Smoking Fork

September 3, 2015June 24, 2016

Ginger Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

You can go to a store and buy simple syrup. I won’t complain. You can even go buy some fancy stuff that’s more than just the basic model.

But…. if you want to save a stupid amount of money and make something really tasty in less time than it takes to boil water, keep reading.

This is the part where I write stuff that’s happy and homey to convince you that I know how to put on an apron or mix a drink. Consider my job done and we’ll move on. I like to drink our house ‘panty dropper’ on occasion, and I’m just not going to buy simple syrup to make it. Here’s how you, too, can do it for yourself.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown (or light brown) sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup water
2 thumbs worth of fresh ginger

Put the sugar and the water in a small sauce pan on medium heat and stir just a little bit.

Peel the ginger and chop it into long, thin slivers, like fat matchsticks. Or however you want. Thin slices lets the good stuff out of the ginger, and longer slices means its easier to keep tabs on the things floating around.

Toss the ginger into a glass jar (I have a stash of Mason jars and pasta and peanut butter jars for these kinds of things).

Bring the water and sugar to heat but not to a boil. It doesn’t have to get super hot. Just enough to dissolve the sugar. Seriously, this should take like 5 minutes and you’re done.

This is HOT still, so let it cool a little, then pour it into the jar with the ginger. Let that cool to the point you can touch it before putting the lid on and putting it in the fridge. Leave it over night for best results so the ginger and the sugar can get all romantic.

I usually leave the ginger in there for the duration of use because it taste better every day. And I also use the ginger for a second round of simple syrup if it’s still fresh enough.

Yes, you can get super creative here and add black peppercorns, orange peel, cranberries, or anything that sounds fun. I love ginger and brown sugar for the drinks I mix. Go wild and have fun!

May 26, 2014

There’s No Zucchini Here

Not to keep harping on this, but there are just some foods I was traumatized by as a child. Zucchini is one of them. I just can’t help thinking of phlegm.

As part of my effort to bring the ‘good’ foods back into my house, I’m trying out zucchini again. But I still cringe at MY OWN cooking if there’s zucchini in it. So the more I hide it FROM MYSELF, the happier I am. Blegh.

Enter the grater. Make it as small as possible. Hite it. And add cheese. It really works. Not only do I eat this, but The Man eats it. He actually says ‘yum’ when he finds me making it. I am NOT shitting you.

First make 1 cup of basmati rice, which becomes a little over 2 cups. While that’s cooling off a little, grate up
3 small zucchinis (or two medium ones, but this is a case of smaller is better)
2 medium carrots
6 to 8 ounces of cheddar (white sharp cheddar, not the orange junk)

You’ll need to toss that in a large, heat-resistant bowl with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Keep a little of the grated cheese to sprinkle on top later. Add in:
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon mustard (Ba-Tampte is our current fav.)
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt (more if you like salt)
¼ teaspoon chili powder (or just a nice dash of cayenne)

I like to add in a few cloves of crushed garlic, or half of an onion, diced fine. I like to add some protein in the form of a can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed. Once you mix it all together to get all moist and evenly spread around, scoop in the rice and mix it up a bit more. Pour this into a casserole dish – I like to separate it into two 8”x8” dishes so that I can bake the second one in a few days for fresh casserole. Spread it out and smoosh it flatter or the pokes of rice will get overly crunchy, and then sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese gets nice and bubbly with a little golden color. Probably about 20 minutes or so. After a few minutes to cool, you’re good to go. You can’t even tell there’s zucchini in there. Really. You don’t even have to tell anyone.

So, ingredient synopsis:
2 cups prepared basmati rice
3 small zucchinis, grated
2 medium carrots, grated
6-8 oz sharp cheddar, grated
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon mustard
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon chili powder (or just a nice dash of cayenne)
Either 3 nice cloves of garlic crushed, or ½ finely diced onion (optional)
1 can cannellini beans (optional)

If you want to hide the zucchini in there a little better, maybe finely chop up some spinach to camouflage the green bits 😉

[Girl21]

May 26, 2014June 24, 2016

Smack That Basil!

I’m not going to lie. I’m not a huge gin fan. Don’t throw something at me!

But I feel obligated to expand my horizons. I keep my eyes out for cool new flavor combinations. So hey – gin, lemonade, and basil. Why not?

My baby basil plants I started from seed were just big enough to produce decent leaves. As a fanfare to start the fresh basil season, I wanted to celebrate. Coinkydink? I think not. (That’s weird to see that word written down.)

