Tonight's Dinner

I'm making one of my favorite quick recipes for dinner tonight, creamy goat cheese pasta with roasted asparagus. This is another recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine and tv program.

I use olive oil or a spread such as Smart Balance instead of butter. I wouldn't use the Smart Balance with flax oil though because it can't stand up to the heat. Sometimes I'll add a tablespoon or two of dijon mustard which adds a nice flavor.

Serves 4 Prep time: 20 minutes Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

2 bunches asparagus (2 pounds total), tough ends removed
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
12 ounces cavatappi or other short pasta
1 small log soft goat cheese (5 ounces), crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives, for garnish

Here's what to do:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Place asparagus on a large rimmed baking sheet; dot with 1 tablespoon butter, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, tossing occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes; cut into 2-inch lengths.

While asparagus is roasting, generously salt boiling water. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Set aside 1 1/2 cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese, remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add goat-cheese mixture and asparagus to pasta; toss to combine, adding more pasta water if necessary for sauce to coat pasta. Serve pasta garnished with chives.

Yum.

Another Quick and Easy Dinner

We had a couple of friends over for dinner last week and I served one of my favorite quick suppers: mushroom ragout over polenta with a side of wilted spinach and tomatoes. One of our guests was not a fan of mushrooms but she enjoyed this dish; it's really quite good.

A few changes I made: instead of broiling the polenta I served it soft after stirring in a small amount of parmesan, I used 16 oz of button mushrooms and 8 oz of portobellos, and since I used a few extra ounces of mushrooms I made a little extra sauce by using a bit more tomato paste, water, rosemary and balsamic vinegar. The polenta is a bit labor intensive because it must be stirred constantly so if you don't fancy being stuck in front of the stove top you could buy a log of prepared polenta to slice up and broil.

These dishes' recipes are from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. I enjoy the magazine and the PBS show which is on Saturday mornings in Austin. They have a fantastic section every month called "All in One Bag" where a week's worth of menus with the shopping list is provided. The week's meals share ingredients which helps keep the food costs down. This is one example of the All in One Bag. Another bonus is that they try to use seasonal ingredients: good for your food's carbon footprint and your wallet.

Deelish and Easy to Make

I made this last night for dinner and we had the leftovers tonight. As with most recipes I made a few changes: I added a cup of shredded carrots in step 3, doubled the garlic and ginger and used chicken stock rather than vegetable stock. We have a great rice cooker which I used as recommended in the recipe: for cooking the rice and steaming the carrots, peas and chicken. I roughly chopped cilantro, peanuts and scallions for toppings. Sam found some chutney in the fridge and had some pickled beets on the side.

Recipe source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/indonesian-rice-bowl.html

This simplified version of the rijsttafel table, a popular full-rice meal in Indonesia, looks incredibly festive served with all the condiments.

Rice
1 cup Thai jasmine rice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
2½ cups fresh or frozen petite peas (2 pounds fresh unshelled)
2½ cups shredded, sautéed tofu (or organic chicken)
½ cup hot vegetable stock

Sauce
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
2 green onions, white parts only, minced (chop the green tops for garnish)
½ cup chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish

Condiments
Separate small bowls of chutney, sliced bananas, raisins, unsweetened shredded coconut, minced fresh cilantro leaves, mandarin orange segments, chopped applies, plain yogurt.

1. Make the rice. If using a rice cooker, coat the rice cooker bowl with non-stick cooking spray or a film of vegetable oil. Place the rice in the rice bowl. Add the water; swirl to combine. Close the cover and set for the regular cycle. If cooking in a pan, follow the cooking directions on the package.
2. Make the sauce. In a medium-size saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring a few times, until the mixture achieves a sauce-like consistency. Cover and keep warm.
3. When the rice is ready (if using a rice cooker, when it switches to the Keep Warm cycle), sprinkle the peas and tofu on top of the rice. Close the cover and let set for 20 minutes.
4. Transfer the rice mixture to a warmed serving platter with sloped sides. Pour the hot stock and peanut sauce over the rice. Stir gently to combine the peas and tofu with the stock and peanut sauce. Sprinkle with the green onion tops and peanuts. Serve immediately with a choice of condiments.