Comfort Food Mondays - Pasta with Olive and Orange Sauce

It's been far too long since I shared a recipe with you.

The other night, Alan and I were getting hungry and wondering what to make for dinner.  We had oranges on hand, and olives, and lots of pasta (we stocked up while we were in Windsor).  It was time to make one of my favourite pasta dishes.

I cannot now remember where I first came across this recipe, but it seemed like such an unusual combination of flavours, I had to try it.  I figure the worst thing that can happen when I try a new recipe is that I won't like it.   I'll move on.  I'll try something else.  This turned out to be the best-case scenario; a new favourite was discovered.

It's a really easy sauce to make and works with short or long pasta.  The way we do it, measurements are so far from exact...

While the water is boiling and your pasta is cooking, heat some butter and olive oil in a pan.  Grate the zest of an orange and add it and its juice to the pan.  Pit a cup or so of Kalamata olives.  Chop them roughly and add them to the orange juice and zest.  Add a heaping tablespoon of basil pesto (or chopped fresh basil, if you have it).  Toasted pine nuts, if you have them, really go well in this sauce, but it's tasty enough without.

Let the sauce bubble a bit until the flavours meld.  Taste it and if it seems too sharp, add some more butter.

Toss with the cooked pasta and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and ground pepper.

Serve with a glass of red wine and some good bread to sop up the juices.

 

Comfort Food Mondays - A Plethora of Tomatoes

In our CSA basket last week was a very big bag of fresh tomatoes.  Plus our next door neighbour left a basket of them on our doorstep and we had a few from the market....

It was time to make sauce, something unthinkable when the first few ripe round beauties come off the vine.  But even I cannot keep up with all this fresh, tasty goodness.  Matt calls this "Mother Nature's Two-for-One Sale"; I love that image!

Tomato sauce has to be one of the easiest things on earth to cook.  I started with a good glug of olive oil in a pan.  Then I added half a head of garlic, minced.  I heated that until it was golden and fragrant. 

Then I started chopping tomatoes.  These were fairly small, so I just quartered them and added them to the garlic and oil. 

And then I let it all simmer gently, all afternoon, until it was thick and rich and hearty.  Alan walked in the door after work and his knees went weak.

Before serving over pasta, you can add: a swirl of butter, salt and pepper to taste, chopped fresh herbs of your choice.

So yummy!

We ate dinner before I even remembered to take a picture. 

Fortunately, there were leftovers....

Comfort Food Mondays - Zucchini Pancakes

It's summertime here in southern Ontario and the fresh produce is coming in thick and fast.

One of my favourite ways to eat a lot of veggies at once is to make zucchini pancakes.  It's quick, easy and colourful - summer on a plate.

To start, grate up a couple of small zucchinis (we used yellow).  Add grated carrot, diced red pepper, and freshly-shelled peas.  If you have other veg you want to add, go for it!

Crack in a couple of eggs, add some chopped herbs (I love the combination of zucchini and mint, but chives, basil, etc. also work well) and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix it all together.

Then sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of flour.  Exactly how much depends on the water content of the veg you've used, and how humid a day it is (seriously).  The texture you're looking for is a thickish pancake batter.

As soon as the flour is mixed in, drop the batter by tablespoonfuls into a hot pan with some olive oil in it.  Cook until golden on one side, then flip and cook until golden on the other.

Serve with a mixed-green salad and a glass or two of wine.  Preferably outdoors.

Leftovers keep well and can be heated up in a toaster oven.

Or eaten straight out of the fridge for breakfast the next morning when you're a little late leaving for work.

Thursday Night Smackdown - Asparagus Pesto with Penne Rigate

Michelle at Thursday Night Smackdown, one of my favourite food blogs, has opened up the fun of the Smackdown for food bloggers everywhere.  Yay!

It goes like this.  You pick a recipe from a cookbook or magazine.  You make that recipe.  You take lots and lots of pictures and you write a post.

And, while following a recipe as it's written is a huge challenge for me, I decided to give it a try.

