Pasta with Salmon and Broccoli

Oh boy, do I have a recipe for you all today.  Last week, I had my graduation party at Wildfire with my family.  Wildfire is the place for parties with my family.  We have pretty much every big party there, and people always leave happy.  It's a three course meal served family style.  The best part is that you get to take all the leftovers home with you.  Hello, best week of leftovers ever.

Admittedly, though, the leftovers get a bit old after the third or fourth day.  This last party, we ended up with four large pieces of cedar planked salmon that none of us wanted to eat.  Instead of wasting the salmon, I came up with a simple pasta recipe to use up the last of our leftovers.

The recipe includes how to make the cedar planked salmon, and then mostly unnecessary directions for the other ingredients.  Because clearly you all need to be told how to boil pasta.

I ate this hot and cold.  Both ways are pretty fantastic, but I would recommend the cold for the summer months.  Serve it with a side salad, fruit and you have a wonderful summer meal!

Pasta with Salmon and Broccoli

Ingredients:


Cedar Planked Salmon: 


4 salmon filets
4 cedar planks for grill
olive oil
1 tsp salmon rub per filet
1 tsp glaze per filet


For the salmon rub:


1 tbsp paprkia
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin


For salmon glaze:


6 oz dark brown sugar
4 oz unsalted butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup dijon mustard


For the pasta:


1/2 lb whole wheat rotini
1 cup roasted broccoli


Directions:


For the salmon glaze, combine the dark brown sugar and butter in a sauce pan and heat until caramelized.  Stir in the soy sauce and dijon mustard.  Set aside.


For the salmon, soak the cedar planks for 30 minutes.  Season the filets with the rub, using 1/2 tsp for each side.  Put 1 tsp of glaze on the top of the filets.  Place the soaked planks in a heated grill and close the lid.  Turn the planks every two minutes, heating both sides.  Add the salmon and cook for 10-12 minutes.


Flake the salmon into cooked pasta.  Add roasted broccoli.  

Source:  Original Wildfire Recipe

Rotini with Eggplant and Sausage

Ever have one of those days when you just need some pasta?

I'm generally all for eating healthy.  I like my fruits and vegetables.  I think kale is the bee's knees.  Sometimes, though, you have a day that requires it ending with a large amount of carbs.  Preferably accompanied by some wine.

Last week I had one of those days.  I was feeling under the weather and had trudged through a long day at work.  When I got home I wanted something quick and substantial for dinner.  My go-to quick dinner is a large salad (with all the refrigerator fixings) but this was not a salad night.  I needed something different.  I needed some pasta.

I make something like this pretty often.  I boil up some pasta and then throw in whatever vegetables I have on hand.  Pretty much any vegetable will work in this.  It's also good with a little marinara sauce thrown in.

Rotini with Eggplant and Sausage

Ingredients:


Pasta
Sausage (I used pre-cooked sun-dried tomato and basil chicken sausage)
Eggplant
olive oil
parmesan cheese
salt/pepper


Directions:


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice and chop the eggplant and drizzle with oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast the eggplant for 20-25 minutes.


Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package instructions.  


Combine the pasta with eggplant, cooked sausage and parmesan cheese.  

Pumpkin Ravioli with Fried Sage and Almonds

This week I nearly set off my fire alarm three times. I burned so many things Tuesday night that I actually barred myself from my kitchen. Browning butter was to blame for most of my frustration this week. For some reason, it burnt every single time I tried. They're not lying when you say you have to watch it the entire time. I stepped away for one second and it burnt to a black crisp, making me spastically wave a potholder under the fire alarm.

Can you just imagine if my fire alarm went off and I had to be like: Sorry guys, my browning butter took a turn for the worse.

Miraculously, I still have some fabulous recipes to come from this week's cooking. Tuesday night I made a ravioli dish that I could literally eat every night of the week. But then I wouldn't be able to fit through revolving doors. I bought pumpkin ravioli from a small Italian shoppe called L'Appetito back in October when I was hoarding all things orange and gourdy. I knew what I wanted to do with them but always settled on a different dish when it came time to actually cooking. When I was at Whole Foods this week, though, I found some fresh sage and decided that I would finally use my overpriced seasonal ravioli.