Keeping it basic (seriously, some of these drinks recipes want you to steam or simmer the leaves beforehand), I settled for one part gin and three parts limeade over ice and basil leaves. Instead of muddling the leaves (green chunks in your teeth!), I opted to smack the three large basil leaves between my hands a few times to bruise them. Bonus is that my hands smelled good afterwards.

The Man did something similar with more gin, because he loves gin. Our gin of the night was Bombay Sapphire, something we readily have on hand. Again, The Man likes gin. And our limeade is generally Simply brand. No need for simple syrup or extra steps tonight. It’s Sunday and who needs that?

I think next round I’ll try more gin too because the flavor combination is quite nice. Citrus tends to highlight the best side of gin. And fresh basil will make almost anything taste awesome.

Repeat:
Old fashioned glass
Medium ice
3 large basil leaves, smacked like they asked for it
2 fingers of gin
Top off with limeade (or lemonade)

Great for a rainy Sunday evening.

[Girl21]

March 15, 2014

Just Chickpea Salad

My mom used to make something like this and she called it Happy Tuna Salad. I’ve never had tuna salad, and I don’t like connecting my tasty food to something fishy, so I just call it chickpea salad. Just Chickpea Salad.

And since I don’t know what tuna salad tastes like, let’s forget there’s even a connection. This is just a nice stuffing for a sandwich. Great source of protein. Tasty. And requires very little actual effort. All good things during the summer.

SUMMER? What? It’s March 14th! Sorry, rest of the country. I was sweating in my car today, and have contemplated the air conditioner several times this week. I realize the rest of the country is still having that winter stuff, but here in the 352, it’s starting to look a bit like bikini season.

The less I have to spend over a hot stove, the happier I am. And I can make a batch of this up that will last a few days. Er… well, The Man makes it disappear quicker than that. So maybe I should just do double batches.

Smooshed chickpeas

With very little fanfare, here you go:

Just Chickpea Salad
1 can garbanzos
3 huge tbsp plain Greek yogurt
2 stalks finely diced celery
1/4 cup finely diced green olives
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 – 3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 tsp pepper (or 1/4 tsp fresh ground)
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne

1) This is the only actual work you’re going to do. Drain the garbanzons (yes, chickpeas), and smash them. Don’t puree, blend, or food process them. Just loosely shatter their little souls. I like to pour them into a shallow plate and smash them with a fork. They get a little dry and turn into a pile of chickpea shards. Which is fine and perfect.

2) Toss shattered chickpeas and finely diced celery in a bowl. I’m not telling you how to dice celery. I like it really chopped down so there’s crunch but not clunkers. But that’s up to you. Add in three heaping tablespoons of Greek yogurt. I mean heaping. Like I make it a game how much I can goop onto a tablespoon and get into the bowl. If I had a gun to my head, I would guess it’s a little over 1/2 cup. You can leave off the green olives. I go either way. They definitely add a pop of flavor. If you’re in the mood, toss them in.

3) Seasonings. Again, I’ve never had tuna salad, so you could probably make this taste like that if you were feeling wild. I like this flavor profile. Salt and pepper are a given. A touch of cumin and cayenne round out the garlic powder. But really, have fun with this. It’s a great base for whatever flavors you want to bring in.

4) Mix it up and let it sit. No really, this needs a good stir to combine everything because of the texture of the smooshed garbanzos. And you can certainly dig in right away. I’m not judging. The flavors do marinate well if you leave it for an hour, or over night.

But if I have some fresh beer bread on hand, The Man will physically push me out of the way to get dug in right out of the mixing bowl. Like tonight. I was trying to take a picture and I almost had to wrestle him out of the kitchen for the three minutes it took to get a good angle.

I’ve had this straight out of the container when I was starving. Slathered thick on a sandwich with some swiss cheese is my preference. I’ve even mixed it in with some pasta for a quick salad. It’s fairly versatile, and a nice punch of protein. And frankly, kind of cheap to make a lot of for the summer when the stove is not your friend.

[Girl21]

February 10, 2014

No Drama Trail Mix

There’s no sheltering you from the truth. I turn into a drama queen when I get low blood sugar. Hard to believe, right? I start shoving food into my mouth to stop the tummy rumblings, and often grab no-so-healthy snacks in desperation.

