Pasta with Spinach and Lemon Cream

Here in Redlands we have an abundance of citrus. At the height of lemon season it is not uncommon to have people begging you to take some of their lemons. When a Kansas City friend said she had a great, easy recipe featuring lemons I was all over it.  This has become a staple on busy work nights. Five ingredients to a delicious, healthy dinner. I use Barilla fortified pasta, we have sampled many pastas over the years and this is our families favorite. Sometimes I grill a chicken breast, slice it up, and then mix it in when adding the spinach.

Ingredients:
1 Box Barilla Plus, 11 oz.
4 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cup sour cream
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
3 cups spinach-eyeball it. I normally use more.

*Bring water to boil and cook pasta.
*Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, sour cream, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.  
*When noodles are done drain and pour into sour cream mixture. Add spinach and mix until completely covered. You can serve this hot or cold. Feeds 6.

Korean Style Chicken and Green Bean Salad

 I invited Pete to take a walk with me last night for Kimchi. What is Kimchi and why did we walk to get it? Well, I had a new exotic recipe and it called for Kimchi, a spicy pickled cabbage that I hear is used like ketchup in Korea. I'm always game for a new recipe, seems like the farther out there the better, especially if I have a notion that it's healthy for us. We have a new Asian Market within walking distance, so I thought we would get our evening walk in and pick up this new and adventurous ingredient at the same time. I've been at this cooking game long enough that I normally have an idea as to the recipes outcome. The following recipe could have gone either way, but I was pleasantly surprised. This recipe is served cold, which is nice when the temperatures soar to oven heights. This recipe came from the most recent issue of Sunset Magazine, with my usual adjustments to suit our taste.

Korean Style Chicken and Green Bean Salad

1 lb. Fresh green beans

2 Tbl. spicy kimchi juice (from the jar), plus 1 cup chopped kimchi

½ tsp. Salt

1-2 Tbl. Asian chili paste

3 Tbl. canola oil

2 tsp. Rice vinegar

1large, skinless, boneless chicken breast, cooked, shredded, and cooled

1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half

½ cup roughly chopped cilantro

1. Blanche green beans, drain, set aside to cool.
2. In small bowl, whisk together oil, kimchi juice, salt, chili paste, and vinegar.
3. Place beans, chicken, chopped kimchi, tomatoes, and cilantro in a bowl. Gently toss with dressing.

For side dish serves 4. For main dish serves 2. As best I can tell, there is about 800 calories in this whole dish. So two servings is 400 calories or less each. 

Soft Ripples

It was a hard week. It started with some small stuff and then crescendoed into a major shit storm...then the dam burst. It felt as though something primordeal had been laying dormant within me and the time had come for it to make its presence known. I started screaming, gut wrenching, fist pounding, gasping for breath, screaming. It was surreal, hypnotic. Emotionally raw, ugly. I thought, for just a moment, that I might never stop screaming. I'm not sure how much time passed, but I did stop.

How long have I been fighting? I'm tired. I'm thouroughly and utterly exhausted.

As I lay on my bed spent, a bubble of thought arose:

I will stop fighting and let the waves wash over me like soft ripples.

I will stop fighting

I will let the waves wash over me

just

soft

ripples

and this is how I will step into my next chapter.

Spaghetti Squash with Greek Meatballs/ Swiss Chard with Bacon and Cannellini Beans

 I am always looking for new and innovative ways to use vegetables. Here are a couple of recipes that I have made in the last week using spaghetti squash and one that used up a big bunch of swiss chard that I had in the refrigerator. I have been cooking so many ethnic recipes lately that I decided to take a southern, homecooked meal approach to the swiss chard. The squash definitely would fall on the ethnic side of the menu though. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the squash and meatballs, but both Pete and I enjoyed these recipes. Bon Apetit!

Spaghetti Squash with Greek Meatballs (Meatball recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients

Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef (I used ground buffalo)

1 cup cooked and cooled couscous (I used whole wheat couscous)

3 scallions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 egg, at room temperature, beaten

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons dried mint (I cut the mint in half)

1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sauce:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 (25-ounce) jar marinara sauce

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

For the meatballs: In a large bowl, mix together the lamb, couscous, scallions, garlic, egg, parsley, olive oil, mint, oregano, salt, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. Form the mixture into 15 to 16 (2-inch diameter) meatballs.

For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. Add the marinara sauce, cinnamon sticks, and ground cinnamon. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, turning occasionally, until the meatballs are cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Discard the cinnamon sticks.

Squash:

I whole spaghetti squash

Directions

Cut in half and hollow out the pulp. Place the squash in pan cut side down with a layer of water on the bottom of the pan. Cook in oven at 350 until tender, about 45 minutes. Once cooked use a large spoon to scoop out the squash and place in large bowl. Serve with meatballs and sauce on top of squash. I served this with a green salad and bread on side.

(Serves 4-6)

Swiss Chard with Bacon and Cannellini Beans/ Corn Muffins on the Side

Ingredients

Swiss Chard Mixture:

1 Tbl olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

1 large bunch of swiss chard

1 Tbl. Bragg's cider vinegar

1 Tbl. real maple syrup

½ tsp red pepper

1/3 cup water

4 pieces turkey bacon

1 can cannellini white beans, drained

1 package of corn muffin mix

Cook turkey bacon in a cast iron skillet. Remove and shred into bite size pieces, set aside. Leave fat in skillet and add onion, cook until soft. Add olive oil, water, and greens to the pan. After the greens cook down add the syrup, pepper, and vinegar. Mix well then add beans and bacon.

To make corn muffins follow package directions. I like to mix jalapenos into my muffins.

After the beans are heated through serve on top of corn muffins.

(Serves 2)