One Pot Pasta

It's ALL the rage - short quick videos of recipes, and even better - make your meal in one pot! No pesky additional pots to clean!

I've done it. A pasta purist would probably cringe, as I poured dried pasta on top of cooked vegetables and chicken, and added barely enough water to cover, let it come to a boil, then drain off my excess liquid, add cream and cheese, and voila, dinner.  But hey, I only had to clean one (massive) pot and I kinda like the result.

This recipe is adapted from Tasty's One Pot Cajun Pasta to my tastes because I don't like spicy food.  Never feel beholden to a recipe word for word - I adapted the recipe to my needs.  Also because I don't really like bell peppers.

only the finest of dinnerware, from the dixie collection

One Pot Pasta adapted from Tasty's One Pot Cajun Pasta

Serves approximately four.

Ingredients:

• One chicken breast, cubed (cut it as small as you'd like)
• 8 ounces of mushrooms (I use crimini)
• Half of a medium onion, sliced and sliced in half again
• Any other vegetable you'd like to throw in (pictured is kale because it was on sale, but I also recommend asparagus, or you can use bell peppers)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 8 oz pasta (cavatappi pictured)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1.5 cups water
• 0.5 cups cream (I use half and half)
• 1/2-2/3 cup of parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Dried oregano

Directions:

1. Using a large pot (I have a 4.5 quart Le Creuset) warm up the pot on the stove.
2. With one teaspoon of oil, cook mushrooms and onions together until browned. Remove from pot.
3. Throw in vegetables and brown (or if using kale, until wilted), and remove from pot
4. With a teaspoon of oil, add garlic.  Add chicken. Season with salt, pepper and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano.  Cook until no longer pink-ish.
5. Re-add all vegetables to the pot.
6. Add pasta.
7. Add chicken broth and water.  (add enough to only just cover the pasta. Do not submerge the pasta. That is too much liquid.)  Try to scrape the bottom of the pot.  
8. Cover and bring to a boil.  Stir for as long as it takes pasta to cook (cavatappi took 12 minutes.)  Liquid should reduce as you stir.
9. Remove excess broth with a ladle - you want it to be slightly wet but not overly wet, if that makes sense.  There should be about 1/4th cup of liquid left in the pot.  The excess broth should be delicious.
10. Add cream (or half and half) and stir in.
11. Add parmesan cheese slowly and stir to combine. Continue adding until sauce thickens.  It should start getting cheesy gooey stringy but not quite mac and cheese gooey.  
12. Serve!

Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers

Healthy eating isn't easy.

Heck, I'm not even sure how "healthy" this recipe is, but it does have black beans, which are a good source of fiber.  And mushrooms do have some health benefits, but not as many as say a nice leafy, green vegetable.  However, this recipe is vegetarian (heck, vegan even if you get the right beans and vegan bread) and if you're looking to cut back on your meat consumption but still enjoy a burger every now and again, this recipe is a very good substitute.

I won't however, replace burgers in my overall diet.  I still like meat.  A lot.  I'm just very careful about the consumption of beef, in particular the serving size.

The original recipe uses a food processor.  I'm here to tell you  it's not necessary, but very helpful.  So if you don't have a food processor within easy reach, just give yourself a little extra time to crumble the bread.

The overall taste is really good - it doesn't taste chalky, it has flavor, and it's way better than any veggie burger you buy frozen and microwave.  It also isn't difficult to make, and when picking black beans, pick a can that has a low amount of sodium - always watch your salt intake!  A huge plus - this "patty" doesn't shrink at all while cooking - yay!

Yes, it remained deliciously large.

Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers, courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker.
Makes 4 burgers.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil (I used olive oil) plus more for brushing
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, lightly toasted (I used two slices whole grain white bread, plus one double fiber Orowheat English Muffin because I needed to use them up!)
• 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (always rinse the beans to get them clean)
• 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• English muffins, pita pockets, or buns, to serve.
• Salsa, sour cream, other items you like on your "burgers" to serve.

