the ravioli in more than one dish). Serve warm or equally good at room temperature.

Serves 10.

Lemon-Parmesan Pasta

I discovered the combination of lemon and Parmesan last year, and have been experimenting ever since. Spinach is by far the best addition.

Lemon-Parmesan Pasta

1.5 ish cups pasta (I like cavatappi)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup raw spinach, or more to taste, torn into pieces
grated zest of 1 lemon or a little less
juice of 1/4 lemon
black pepper
olive oil

Cook the pasta. After draining it, return to saucepan. Add olive oil, Parmesan, and spinach; turn heat to medium for about 10 seconds and turn heat off. Stir thoroughly to wilt spinach and distribute cheese. Add lemon zest and a large amount of black pepper; stir thoroughly. Squeeze lemon juice over the top. Heat for 5 seconds more if necessary, and serve!

Serves 1 very hungry person

Tofu and Green Beans with Peanut Sauce

Easy, filling, and full of flavor. Definitely more appetizing than it looks in this photo!

Tofu and Green Beans with Peanut Sauce

About 20 green beans, trimmed and rinsed
7 oz. extra-firm tofu (about 1/4 package), cubed
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped roughly
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 heaping tbsp peanut butter
3 green onions, sliced
1 squeeze lime juice
1 pinch dried basil
1/4 tsp ginger
one good shake red pepper flakes
vegetable oil

Saute green beans over medium-high heat about three minutes. Add onions, garlic, and tofu cubes. Saute until tofu begins to brown and onions are soft but not burned. Add basil, lime juice, ginger, red pepper flakes, and soy sauce, turn heat to medium, and continue to cook about four minutes or until the soy sauce has reduced about by half. Turn heat to low. Add peanut butter and stir to coat evenly.
Serve garnished with green onions.

Serves 1.

Late-Summer Cobbler

Adapted from something from Redbook, of all places. This recipe is quite small but can very easily be doubled.

Late-Summer Cobbler

Filling
8 very ripe Italian prune plums, quartered
1 large very ripe nectarine, sliced
1.5 Tbsp cornstarch
1/8 cup sugar or a little more if your plums are not very ripe
Squeeze of lemon juice
dash of nutmeg

Cobbler Batter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/8 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Filling: in a 6x6 baking dish, toss together plums, nectarine, lemon juice, cornstarch, 1/8 cup sugar and nutmeg until fruit is evenly coated.
Cobbler Batter: Mix flour, cornmeal, 1/8 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a bowl. With your fingers, rub in butter until the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Add cream and mix just until blended. Batter will be quite loose and sticky. With your hands, roll bits of batter into strips and arrange on top of fruit in baking dish, weaving if you choose. Leave plenty of room between strips as batter will rise while baking. Sprinkle with remaining tsp. of sugar.
Bake cobbler for about 40 minutes or until top is golden and juices bubble (you may want to put a cookie sheet under the baking pan to catch excess juices). Cool before serving.
Serves 3.