To stave off the hunger, and the lingering food guilt later, I like to keep something simple and quick on hand. My mom used to mix raisins, peanuts, and sesame sticks, and send that to work or school with us. It always reminded me of a PB&J. I took my mom’s original and modified it over the years, always trying to keep the sweet and savory balance, but adding some more complex nutrition for variety.

I highly recommend experimenting by adding or subtracting ingredients. Most of these things I buy in the bulk section at Ward’s and just estimate the quantities needed, so don’t get too exact with measuring. It’s always fun to make adjustments and try new variations.

Some of these bulk nuts are naked and unsalted (because you don’t need all of that extra salt in your face), and they benefit from a quick roast in the oven before you mix them in.

No Drama Trail Mix
Serves ‘a lot’

5 c. Cheddar sesame sticks
1 1/2 c. Dry roasted unsalted peanuts
1 1/2 c. Dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/2 c. Sunflower seeds
1 c. Pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. Walnuts
1 c. Date pieces / golden raisins

1. Roast the walnuts and pumpkin seeds in the oven first. Spread them on a tray and bake at about 350 for only a few minutes. You’ll see them start to toast or the pumpkin seeds will start to pop. This just brings out the flavor a little better. Let them cool off for a minute. *I’m picky about ‘bite size’, so I like to break up the larger walnut chunks before toasting them.

2. Combine all of the ingredients in a large sealable container. I use one that’s somewhat bigger than I need because it makes mixing easier. You can shake and roll the container to mix everything up. Otherwise, have fun mixing these goodies all up with a spoon (or your hands!).

3. You can of course start eating this right away, but if you let it sit overnight, it gets all friendly and marinated.

Not only do I send a jar of this to work with The Man so he can snack during the day, I pre-pack some into smaller containers so I can grab one as I run out on errands. If I’m hungry during the day, and mooching round in the kitchen for something to eat, I drop the chips or cookies and reach for a handful of this instead. Not claiming it’s the answer to all of your problems, but it’s better than being cranky because your tumbly is rumbly.

[Girl21]

February 15, 2013

“Chicken” and Rice Casserole

'Chicken' and Rice Casserole

I love one-pot meals and casseroles, but I’ve heard people really flip out when faced with even the word ‘casserole’. I can only assume that someone made a bunch of bad casseroles and turned some of my friends against casseroles for life.

Be that as it may (I love saying that), casseroles are great because I am short on time and big on odd ingredients. As much as The Man would be happy with a sandwich or pizza for dinner, I kind of like to serve a meal that’s relatively healthy, tasty, and balanced. He just cares about the tasty part.

The tricky part always is protein, and because you never really know, I try to vary our protein source. Enter Quorn (sounds like ‘corn’), a fake meat-like product based on mycoprotein. Um, yes, that’s a filament fungus, like what’s growing in the ground that produces mushrooms. I like the ‘Chik’n Tenders’ because they’re basically big chunks of blank slate. You can do whatever you want to them and they take it.

You can do this quick and easy, or you can take some time to put the bells and whistles on. I’m doing it quick and easy here today because I need to work out while it’s baking. Also, I have leftover brown rice, so one less thing to actually make.

And please totally note that I’m not being paid anything to endorse Quorn. I just like the stuff.

“Chicken” and Rice Casserole
Serves 4-6

3 cups cooked brown rice
1 package Quorn Chik’n Tenders (340g)
1 jar pasta sauce (24 oz.)
1 cup grated cheddar
½ cup grated mozzarella
1 medium onion

1. Dice up the onion and toss it in a medium sauce pot with the Quorn, a little olive oil, and about ¾ of the pasta sauce. Yes, jarred pasta sauce. I only buy the fancy stuff that actually tastes good and keep it handy for these kinds of meals.

2. Heat this on medium heat, stirring regularly until it’s bubbling a bit. The Quorn needs to thaw out and soak up some of the sauce, and the onions need to do that thing that onions do.

3. While that’s bubbling, mix half of your cheddar and some salt and pepper (and maybe some garlic powder and Italian seasonings) in with your rice and settle it in the bottom of a casserole dish. I have a 1.4L one that I like because it’s deeper and keeps things moister.

4. Mix up your remaining cheese and spread half of this over the rice. Pour your Quorn/sauce mix over this and spread it evenly, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of this.

5. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until it’s bubbling and the cheese looks fabulous. It needs to set up for a few minutes because it’s freaking hot.