The recipe I chose comes from the book Truly Madly Pasta by Ursula Ferrigno.  Great title.  Fabulous cookbook.  I read it cover to cover, like a novel, exclaiming loudly over many of the recipes.

This one is pretty simple.  You roast a bunch of asparagus and then buzz it in a food processor with pine nuts, lemon zest, garlic, balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and Parmesan cheese. 

What that picture can't convey is how good that combination smells!

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook up a bunch of penne, toss with the pesto and you're there. 

OK.  I cheated a little.  Partway into the recipe, I realized we didn't have any penne in the house.  But there was no way I was going to call my husband at work again (it would have been the fourth time in a single day - ridiculous) to ask him to bring some home.

So I substituted spaghetti and it worked beautifully!

Our friend Fiona was over for dinner.  As we all dug in, a hush fell over the table.  And that never happens when the three of us get together.  It was just that good!

(You can't say anything Michelle, you totally cheated on yours.  And I'm jealous.)

 

Asian Inspired Lettuce Soup

 

A recipe was included in last week's CSA basket for Asian Inspired Lettuce Soup.  It's really easy and a great way to use up the summer lettuces.

Just heat up a pan of stock, throw in chopped spring onion and bok choy.  Let it simmer for a few minutes and then add a head of roughly chopped lettuce (seriously - iceberg lettuce in soup!)

Garnish with fish sauce and sesame oil.  If you want a bit of heat, you can also add chili pepper flakes.

Spoon into bowls and away you go.

We tried it the other night, and I'm hooked!

Comfort Food Mondays - Homemade Ricotta

I. HAVE MADE. CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I feel mighty.  Yes, I feel invincible.  Yes, I will do it again.

I read this post on Thursday Night Smackdown and just knew I had to try it myself.

It couldn't be easier.  Just stir 4 parts whole milk and 1 part buttermilk together in a pan.  Heat it slowly (med-high heat), stirring until it starts to steam.  Then stop stirring until it reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  Skim off the curds into a cloth-lined stainer and you have CHEESE!

A few things to note:  nothing happens until the temperature is over 160 degrees.  So you'll be standing there thinking, "This isn't working.  What am I going to do with five cups of nasty-tasting hot milk?"

Stay calm.  It will work.

At 180 degrees, you can see a little separation.  But it's not really dramatic.  Have faith.  Using a slotted spoon or ladle, gently skim off the foam from the pan - it's about the consistency of shaving foam.  It's very delicate at this point.  Spoon it into the strainer and let the whey drain out.

Five or ten minutes later, it will have come together into a soft spreadable ricotta cheese.

At this point, the flavour is mild to the point of blandness.  Depending on what you're going to do with it, you can leave it as is, add some salt, some lemon zest or herbs.

Spread it on crackers, use it in a recipe, show it to everyone you know while marvelling at your own wonderfulness.

 

Halloumi!

One final task for the whey, before it was shipped off to feed the piggies.

The vat was heated again and when it was steaming hot, in went the wheels of halloumi (a mild, sheep-milk cheese) to be cooked.

Why cook the cheese, you ask?  Because a sort of magic happens when you do.

Halloumi, straight out of the package is a lot like mozzarella - mild, slightly chewy.  Good with crackers or in a salad.

But!  You can also heat it and it won't melt!  Which makes for all sorts of possibilities.

Dredge it in a bit of flour and fry it up in some good olive oil.  Salt and pepper, maybe some chili peppers.  Serve it on a bed of greens, or just pass it round to hungry guests while you put the finishing touches on dinner. 

Yummy, yummy cheese.

 

Photo from Allerina & Glen MacLarty's Flickrstream

 

Comfort Food Mondays - Asparagus

Asparagus season has begun here in Southern Ontario and I couldn't be happier!

We have a pretty definite routine with the asparagus in this house.  The first bunches are brought home with great fanfare.  Heck, this year, I even took pictures!

At the start of the season, we eat them steamed, with very little to dress them up.

As the season progresses, we move to dressing them in a light vinaigrette, to go on salad.  Then there's asparagus soup.  Asparagus ends chopped up and tossed with pasta.