Directions:

1.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add the oil and add the onion.  Cook 3-4 minutes, or until golden.

2.  Add the mushrooms, garlic, cumin and paprika.  Stir and cook until the mushrooms have released their juices, about 6-7 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3.  ORIGINAL RECIPE DIRECTIONS:  Tear toasted bread and place in food processor.  Process until broken down into crumbs.  Pour the crumbs into a medium sized bowl (mixing bowls are a good idea.)  Add the mushroom mixture and beans to the food processor, pulse until combined but not smooth - leave some chunky bits.  Add to bowl with bread crumbs, add the cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

3a.  MY WAY:  Tear the toasted bread into smaller pieces and continue tearing down until crumb like in a medium sized mixing bowl.  When bread pieces get too small to tear, rub the pieces between your hands to promote crumbling.  Pour black beans into a small bowl, and using a fork, smash the beans.  (You must use a fork.  Do not use a spoon - believe me, they don't smash.)  Add beans to the bread crumbs.  Add the mushroom mixture, cheese, and season with a little salt and pepper.  (If your beans have a lot of sodium, I'd ease up on the salt.)  You might not think the mixture will combine, but it actually comes together very well.  I thought I would need an egg to promote mixing, but it wasn't needed!  It's probably due to the fresh bread - do not take the shortcut of using dried bread crumbs.

4.  Combine the mixture and divide into four portions.  Create four patties with moist hands (or gloves, like me.)  Lightly brush each side with canola oil.  (I wound up greasing the skillet, and then spraying each side with cooking spray.)  

5.  In a skillet over medium heat, cook each patty for 5-6 minutes per side.

My T-Fal skillet is awesome because I found one made in France!

6.  Serve on toasted English muffins, buns, pitas, however you want to eat them (or just eat them as a patty!)  Serve with your favorite burger fixins.

I'll take a side of Kettle Potato Chips.

Sauteed Mushrooms over Pasta

Once again, this is another dish inspired by the sales at the grocery store.

My local grocery store, Safeway, has a club card where you can load deals to your card.  One of my deals was an 8 ounce package of mushrooms for 1.59.  

Last week, the same package of mushrooms was on sale for Buy One, Get One Free - meaning I purchased two 8 ounce containers of mushrooms for only 1.59, or 0.80 each.  HOT deal.

I love mushrooms, and when I saw the recipe for sauteed mushrooms pop up on Lucinda Scala Quinn's blog, I promptly saved it to make over pasta, as I waited for a mushroom sale.

I always buy the whole mushrooms - the pre-sliced mushrooms are too thick for my liking, and I'm such a control freak in the kitchen, I'd rather slice my own mushrooms.  The mushrooms were pre-washed, but you certainly can wash them again.  I'm not a fan of washing mushrooms, as I rinse and then wipe the dirt off each mushroom - it took FOREVER with a container of crimini mushrooms and I'm not eager to repeat the experience. 

My small changes:

1.  I used half and half instead of heavy cream.  Fat free, too.  Calories, people.

2.  I usually do not have wine on hand.  Instead, I squeezed an entire lemon into the mushrooms I sliced.

3.  I halved the recipe.  So yes, I used 1 whole lemon instead of only 1/4th of a lemon for juice.  But I actually liked the intense lemon flavor, and the lemon didn't seem extremely juicy in the first place.

If you make this dish on it's own, slice the mushrooms slightly thicker than I did.

I need to use smaller dishes in my photos.

Sauteed Mushrooms over Pasta, by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 lemon
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• Splash white wine (or extra lemon, like I did)
• 1/4 cup cream (or half and half)
• 3 tablespoons grated cheese (I used Parmesan)

Directions:

1.  Submerge mushrooms in cold water, swish around to wash thoroughly, and drain.  Trim the ends, slice and place in a large bowl.  Squeeze the juice of half a lemon (this is where I used the whole) over the mushrooms and toss.

