happy friday!

it's finally friday. phew. it's been a long week. but time is slowly going by until moving day. but still got plenty of time to cook :) i think setting the oven on fire really did scare me away from baking! at least it's cool enough this week that i almost think about baking...almost.

this pasta dish was so simple to make. it comes from wholeliving which i think is a sub website of martha stewart. i upped the nutrients by using whole wheat pasta and used the grape tomatoes that i had gotten from costco (bulk produce really forces some creativity). i also did not put in dill weed or have white wine or the parmesan or fresh parsley. but this pasta sauce is so easy and delicious to make i wonder i ever used store-bought sauce. a nice kick with the red pepper flakes. i threw in the leftover smoked salmon at the last minute b/c i didn't want the sauce to taste super fishy.  

there were mushrooms hanging around in the fridge (i'm not particularly a fan of mushrooms but i wanted a side dish for the pasta and this just came to mind). i chopped the bottom part of the mushroom nice and tiny and mixed that in w/ the kale pesto then stuffed them real well and topped w/ slices of mozzarella. yum! baked in the mini convection at 350 for about 7 minutes (they cooked really fast in it).





in a totally different direction, i made tuna quesadillas last night. the avocados were getting rather ripe and the leftover mozzarella kept staring at me every time i opened the fridge...so even though i would have preferred using the pepperjack (can't wait to use that big hunk of cheese!) i figured i shouldn't waste perfectly delicious cheese. 


Tuna Quesadillas
(serves 4-5 depending on how much your feedees like to eat)
5 medium whole wheat tortilla wraps (I used Mission 95% fat free for the fiber and protein)
2 cans tuna, drained (or grab some beans or grilled chicken)
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
big hunk of cheese, your choice (shredded is easier)
salt and pepper to taste (or any other spices)
pico de gallo/salsa (or a combination of both)
guacamole

Combine tuna, pepper, onion and salt and pepper. Heat a non stick skillet on medium high and warm tortilla (flip every 10 sec or so) then once both sides are warm (maybe even nicely bubbly) lay the cheese and tuna mixture. Cover the skillet with lid and bring heat to medium. Let the cheese melt then fold the tortilla in half and press down with a spatula or whatever is handy. Remove from the stove and cut in half. Serve with pico de gallo and guacamole!

have a great weekend!

w.c, thurs- broccoli and walnut pesto pasta w/ tofu

happy thursday! this week has been disaster after disaster at school but once i finally get home on thursday i know that means cooking a real meal and de-compressing from the "real" world. this week's menu included broccoli and walnut pesto pasta with tofu and roasted acorn squash (impulse buy at the korean grocery store b/c the autumn squash looked strange).

we recently bought a Bella little food processor thing (which i used to make persimmon cheesecake...i will have to update on that one day...). suffice it to say i did not enjoy making the cheesecake w/ the Bella but the recipe book that came with the machine said it would work. but i decided to give it another go. i was making a couple of servings (i can't resist toasted walnuts, they are addictive) so i figured i would process all the ingredients separately and then mix it all together in a bowl. lets just say everything at the bottom of the processor keeps getting grinded (have you ever tried walnut butter...i can now check that off my list...it's also not too bad). the same thing happened when i tried to grind the broccoli up, so then i just gave up and whipped out our regular food processor and all was right in the world again.




the recipe comes from 101cookbooks which i haven't used in ages. i cooked my broccoli in a skillet with a splash of olive oil and two small scoops of frozen garlic (we food process up the fresh stuff and freeze tons of it). i forgot to buy a lemon so no lemon, chard/spinach and olives so we were short of that but i didn't mind the loss. i also didn't really measure how much i was making but i did have 2 heads of broccoli and about 3/4 to 1 cup of toasted walnuts. i kept splashing olive oil into the food processor waiting for a more liquidy pesto but after awhile gave up and figured i would be healthier with less olive oil :) the tofu was my "meat" for the dish so i could get a very nice well rounded meal. the tofu was cooked in a skillet with just a bit of olive oil.

if you run out of pasta (which i did after M & D gobbled all that) you can spread some of the pesto between the tofu and top with parmesan and broccoli (totally delicious!)

the acorn squash were looking mighty cute at the korean grocery store so we took one to try it out. tossed in some olive oil, salt and pepper the squash tastes good but it doesn't get that baked fry kind of texture i was looking for. probably excellent for a puree of some sort.

lunch 18

only the phlegm is trying to stay my best friend, other than that, making a nice recovery before i leave:)

main: penne, veggies, veggie crumbles and tomato sauce

sides: apple, banana and walnut, veggies and hummus

in other news, the inauguration was lots of fun to watch. very long, but interesting. i think i am sleeping on the floor in india, so now unfortunately i have to take a sleeping bag. guh. so much for packing an insanely small amount.

lunch 8

ugh. the lighting is terrible in the kitchen...

main: penne, sauteed veggies with chicken

sides: broccoli (melted havarti on top, not shown), apple and graham crackers with pb and chocolate chips