The best brown rice recipe is Alton Brown’s baked version which I swear by and always works. Again, no effort and great result. If you need to make the rice for this, it’s simple to make it in your casserole dish, do your thing, and put everything back into your casserole dish. One less thing to wash is always WIN for me.

As a side note, I also do this with barbecue sauce instead of pasta sauce and that’s super tasty too. I don’t know why people have to be hating on casseroles. Especially those of us with 40 hour days to fit into a normal 24 hours.

[Girl21]

December 10, 2012

Tarty Cranberry Relish

I confess. When I was a kid, I loved the cranberry jelly stuff we had on the holidays. It was the closest thing I had to Jell-o, being raised a vegetarian. Plus it was fun to play with.

Time passed and I realized I had no idea what that stuff actually was, so stopped eating it. Someone tried to pawn off the loose cranberries in jelly stuff that is pretty similar, but I wasn’t fooled. Nope. Not me.

Now, a great many years later, I’ve lifted my embargo on cranberry stuff at the holidays. I discovered craisins or dried cranberries, and decided I can accept them into my life again. And thank Jebus, because I discovered this wonderful little recipe at our office Thanksgiving pot-luck.

It’s fresh and zesty, and best when made several days before you intend to use it. Which is optimal if you have a lot of cooking to do on the day of a big dinner. Make it up two days before and pop I in the fridge. All you gotta do is artfully pile it in a pretty dish and you’re ready to rock and roll.

Fresh Cranberry Relish
Serves 8-12

24 ounces fresh cranberries (two 12 ounce bags)
2 tangerines/oranges
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons grated ginger
Pinch of salt

1. You want to zest two tangerines or small oranges, and then squeeze the juice from one. Many recipes for this relish call for a whole navel orange, but any type of sweet citrus would probably work just fine. You do not want more tangy or sour flavors here.

2. Enter food processor. I have a 9-cup jobbie that’s super fun, but I still do this in two bathes to keep my mess under control. So put one bag of cranberries, and half of the sugar, ginger, salt, and zest/juice into the processor. You’ll have to use your judgment about how coarsely chopped you want it, but I recommend erring on the side off too chunky or you get mush. Do this a second time with the rest of the ingredients.

3. Pop this all in a bowl you can refrigerate and give it a good stir. You can keep this in the fridge to marinate for three days before it peaks, but a minimum of one full day is a must. I like to pull it out to stir a few times during, just to get those flavors all excited and mixed up. Serve it cold from the fridge, or take it out early to let it warm up a bit.

Cranberries are fun to cook with, and drink. If you work with fresh cranberries, you’ll know some are significantly more tart than others. So be the judge of how much sugar you need to use. This original recipe called for 3/4 to 1 cup of white sugar, but that was kind of outrageous. I switched to the brown sugar because the molasses gave a more mellow, smoky sweetness that works with the zesty berries.

Besides the bright flavors this relish adds to your holiday meal, you are going to love how sexy the deep red relish looks on the table.

[Girl21]

November 28, 2012

Fake-tato Soup, yo!

Fake-tato Soup, SmokingFork

Last spring my dad was ill and had a hard time keeping food in his belly. He lost over 40 pounds in a few months. Happily everything’s sorted out now and he’s doing a lot better. Yay, dad!

The reason I bring this up is that my dad would like to eat only pizza and mac n’ cheese for every meal. Most guys who have gone feral rely on the starch diet. And sketchy protein sources. The only problem with my dad was he was on a strict diet and had to actually eat good food or he would actually croak. This was not enough to convince him to adjust his diet, so my siblings and I threw all of our foodie skills into making food that he would eat instead of stick in the fridge to rot.

Enter the potato soup. It’s a comforting, warm, tasty meal that my dad would absolutely eat. But not completely nutritious as he needed. So I converted that to this fake-tato soup recipe. He yummed it up and kept asking for more. My mom pointed the mom-finger at me and ordered me not to tell him what was actually in the soup or he might stop eating it on principle.

So yeah, I lied to my dad and he ate good food and eventually got better. (Yes, my siblings also helped by making yum food too!) You really can’t tell that it’s less than half potatoes. In fact, I often add a roasted fennel bulb, carrots, mushrooms, or other veggies just to make it better. If you leave out the cheese, it’s also vegan I suppose, and it’s easy to adjust for less salt if you’re into that.

Fake-tato Soup

3 medium potatoes
6 cloves garlic
1 bouillon cube (for 2 cups)
2 cans cannellini beans
1/3 cup gorgonzola
1/3 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Water (is this even an ingredient I need to list?)