One night, while Alan's at work, I will steam a few spears to serve with a soft-boiled egg, a la Nigella Lawson.  The mere thought of this dish makes Alan shudder, so I will enjoy it on my own.

I always know that asparagus season is winding down when I develop a craving for it with peanut sauce.  So good!  I'll share that recipe at a later date.

And, eventually comes the day that Alan unwraps a bunch and says, "This is the last of the asparagus."

And you know, by that point? I'm ready to give it up for another year.  It's a season that's just about perfect.

 

Comfort Food Mondays - Remoulade

We made a batch of remoulade for a recent potluck.  It's something we've been making and eating for years and so thought it was a fairly common dish.  But most of our guests didn't actually know what it was, poor things.

Remoulade is a salad made of shredded celeriac and mayonnaise.  Easy, tasty and oh, so good!

Celeriac is often called celery root, though that's not strictly true. Up until a few years ago, they'd show up at market with a good coating of dirt still on them - it helped to keep them fresh.  But of course, people didn't want to buy something big and filthy that they didn't know what to do with, so now they clean them. I assume sales are up.

To make Remoulade, peel and grate a small celeriac (use a food processor for this).

Make a batch of homemade* mayonnaise:

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Mix these together and then slowly drizzle in 1 cup extra virgin olive oil while whisking the mayonnaise.  This takes a bit of practice and feels a bit "rub your tummy and pat your head" at first.  But it's a skill worth perfecting.  A damp cloth under the bowl helps to keep it steady while whisking.

Mix the mayonnaise with the grated celeriac and leave refrigerated for a couple of hours for the flavours to meld.  Take it out of the fridge a half hour or so before serving to let it warm up a little.

How much remoulade can you get from a single celeriac?  You know how you can make enough cole slaw to feed an entire church picnic from one head of cabbage?  Celeriac is like that.  Apparently, before Mother Nature became a mum, she worked for a summer packing the take-out containers in a Chinese restaurant.

*Yes, you can use store-bought mayonnaise.  I just prefer homemade.

Comfort Food Mondays

My mother was an amazing cook, as I think I've mentioned.  Once or twice a week, she would get into the kitchen and bake up a huge number of breads and cakes and cookies - all from scratch and all the things that good memories are made of, including this wonderful recipe for "Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake", or as we called it, Porridge Cake.

Because it has oatmeal in it, we were allowed to have it for breakfast on days we just couldn't face a bowl of cereal.

Spoiled.  We were spoiled rotten...

Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

1/2 butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

Combine in a bowl and let stand covered 20 minutes.

Add:

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

Mix well and pour into a greased and floured 9" X 13" cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for  50 - 60 minutes.

While this is baking, mix together:

1/4 butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts

3/4 cup dried coconut

Spread over cake as soon as it is done baking and broil until frosting becomes bubbly.

Comfort Food Mondays - Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Darwin Bell's Flickr Stream

I think it was Sandra Boynton who described the perfect chocolate chip cookie as being "just enough dough to hold the chocolate chips together!" 

And this is what we have here - gooey, rich, over-the-top chocolatey.  Everything a cookie should be.

Alan has been making these for  nearly twenty years now.  One will satisfy all but the biggest chocolate craving.  Two will satisfy a world-class chocoholic.

I've never had more than two in one sitting, but I suspect that after the third one, you might just start to hallucinate...

Ingredients

1c 2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 egg

12 oz. chocolate chips

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add egg and mix till it's light and fluffy.  Add vanilla.

Mix together flour, soda, salt and chocolate chips.

Add dry ingredients to wet.  Mix until just blended.

Using an ice-cream scoop (or a tablespoon) drop onto a greased or parchment paper-lined cookie tray.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes.  Cookies should be a little crispy around the edges but not quite solid in the middle.

Cool on the trays for a few minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an air-tight container.  They also freeze well.

Enjoy!

Comfort Food Mondays - Souffle

My nieces came for lunch on Friday and Alan wanted to do something special for dessert.  And nothing says "special" like souffle!

