Now that we are all home and cooking more, a friend recently suggested that I resurrect this blog.
It is still Easter, I guess.
I do have another blog, more related to my day job, and it is hard enough to keep up in addition to said day job… But even that outlet starts to feel like work at some point. And hey, we’ve all gotta eat. So I think the idea to kickstart this space again was a good one. Even Alton Brown has ramped up an impromptu Youtube show called “Quarantine Kitchen.” Well–this is not that, and most of my cooking remains half-assed, which is why you want to follow me after all. I am an easy to follow low-pro. (And, fun fact, if you watch that Alton Brown video to about minute 4, you will hear him talk about my brother, who wrote the theme song for the show!) In any case, I think it just goes to show that lots of us are spending more time in the kitchen these days.
And also–trying to make do with less.
Whether it’s for economic necessity or because you want to go to the store less often during a pandemic situation, there’s something to be said for throwing-shit-together-with whatever-you’ve-got-on-hand. In that regard I give you my very favorite meal: Clean Out the Fridge Pasta.
The best thing about this meal is, it is rarely the same twice. It literally uses what you have and need to use up; it can be improvised beautifully; and it often includes all the food groups. Every now and then, I come up with a variation that I like enough to make again on purpose–and this was one of those.
Which is funny, because half of the things I intended to put in this one– like a half jar of artichokes and a half-jar of roasted red peppers– ended up getting tossed, thus leading me to further improvisation. When I opened those jars, let’s just say they had seen better days, and while I’m all for using what you’ve got, don’t be a hero. Nobody wants to end up in the ER with food poisoning during a pandemic. Safety first!
So here’s where we landed instead, ingredients-wise.
-kale
-jar of marinara sauce
-a few sundried tomatoes, chopped
-1/2 block of cream cheese
-garlic
-parmesean (or other cheese)
That sounds simple, but the best things are.
What you do is, sautee the kale in olive oil for a few minutes over medium heat (after removing the stems). Throw in the garlic after a couple minutes, but turn the heat down so it doesn’t burn. Then dump in the sauce (a jar; 3/4 of a jar; half a jar… how much do you have? how much will you eat? you’re using stuff up here). Then throw in the cream cheese and let that melt. [I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again-there are few foods on the planet that cannot be improved upon by cream cheese, come at me]. Toss in the sundried tomatoes last minute, which I like to chop up finely. And listen, a little of these suckers goes a long way, so go easy. You can always add more if you like.
I tend to add a few shakes of Greek seasoning, mostly because I put it on everything. But that’s optional.
Serve this delicious (and reasonably healthy) mess on whatever pasta (or even rice!) you like, and throw on more shredded cheese than the good Lord intended for anyone to eat in one sitting; because it’s quarantine, and we’ve gotta find our joy somewhere. Drink with some wine out of a box, because the same.
If you wanted to throw in some bacon for the carnivores in the house– that wouldn’t be the worst thing. But the vegetarian version is just about perfect as is.
myweirdvegetariankid 