2.  Heat olive oil in a large pan, and cook garlic until lightly brown, about 30 seconds, over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, stir, and cover.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for four minutes.

3.  Remove the lid, add salt and pepper, and cook, stirring until moisture has evaporated and mushrooms brown, about five minutes.  

4.  If continuing on to make it as a sauce, do not cook off all the liquid if you are not adding a splash of wine.  Leave a small amount in the pan, add the cream, and the cheese.  Stir to combine until it thickens.

5.  Stir in parsley (I used dried parsley, don't hurt me.)  Stir in cooked pasta and serve.

Pasta Primavera

It's SPRING!  The sun is shining (here at least), we had temps in the upper 70's and 80's last week, and the first trickle of vegetables on sale at the grocery store has finally begun.

This week I noticed:
Asparagus - $0.97/pound
Green beans - $0.99/pound
Zucchini - $1.00/pound

I even lucked out with the peas - I was scouring the frozen food aisle, and I was about to reach for the Green Giant peas for $2.00 a box, when I noticed the Safeway brand organic peas were also $2.00.  I have noticed I will go for the organic anything now when it's a good deal, so, for me, this was a great find!

These three, beautiful green vegetables are big parts of a pasta dish I found from Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen recently - pasta primavera!  (If you do not subscribe to ATK's Notes from the Test Kitchen, I highly recommend it!)

I didn't have any problems making this recipe - I just found it takes a lot of time.  I tried to do a lot of things at once - boiling water, prepping vegetables, boiling pasta, but I couldn't time everything together well.  I only made two major changes - I halved the recipe, and instead of heavy cream, I used half and half.  The flavor mavens may be angry at me, but it was what I had in the fridge, and I wanted to lighten the recipe a smidge.

The taste?  Loved it.  I love all the vegetables used in this dish (except maybe the peas, I bet I could have cut the amount of peas in half again) and I managed to season it perfectly during the salt additions.  Mr. Unoriginal Chef saw me plating the dish to photograph and he demanded it for his dinner.

Of course, he only ate it after I picked out all the icky green stuff he didn't like - meaning the peas, the green beans, and the asparagus.  Men.  I deliberately left some peas and green beans in there to make him eat something healthy.

Make this once you start getting your CSA boxes this summer!  Or when you find a great sale at the grocery store like me!

Pasta Primavera from Cook's Illustrated, August 2004

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces green beans, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• 12 medium asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off (just bend the asparagus, it will break where it needs to be broken), halved lengthwise and cut diagonally into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
• 4 large plum tomatoes (about 1 pound), peeled, cored and chopped medium
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) (I did not add this)
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound dried egg fettucine (I used whole wheat linguini)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup shredded basil leaves (whoops, I forgot this)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I used a whole lemon and squeezed until the proper taste)
• Grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1.  Boil water for pasta in large pot.  In a second pot, bring water to boil for green vegetables; add 1 tablespoon salt.  

2.  Fill a large bowl with ice water, set aside.

3.  Add green beans to boiling water in smaller pot, cook for 1 1/2 minutes.  Add asparagus, cook for 30 seconds.  Add zucchini, cook for 30 seconds.  Add peas, cook for 30 seconds.  Drain vegetables and dunk into ice water.  Let sit until chilled, about 3 minutes, and drain.  Set aside.

4.  Heat 3 tablespoons butter over medium high heat until foamy in the same pot you used to boil the vegetables.  Add mushrooms, and saute until brown, about 8-10 minutes.  Add tomatoes and red pepper flakes, if using.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until tomatoes begin to lose their shape, about 7 minutes. Add cream and stir until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.  Cover to keep warm and set aside.

5.  Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the pasta water and cook pasta until al dente.

6.  While the pasta is cooking, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan or skillet.  Heat until foamy.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly colored, about 1 minute.  Add blanched vegetables and cook until heated through and infused with garlic flavor, about 2 minutes.  Season with salt to taste, set aside.