Light, tasty and a lot less finicky than endless sitcoms would have you believe...

Ingredients

3 large eggs - separated

1/2 cup fruit puree (we used mango)

finely shredded zest of one small lime

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

Method

Whisk together the egg yolks, zest, fruit puree and lime juice.

In a separate, clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy.

Sprinkle in the sugar and whisk until they're the consistency of shaving cream.

Fold 1/3 of whisked whites into the egg/fruit mixture and then fold in the other 2/3.

Spoon into buttered, sugared ramekins.

*If you want to make them ahead, they can be frozen at this point and then baked just before serving.*

Bake at 400 degrees until they've risen and the tops have turned golden.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

Comfort Food Mondays - Cranberry and Orange Bread Pudding

Alan made this for a potluck a few weeks back - we had some bread left over from the market.  And then the potluck was cancelled due to the weather.  So we had to eat it all ourselves.....

Ingredients

3     c     Milk
3     lg    Eggs
¾    c     Sugar
½    t     Ground Cinnamon
1     t     Ground Cardamom (optional)
1     t     Vanilla Extract
             Zest from one Orange
2     T     Orange Brandy (optional)
1     loaf    Day Old Bread, cut into cubes
1     c     Dried Cranberries
2     T     Coarse Sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9” x 9” baking dish.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, spices, vanilla and orange zest.

Stir in the bread and cranberries.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (this allows the liquid to soak into the bread).

Pour the contents into the prepared dish and distribute evenly.  Sprinkle on the coarse sugar.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the eggs are set and the top is golden brown.

 

Comfort Food Mondays - The Big Salad

As promised, I'm back with another recipe. Two days late, but I don't see that as any reason to change the title...

I don't know how your winter's going, but mine seems to be an unending opportunity for rich, gooey, fatty foods.

First there was Christmas and New Years. Then we had Pancake Tuesday and Valentine's Day. Looking ahead, I see St. Patrick's Day and Easter. I'm not complaining, at all. But sometimes I just crave a great big crunchy salad.

If you're feeling the same way, haul out your biggest bowl. A mixing bowl works just fine if you don't have a dedicated salad bowl.

Pick up a bunch of fresh mixed greens from the market. To make them go further, you can mix in some chopped up romaine or iceberg lettuce. Then just open up the fridge and see what you've got.

We like to grate up carrot, beets, daikon if it's there. Chopped up cabbage works, too. Sliced red onion if you like it. Celery and peppers, too.

Then look through your supply of dried fruit - raisins, currants, cranberries. Sundried tomatoes.

Nuts and seeds work well, too. Sunflower seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, cashews.

Diced or grated apple adds a nice flavour. As do clementine segments.

Just keep adding crunchy, healthy yummy ingredients until the bowl is full.

We don't use store-bought dressing. It's just so easy to make your own.

It's just two parts extra-virgin olive oil to one part red wine or balsamic vinegar. Or you could use lemon juice, if you prefer. A teaspoon of Dijon or grainy mustard. For a bit of mellow richness, add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix it up and pour it over your salad just before serving. Toss well and eat it all up, knowing that you're doing yourself a whole lot of good!

Comfort Food Mondays - Braised Short Ribs

We've been hit with a lot of snow and bitter cold in the last couple of days.  To my mind, a good braised dinner is the best way to deal with it.

Alan brought home some beef short ribs from the market on Saturday, and a bottle of Bright's house wine (red).  Before his nap, he went into the kitchen and got busy.

He softened a medium-sized onion, sliced up a couple of carrots and added them to the pan.  When the onions were good and soft, he transferred them to a casserole dish.  Turned up the heat on the frying pan and put in the short ribs to sear on all sides.  They were then transferred to the casserole dish.  He poured the fat out of the pan and deglazed it with the red wine.

This was added to the dish, along with some tomato sauce and more red wine (you want to cover the ribs).  He covered the dish with foil, put it into a 300 degree oven and went to bed.

I spent the rest of the afternoon pacing and drooling.  It just smelled so good!

