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.

What's-in-the-Fridge Pasta Sauce

Unfortunately, didn't get a chance to take a picture of this one, but it is delicious. Relies on things I usually have on hand.


What's-in-the-Fridge Pasta Sauce

1 onion, sliced
1 large shallot, sliced (or just more onion)
3-4 handfuls fresh spinach
Half a can of water-packed artichoke hearts, cut into quarters
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil
Pasta


While boiling water for pasta, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. When the pasta has about five minutes left to cook, add the spinach and artichoke hearts to the pan with the onions and shallots. After draining the pasta, add the cheeses to the vegetables, saute just until they begin to melt (only about a minute), and combine with pasta. Dinner!

Serves 2.

Summer White Bean & Tomato Salad

Seems kind of silly to keep track of the recipe for something as simple as this, but hey, it's what I made today, so here it is.

Summer White Bean & Tomato Salad

1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed very well and drained
3 small-to-medium tomatoes
4 green onions
4 leaves fresh basil
olive oil
red wine vinegar
black pepper

Cut the tomatoes into small wedges. Slice the white and light green parts of the green onions finely. Tear the basil into small pieces. In a large bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, onions and basil. Dress with about 1 tbsp olive oil and about 1 tsp vinegar. Season heavily with black pepper and salt if necessary.

Serves 1 for dinner or 2-3 as a side dish.
Could garnish with mozzarella or feta if you were looking for a heavier dish.

Green Bean and Mozzarella Salad

I got to thinking about insalata caprese today, but wasn't quite in the mood for tomatoes. This salad leans slightly more in the direction of France than Italy, because of the shallots (green beans' best friend) and because the only fresh herb I had on hand was parsley, but it turned out to be delicious. The hot, crunchy green beans are a good match for cool soft mozzarella.

Green Bean and Mozzarella Salad

2 medium shallots, sliced very thin
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, torn into small pieces
about 3 oz. fresh whole-milk mozzarella, cut into small pieces
about 1/4 cup dry white wine
olive oil
squeeze of lemon juice from one small lemon wedge
salt, pepper

In a large bowl, mix the mozzarella and parsley. In a small saucepan, saute the shallots over medium-low heat in olive oil just until they begin to color, about 5 minutes. Be careful, because they will burn fast. Add a splash of white wine and turn the heat to low. Watch the pan; when the wine boils away, add another small splash. When the wine has evaporated, take the pan off the heat. Meanwhile, make sure the green beans still have some water on them from when you washed them. Saute the green beans in a little olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until they begin to be tender and the skin begins to blister, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat; season with a lot of black pepper and salt to taste. Add the shallots to the bowl with the mozzarella and parsley, then add the green beans. Season with lemon juice and about 1 tsp olive oil. Toss and serve immediately while the beans are still hot.

Serves 2.

Blueberry Cookies

Still dealing with a mountain of blueberries... these are delicious. Light, juicy, and quite tart.


Blueberry Cookies

1 cup rolled quick-cooking oats (NOT instant)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup 2% milk
1.5 cups fresh blueberries
grated zest of 1/2 to 1 lemon
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
Combine oats, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, followed by milk. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Fold in blueberries and lemon zest.
Drop by tablespoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.

Makes about 40 cookies.

If you store them overnight, they will lose their crispness; if you'd like them to be crisper, just toast them briefly on a cookie sheet in the oven.