1) You’ll probably like to use a medium/large pot for more splash room. Put olive oil on medium heat. Chop garlic cloves into chunks and toss into oil. If you’re using bullion from cubes (I like Knorr vegetarian bouillon), break up your cube(s) and toss in too. A little pepper, and maybe salt unless your bullion tends to be salty already.

2) Cube the potatoes, skin and all (that’s the best part!) to about the size of your fingertips. The smaller they are, the faster they cook down. Toss them in the pot and stir. Let them get hot, stirring every few minutes. You want them to get coated in oil and just start to brown up a bit.

3) As soon as the garlic starts to brown, pour enough water to drown the potatoes. Cover and leave this to simmer on medium low heat until the potatoes start to break up. Stir it once in a while of course.

4) Here’s the fun part. I use a blender with a glass body and do it in batches because it’s hot and messy. I’m sure you can find your own way, and/or use a food processor. Put about half a can of cannellini beans and 1/4th of the potatoes (with simmering water) into the blender and top up with about ¾ cup of water. When you blend this, it’s going to get a little thick, so gauge how much water you need to make it as stiff or liquid as you’d like it to be. Then pour it into a waiting bowl or pot while your main pot is being emptied. After four batches of this, you should have an empty pot to put your potato and bean puree into again. (If you are adding roasted fennel, carrots, or other cooked veggies, you want to put them in during this stage, too.)

5) Put back on a medium low heat for about 15 minutes. The soup is going to thicken up a little more. This is where you’re going to taste for salt and seasonings because the beans really reduce this a lot. You can also add your cheese at this point so it can melt throughout. I honestly don’t always put in cheese at all because it’s fine without it.

Once the cheese is melted and stirred in, you’re good to go. It’s sometimes nice to toss in a little fresh shredded parsley for flavor when serving. Or a spritz of lemon juice if that’s what you’re into.

And if you’re making this for someone who might be outraged by healthy food, like kids or my dad, feel free to lie to them. Yes, it’s potato soup. Like runny mashed potatoes. I promise. Yum!

[Girl21]

May 13, 2012

‘Hotter Than Hot’ Tea

Brahmastra Tea

I’m not even going to give you the long story behind this tea because it’s just way too long. Let’s just say it comes from traditional Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine origins. It’s great for fevers, colds, respiratory issues, kidney problems, etc. Basically, if you’re sick, this is a good tea. (Which is why I hate it, because it makes me think about being too sick to get out of drinking it.)

Anyhow, The Man has had a few respiratory issues lately, and rather than try the usual drug store fixes, I’ve been making him this tea. It’s not a pleasant “sit by the fire with a book and a blankie” kind of tea. This is medicine. So after I tell you how to make it, I’ll tell you a few ways to get your patient (or yourself to drink it).

Technically, the original tea is called Brahmastra Tea, but please don’t Google it because you’ll find yourself in the weirdest collection of page on esoteric Sanskrit scriptures, medicinal blogs recommending drinking cow urine, and Southeast Asian websites selling you hair-loss prevention tea. I am not kidding.

Just try this and if you have a question, let me know. My recipe is slightly tweaked so you can make a quantity to sip throughout the day.

Brahmastra Tea
2-3 lemons
Fresh ginger (about 3 thumbs)
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon powdered cayenne pepper

1. Put about 3 pints of water in a 2 qt. pot on medium-low heat.

2. You can scrape the brown skin off the ginger with a spoon and preserve the good rind, but I never have the patience. I usually just peel the ginger and slice it into slivers so I don’t have to saw across the fibrous grain. The smaller you can slice it, the more it infuses into your tea.

3. I usually slice a few rounds of the lemon for the pot, then squeeze the rest of the juice into it, but you can just use the juice if you like. Sometimes in a pinch, I’ll add some ‘fresh lemon juice’ from a bottle if the lemons I have look sketchy. Shoot for about 1/2 cup of juice or more.

4. Now for the cayenne. I’m not going to lie. If you have a low tolerance to spice, start off slow. This will burn even worse if you have a sore throat. It’s also good to be cautious if you have stomach ulcers or other digestive issues because, again, cayenne is hot stuff. So I suggest going with 1/8 of a teaspoon until you gauge your threshold. If you have a high tolerance for heat, you could probably go up to 1/3 of a teaspoon. Please be careful.