Four hours later, they were done.  I lit some candles and poured some wine (the good stuff, not the cooking wine). 

Alan made mashed potatoes and some sauteed spinach to go with it and, oh, MY IT WAS GOOD!!!!!  The meat was so soft and sweet -just falling off the bone.  The sauteed greens added a nice bit of crunch.  The wine disappeared and we almost didn't mind about the snow.

Till it made us cancel the next night's potluck, but that's a story for another day...

A word about the sauce: chef says you have three choices.  You can spoon it out as is with the ribs (yummy and chunky).  You can buzz it up in the blender (yummy and thick).  Or you can strain it into a pan and boil it until it thickens and the flavours concentrate a little more (yummy and clear).  Your choice.

Following Laurie's suggestion at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, I'm entering this recipe in the Swirling Notions Braisy Chain - a roundup of favourite Braising Recipes.

Check out the link and join the chain!

Comfort Food Monday - Pancakes

Light and fluffy pancakes, just in time for Shrove Tuesday!

Ingredients

2 c All-Purpose Flour
4 t Sugar
1 t Salt
1 t Baking Powder
½ t Baking Soda
1-1/2 c Buttermilk
½ c Milk
2 lg Eggs
4 T Unsalted Butter, melted
Extra Butter for the pan

Method

Whisk the dry ingredients together.
In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a wooden spoon. Don’t overmix, just enough to combine the ingredients – just as you would for muffins. A couple of lumps are okay.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, swirl in a tablespoon of butter. Scoop in two big soupspoons of batter for each pancake. Don’t overcrowd the pan. Gently turn over each pancake as a couple of bubbles form on the surface. Cook each pancake until the centre of each is firm to the touch.

Variations

For blueberry pancakes, drop a few blueberries onto the wet batter after spooning the batter into the pan. Cook as above.
For whole wheat or spelt pancakes, substitute one cup of desired flour for the all-purpose flour and proceed as above.
You can also stir in finely chopped, toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc) to the dry ingredients and proceed as above.


Blueberry Sauce

Add two cups of fresh or frozen blueberries (wild blueberries, if you can get them) to a small saucepan and cover with about ½ a cup of honey (no need to measure, you can eyeball it – a little more is okay). Sprinkle in ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom or ground cinnamon. Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the mixture is gently bubbling. The juice from the berries will thin the honey and make a nice sauce.
You can use just about any berry, cherry or other soft fruit to make this sauce.

Of course, these taste great when served with good, smokey bacon.

Comfort Food Monday: Super-Easy Chocolate Cake

Does anything say comfort like chocolate?

Alan made this when we had company the other night. The apartment smelled sweet for two days.

Ingredients

3 c Sifted Cake Flour (All-Purpose will do it it’s all you’ve got)
2 c Sugar
½ c Cocoa Powder
½ t Salt
1 T Baking Soda
2 lg Eggs, beaten
1 c Buttermilk (or Sour Milk – see note)
1 c Vegetable Oil (or melted butter)
1 c Hot Water
1 T Vanilla

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9” x 13” baking pan.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and cocoa powder.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs, buttermilk and oil/butter. Mix together very well (you can use a spoon, whisk or electric beaters).
Stir in the hot water and vanilla and beat well. (Relax; you can’t overmix this.)
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Notes

If you don’t have buttermilk, make sour milk by putting two tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a cup and topping up with milk.
If you want, you can add any of the following to the batter: dried cherries or cranberries, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and/or finely grated carrot.

Comfort Food Monday - Mac and Cheese

We've been doing some work on the house. It involves heavy lifting, so by the end of the day, we're really hungry.

Alan made this for dinner awhile back. It's hearty, rich and satisfying. One bite, and I was ready to renew my wedding vows - it's just THAT GOOD!

We did agree that the next time he makes it, instead of thickening it with roux (the flour and milk mixture) he'll use cream. While the flour holds up well the first time, it tends to separate on reheating.