Al dente ravioli filled with ricotta, pumpkin and parmesan is paired with crisp fried sage and pan-roasted almonds. It is finished off with a slurry of extra virgin olive oil. I want this served at my birthday, wedding, and funeral. I also would like an endless supply in the afterlife. Please and thank you.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Fried Sage and Almonds

Ingredients:

1 lb store bought pumpkin ravioli

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/8 cup olive oil, plus 1 tsp

1/3 cup sage leaves, chopped

Directions:

Boil the ravioli according the package instruction, roughly 12-15 minutes. In a dry skillet, saute the almonds until fragrant, roughly 5 minutes. Heat 1/8 cup of olive oil in the skillet and add the chopped sage leaves. Fry until crisp and remove to a paper towel covered plate. When the ravioli is finished remove to a serving bowl and add the fried sage and almonds. Finish with the 1 tsp of olive oil.

Pasta with Squash and Honey Cinnamon Compote Butter

How was everyone's Halloween?!

Did you all dress up? I was planning on being a homicidal housewife but when I heard that the fake blood could stain my dress I very quickly dropped the homicidal and added a spoon to my apron pocket. Voila! 1950's housewife!

Friday night I went to an event on campus and then Saturday night was my very first bar crawl. That's going in the baby book. I learned a lot of things about bar crawls that night. First off, it is unbelievably crowded, which leads to a lot of unintentional touching. The food goes in about five minutes; which is unfortunate for those who get there after ten. And finally, if you have a wooden spoon in your pocket people will try to take it--especially people you don't know.

It was a really fun weekend, though, even with the crowds and spoon-snatchers. It was my first Halloween in the city and I'm looking forward to many more.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take any pictures and my one friend who did is hoarding them on her camera. You will see them eventually. At this rate, next Halloween.

Another thing that made this weekend (and Monday) wonderful was all the fantastic I'm-going-to-regret-this-in-the-morning food. There was the pumpkin cupcake on Friday. The cheeseburger and french fries at one in the morning Sunday. And then yesterday, all the fun size candy that I could shove in my mouth. I'm ready to get a little green in my diet that isn't a jello shot.

Save that for next weekend.

Pasta with Squash and Honey Cinnamon Compote Butter

Ingredients:

1 lb pasta

1 butternut squash

1 cup broccoli

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp honey

1 tsp honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and slice the squash into bite size pieces.

In a small ramekin, melt the butter and honey. Add the cinnamon and mix together. Pour evenly over the squash. Roast for 25-30 minutes, turning over halfway through.

On a separate baking sheet, pour broccoli and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar over broccoli. Roast for 15-20 minutes either with the squash or afterwards.

Boil pasta according to instructions. Add the squash and broccoli.

Summer Pasta Salad

Warm weather is finally here and just like that, summer Liz emerges with all her new, summer behavior.

Iced coffee

A hair drier break-up

Sorry Conair, it's you not me.

Fruit OD

Cute sandals that give me blisters yet I still wear due to said cuteness

Sunglasses Tan Lines

Welcome back, Summer. It's been a while.

Summer Pasta Salad

1/2 cup whole wheat pastsa

1/4 cup roasted peppers

1/4 cup black olives

1/2 cup basil (loosely packed)

1/2 cup cannelini or garbanzo beans

1/4 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup goat cheese

Directions:

Boil pasta according to package instructions. Meanwhile, chop the peppers and basil. Once the pasta is cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and add the frozen peas and carrots and cook for 1-2 minutes. Combine all ingredients, finishing with the goat cheese. Toss together until the cheese has melted.

The great thing about this recipe is that you really can toss any vegetables with it or even change the cheese. I've made this a lot recently, subbing in whatever vegetables that I had one hand. Any way you make it, you have a quick and nutritious lunch or dinner!

Quick-and-Dirty Pasta Ponza

I learned in my advertising class that a message has to be repeated at least three times before a person will actually retain it. Armed with the new information, I'm going to try something. Alright, bloggies let's see if this works.

You must make this pasta dish.

You must make this pasta dish.

You MUST make this pasta dish!!

Any ideas what you should do now?

If you thought "hmm, perhaps I should make that wonderful, non-specific pasta dish", then you thought correct!