5. Simmer your tea at medium-low heat for at least 15 minutes, if not more. (When The Man is sick, I just have an ongoing pot on the stove that I constantly take from and add to.) Just before you strain your tea, put in the honey and give it a minute to dissolve. But don’t heat the honey too much or it negates the healing properties.

When you’re not feeling well, this is actually very comforting to drink. It just doesn’t taste wonderful. So there are a few things you can try to make it more exciting for your cranky sick person.

*Mix it with real lemonade, about 2/3 hot tea to 1/3 cold lemonade.
*Mix it with real ginger ale (Reeds, not the flavored HFCS stuff). About 1/2 and 1/2.
*Add mint tea. I sometimes throw two mint tea bags into the pot while it’s simmering. The mint cool effect balances out the warm cayenne.

I’m not a doctor so don’t sue me if you drink this tea instead of getting medical help.

And no, I’m not kidding about those wacky sites suggesting you drink cow urine. Really.

[Girl21]

April 25, 2012

Green Stuffed Shells

I’ll be honest. Every time I make these, I adjust the recipe a little bit. So this isn’t really a recipe. It’s an invitation to join the experimentation.

I’ll also admit that these were a happy accident and I’m no kitchen genius.

Oh, and they don’t have anywhere as much cheese as they seem like they should. Don’t tell anyone how healthy they are, and no one will know.

Ingredients

1 box jumbo shells
4 cups of pasta sauce

2 cups fresh spinach, ribboned
1 medium onion, diced

2 cans cannellini beans
1 cup quinoa, cooked
Medium bunch fresh parsley, leaves only
2/3 medium head of garlic, peeled

1+ cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
1/2 cup gorgonzola
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano or parmesan
1-2 teaspoon Italian season
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Start shells cooking. Water boiling, the whole bit. You’re going to have to handle these later, so cook them while you’re doing everything else, and let them drain and cool.

2. Sauté onions and 1/2 teaspoon of the Italian seasonings and some salt. Once the onions get glassy and start to brown, turn off the burner, toss in the spinach, and cover to let it wilt.

3. In a food processor, combine beans, quinoa, parsley leaves, garlic cloves, oil, vinegar, and the rest of the seasonings. Process until mostly smooth. My food processor is large, but I do it in a few batches to make sure it’s mixed and a good consistency. (I like to have quinoa cooked ahead of time so it’s cooled. About 1 cup quinoa to 1 and 3/4 cups bullion, like you would cook rice. I’ve been only using about 2/3 of the cooked quinoa last few times I’ve made this.)

4. Preheat oven to 350. Hopefully by now your shells are cooked to the point of being leathery but not soft. Drain them and set aside. Don’t cook them all the way in the water or they get gross.

5. In a heat-safe bowl, combine the onions and spinach you sautéed, and all of the lovely other things you pureed. Then add most of the cheese (save about 2/3 cup to spread on top at the end) , and rest of seasonings. Mix well. The cheese usually gets a little melty by now.

6. Pour about 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9″x13″ deep dish. Stuff one giant tablespoon of filling into each shell and line them up in the dish. Pour balance of pasta sauce to coat the shells. Sprinkle the last of the cheese over the top.

7. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese has melted and sauce bubbles. Remove from oven and cool for ten minutes.

Green Stuffed Shells naked I can add a lot more in here, but I’m going to assume you know your way around a kitchen and can figure out simple tasks like how to sauté onions in a little olive oil and salt until they’re glassy. I also assume you know how to adjust cooking time for your oven and the type of dish you are cooking in. I use a heavy stoneware tray, where a glass or metal tray would bake faster and possibly dry out your pasta quicker. Also I don’t cover my pasta with foil, which just leaves little splashes when the sauce is bubbling at the end. That’s your call.

My only complaint so far about this whole set up is that the only big shells for stuffing available seem to be Mueller’s or Barilla. So the pasta lacks the flavor of the Barilla Plus that we normally get. But the sauce and garlic and everything else make up for it.

As soon as my basil plants are up for the challenge, I fully intend to work some fresh basil into this recipe. There’s no substitute for fresh herbs and real ingredients. (Like using good quality pasta sauce in a jar will never quite be the same as the slow-cooked red gravy that The Man makes.)

My absolute favorite thing about this pasta dish though, is that when I make it, I suddenly have a bunch of unexpected guests dropping by. And when I send it to work with The Man for lunch, I get love notes from his co-workers. Everyone loves good pasta.

[Girl21]

Green Stuffed Shells parts