Fresh and Simple Pasta Sauce

While there are many people who slave away in the kitchen for hours over a hot stove to perfect their Italian grandmother's tomato sauce, and while it may very well be quite delicious, I prefer a more casual approach to my summertime pasta.  This one comes together in about 20 minutes, (depending on your speediness with a knife).  It's a light, chunky sauce that lets you know exactly which vegetables you're eating.

Ingredients (for two servings):

- 3 tbsp olive oil

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 sprigs fresh oregano (or 1/4 tsp. dried)

- 3/4 c. onion, minced

- 3/4 c. yellow bell pepper, diced

- 1 1/2 c. tomato, diced

- 1/4 tsp. brown sugar

- handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped.

Directions:

- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high.

- Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and oregano and saute for about a minute.

- Add the onion and saute until just translucent, about 3 minutes.

- Add the bell pepper, tomato, and brown sugar.

- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally and lightly mashing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon for about 8 minutes until all of the vegetables are tender.

- If you would like a slightly thicker sauce, add about 1 tbsp tomato paste.

- Taste for seasoning, adjusting salt and brown sugar, (sparingly), as needed.

- Just before serving, add the fresh basil and toss another minute.

- Add your pasta to the pan and toss to coat.

I used whole wheat spaghetti as I really like the slightly nutty taste with the freshness of the vegetables. Optionally top you pasta with some good parmesan cheese for serving.  As a side I prepared some fresh romano green beans by boiling them in the pasta water for about 2-3 minutes, then tossing them with good quality extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

Enjoy!

Spicy Coconut Noodles

When hot weather comes around, I often don't want to cook at all.  Now and then, however, I get a craving for something nice and spicy.  This easy dish minimizes cooking time, (and thus time spent near a hot stove), and keeps the flavors fresh.  The quantities of this recipe can easily be adjusted to feed however many people you need, (this makes about three portions), however if you intend to prepare a lot of noodles, I would recommend boiling them separately rather than cooking them in the pan.

• Slice up a large chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and lightly salt it.
• Heat up a large pan (the largest you have) and add two cloves of minced garlic, a generous shake of red pepper, (I also added some seeds from the bell peppers I used), then the chicken.
• Add the juice of two limes.
• Chop one large red onion and add half to the chicken, setting the other half aside.
• After the onions start to become translucent, add two tbsp soy sauce, half a can of light coconut milk, and half a cup water.
• Bring the liquids to a boil then add the rice noodles.  They're comparable to spaghetti in the amount you'll need per person.  The noodles should be pretty much submerged in the liquid.  After they have a chance to soften slightly, give them a toss and cover the pan.  Reduce heat and let them simmer for 8 minutes.
• While this cooks, chop two small bell peppers (I used one red and one green).
• When the noodles are tender and nearly done, take off the cover and add the remaining red onion as well as the bell pepper.
• Toss the vegetables and let the noodles cook for an additional two minutes uncovered.  At this point, there should be reduced to a thin sauce coating the noodles.  Turn up the heat if you need to reduce it further.

Serve and enjoy!

Marinated Salmon over Noodles

There's a great little fish shop that I pass every day on my way to work.  Sometimes I stop in early in the morning to pick out my dinner for the night.  I'd never really cooked fish much before I started going there, always afraid that I would over or under cook it.  While growing up I'd never liked fish at all, my tastes have developed and I've enjoyed trying new varieties.  I experimented with sole, flounder, swordfish, halibut, and, of course, salmon.  While I love salmon simply grilled, here I marinated it and served it over a stir fry of bok choy and rice noodles.

• Start by marinating the salmon: combine 1/4 c. soy sauce, a little salt, a good amount of freshly ground black pepper, one clove of minced garlic, and 1 tbsp mustard ( a nice spicy variety).  Let the salmon sit in the marinade for at least half an hour (in the refrigerator, of course).
• While you wait, put your water on to boil to cook your rice noodles.
• Clean and cut up the bok choy into bite sized pieces.  Separate the leafy parts from the thicker stems.  I tend to prefer baby bok choy, as the stems are more tender, but the regular variety works as well.
• With a drizzle of oil and high heat, begin cooking the stems of the bok choy (as these require more cooking time).
• When they start becoming tender, add the other portion.
• Add the now cooked rice noodles, (start the bok choy when you add the noodles to the water), as well as some of the excess marinade and give everything a good toss, then move it to a serving platter.
• In the same, hot pan cook the salmon.  Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fillet, generally 3-4 minutes per side for an inch of thickness.  Try to get a nice sear and flip the fillet only once.  When you think it may be done, touch the thickest part with your finger.  It should feel pretty firm, not squishy.  You can always cut it open to double check.
• Lay the salmon over the top of the noodles and vegetables.  To serve you can cut it into portions, or break it into smaller, bite-sized pieces.

Enjoy!