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes for a busy night. It's finished in about 15 minutes. It's loaded with carbs and cheese. It's quick and dirty. What's not to love?

Quick-and-Dirty Pasta Ponza

Ingredients:

1 lb rigatoni

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1 cup marinara sauce

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Bring salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to the package's directions, usually 10-11 minutes until the pasta is finished. In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the breadcrumbs and cook until browned. Make sure to watch this step so that the breadcrumbs do not burn.

In a saucepan, heat up the marinara sauce.

Drain the pasta and add the heated marinara sauce and browned breadcrumbs. Toss to combine and add parmesan.

Meatless Meat-Sauce Pasta

Last night, I had dinner with Paul Newman.

And he made me do all the cooking.

Anyhoo, it was one of those nights where I didn't feel like cooking but there was nothing that I could just zap in the microwave. I considered a salad but the bag of lettuce I bought a week back had started procreating. So, I went for the next best thing. Pasta.

The recipe below is for one serving but you could easily double or triple it.

Meatless Meat-Sauce Pasta

Ingredients:

1/3 cup pasta

1/2 cup marinara sauce

1/4 cup protein crumbles

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Meanwhile, combine the marinara sauce and protein crumbles in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute. Take out and stir.

Once the pasta is cooked, add to the bowl and toss to coat.

For the spinach on the side: heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan and add spinach. Cook until wilted.

Pasta Ponza

Yesterday I was intent on making myself a real dinner. I have been a bit lax with my cooking lately, living on cafeteria sandwiches and frozen veggie burgers. It's not that I haven't had time because I have. It is just so much easier to have someone else make you a panini. Or to throw a frozen burger into the microwave and press go. Presto! Dinner in seconds.

All of you were the ones to finally get me into the kitchen. I thought, I want to post but I'm not going to write about veggie burgers and frozen vegetables. So, I sat in our library and instead of doing my readings for my class I leafed through Giada at Home and chose my dinner.

I did all of this at 9 in the morning, too.

I found a nice quick pasta dish that only required me buying one ingredient. It also used copious amounts of cheese and breadcrumbs which pretty much sold me on the dish. It is a very easy recipe and will be one that I will be making again and again. Seriously, easy AND cheesy?! How can you not make this dish?

Pasta Ponza

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter for greasing

2 cups red cherry tomatoes halved

2 cups yellow cherry tomatoes halved

1/4 cup capers

1 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of blackpepper

1/2 cup Italian style dried breadcrumbs

1 pound ziti

1 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano grated

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf pasta

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8 x 8 glass baking dish and add the tomatoes, capers, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix to combine and then sprinkle on the bread crumbs. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs turn golden brown.

Meanwhile, boil the ziti according to the package's instructions, roughly 8-10 minutes.

Drain pasta and save 1 cup of cooking water. Add the pasta to the tomato-bread crumb mixture and toss to coat the pasta. Add pasta water where necessary and all of the cheese.

Mangia!

Rigatoni with Sausage, Spinach, and Sun-dried Tomatoes, and

Hello!

I started off my Giada experiment by making a pasta dish of hers and then changing half of the ingredients. Typical. haha So, I guess I sort of made my own recipe.

Rigatoni with Sausage, Spinach, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Rigatoni Pasta (or anything tubular)

Sausage (I used vegetarian!! SO GOOD)

Spinach

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Basil

Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Boil the pasta and prepare the sausage. If you are using a vegetarian one you can just zap it in the microwave. Meat eaters? You're gonna have to remove it from the casing and brown the meat. In a sautee pan heat oil and then add the spinach. Once it is wilted add the sun-dried tomatoes. Next, add the boiled pasta and toss with the spinach and sun-dried tomato. Combine with the sausage and then add basil and cheese to your liking.

I was super impressed by this dish because the veggie sausage tasted JUST like Italian sausage. Now, I am an Italian girl and I know what good Italian sausage tastes like. I swear this tasted just like it! My only complaint would be that the texture was a bit soft. Overall, though, I really liked it! I'm excited to try out different meatless meats. I bought some veggie protein crumbles and am excited to try that!

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a wonderful night! I will see you tomorrow with the next recipe :D