7.  Bring mushroom/tomato sauce back to medium heat.

8.  Drain pasta and return to large pot.  (I didn't do this, since I had cooked my pasta way in advance.  I actually put the pasta into the large skillet with my vegetables.  It worked, just a lot of stirring.)  Add mushroom/tomato sauce, and stir to combine over low heat.  Squeeze lemon juice over pasta, and season with salt to taste.

Serve immediately with grated cheese on top.

Up close and personal with the vegetables!  Eat your veggies!  It should be easy with this dish!

Mushroom and Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

I think I've set a new record for cooking recipes out of one issue of a magazine:

Two.

I know, I aim high.

This is the second recipe from the January/February 2011 issue of Everyday Food.  My first recipe was the turkey chili, which was delicious.  EDF, would you fail me now?

Today's recipe is the Mushroom and Black Bean Tortilla Casserole, which is from their week of dinners section of the magazine.  It seemed easy enough, and the ingredients aren't outlandish, and lo and behold, I have lunch for the week.

My only possible suggestion for this recipe is to omit the cayenne if you can't handle spice.  When I first tasted the casserole, it was HOT.  I bought mild salsa, but the cayenne gave it some extra kick.  If you don't like spice, make sure you purchase the mildest salsa there!  I bought Pace Picante's mild because it was on sale.

My biggest peeve about this recipe is it doesn't specify what size tortillas to buy.  It says "corn" so I assumed taco sized, but I kept worrying I wouldn't have enough tortillas, so I bought a pack of 18 tortillas.  It turned out I really only needed the 8 tortillas, so I have to find something to do with the remaining 10.  Enchiladas? 

Definitely rinse the black beans - it gets rid of that funky can smell.  Also remember to warm the tortillas, as it helps to soften them during baking.  You can warm them by microwaving them inbetween paper towels for 20 seconds.

Verdict:  Great taste, even it was a bit spicy.  However, the next day, the fire died down considerably, so if you're freezing or eating it over the course of a week, don't worry if it's too hot for you initially.  When I first pulled it out of the oven, I pulled a slice out to photograph and then put aside for lunch today, but I took a few sample bites.  And then a few more sample bites.  And then a sample bite out of another piece stil in the pan.  It is GOOD.  It comes together quickly, so if you need a fast meal on a weeknight, paired with some salad, it's a great meatless option.

My favorite part is definitely the mushrooms.  You can't go wrong with mushrooms. 

Casseroles, no matter what you do, do not photograph that well.

Mushroom and Black Bean Tortilla Casserole, Everyday Food, January/February 2011

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 3/4 pound cremini or white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered (I used 1/2 pound of cremini, which happened to be on sale!  Score!)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 corn tortillas, halved and warmed
• 2 cups salsa
• 4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded.  (I couldn't find it at the grocery store, so I used a mixture of shredded cheddar and jack)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  In a large skillet, heat olive oil.  Add mushrooms, and stir until soft, about 7 minutes.  Add cayenne and garlic; season with salt and pepper.

3.  Add black beans to the skillet; stir to combine.  Continue stirring until heated through, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat. 

4.  Arrange 5 tortilla halves on the bottom of a 2 quart baking pan.  (I used a 8x8 pyrex.)  I arranged the tortillas so the cut sides were along the edges of the pan, and then laid the fifth half in the middle.  Top with half of the bean mixture, and a 1/2 cup of salsa (I used a tablespoon and spooned out 8 tablespoons and a bit, which is 1/2 cup.)  Top with 1/3rd of the cheese.  Repeat with another layer.  Top with remaining tortilla, salsa, and cheese.

I hope this makes sense!

5.  Cover with foil and bake until center is hot and cheese melts, about 10-15 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until cheese bubbles, about 5 minutes.  Be careful!  Cheese burns quickly!

Enjoy the layers.