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

½ c Sundried Tomatoes, cut into strips
4 T Unsalted Butter
2 med Onions, peeled and chopped
1 c Cauliflower or Broccoli, cut into small pieces
3 T All-Purpose Flour
3-1/2 c Milk
½ t Salt, or to taste
½ t Fresh Ground Pepper
½ lb Penne or Elbow Macaroni
4 oz Provolone Cheese, grated
2 oz Good Quality Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
12 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 c Leftover Ham, diced
6-8 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme, leaves removed from the stems and stems discarded

Method

Butter an 8” x 8” oven-proof dish and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place a large skillet over medium heat and cook the onions, tomatoes and cauliflower/broccoli in the butter - with the cover on - until the onions are soft (about 5-7 minutes).
Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook for two minutes more. Stir in the milk, add the salt and pepper and the thyme. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for about ten minutes. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions until almost cooked. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add the milk mixture, the ham and all the cheese except for half of the cheddar. Stir well and transfer to the buttered dish.
Cover the dish and bake for 25 minutes. Then remove the cover and sprinkle the remaining cheddar overtop and bake for ten minutes more.
Serve immediately with a salad of mixed greens.

Serves 4-6.

Comfort Food Monday

We have a guest blogger today!

Tijen from Zen in the Kitchen submitted this for Comfort Food Monday. It looks so yummy! I'm thinking with pre-dinner drinks, or possibly at the end of a meal....



I have colorful memories from the Bodrum Farmers' Market. I lived in Bodrum (a coastal town on the Aegean region of Turkey) for about two years and visiting the weekly market (was on Friday) was one of the most thrilling things to do. I always love the variety of the goods and the amazing people (mostly women) who bring them to the market. Usually it is something from the garden or something they made just that morning, or a day earlier.

These figs are among the many things I used to buy from the market. From Elif Ana, an elderly woman, very funny, very chatty, who was one of the most successful sellers in the marketplace. I could never forget the flat breads she used to bake. Bread with olives and nettle! So tasty! Each week, she would beg me to buy figs as well, baked with sesame seeds and almonds. She was so smart to offer one to taste, she knew I would not resist after that tasting that sweetness.

It is easy to make these figs. All you need is good dried figs, some sesame seeds and almonds. You open figs from the bottom, but don't separate. Dip them in sesame, both sides. You put an almond on one side and close the other side, as if they've never been opened. Then put them on baking paper and bake at about 170C (350F) for 10 minutes. Let them cool. You can keep them for a while in a glass jar. It would make a good gift as well! (Recently, I saw similar figs at Arthur Avenue Market in the Italian neighborhood, Bronx, NY. Have you seen these figs in other countries too?)

Thank you so much Tijen!

If you have a recipe you'd like to submit for Comfort Food Mondays, please email me!

Comfort Food Monday - Noodle Night

In our house, pasta counts as Fast Food. On busy days, or days when we're more tired than we thought we'd be and we want a quick and tasty meal, we boil a pot of water and declare it Noodle Night. It's quicker, tastier and cheaper than any pizza or burger and fries meal could possibly be. And, depending what we add to the dish, it's anything from not bad for you to downright nutritious.

The simplest noodle night consists of a big bowl of pasta, tossed with some good-quality olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese (the real thing, of course) and some fresh-cracked pepper. Obviously somewhat lacking in vegetable matter, but just the thing after one of those days.

Moving up the complexity scale, we will add some chili pepper flakes and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Yummy.

On days when we actually have a bit of strength left, we will add whatever vegetation we can find in the fridge. Broccoli is easy. Cut it into florets and toss it in with the pasta in the last minute of cooking. Serve with the olive oil/chili pepper flake/lemon juice combination.

Last night we had my sister and her family over for dinner. We'd all had quite the holiday season and were in need of something simple. Alan put the water on to boil, diced up some pancetta and halved a bunch of cherry tomatoes. The pancetta cooked while the pasta was cooking(in a separate pan). He added the tomatoes at the last minute, tossed in the cooked, drained pasta and added pepper to taste. A bowl of freshly-grated parmesan cheese and some good fresh bread. Yummy, easy and cheap. Comfort food at its best!