RE: Ferrous Cook
10-16-2012, 09:50 PM
Let me tell you the tale of a salmon-spinach pasta. Once which technically did not meet the requirements and therefore is automatically disqualified, but one which i ate nonetheless.
The world of pasta is a friendly one to the inexperienced bachelor (or bachelorette). The method is simple, the ingredients, affordable, and the result is almost always delicious.
Simply put, you must boil these "noodles" (I shall use the term noodles, though in my case it was bowtie pasta), for a reasonable amount of time, 8-10 minutes perhaps, and then after removing the scalding water, mix in whatever ingredients you desire. It is a recipe difficult to botch, and easy to adapt.
In my case, I found myself with a predicament. I had purchased a surplus of canned vegetables, (spinach, green beans, corn) and I found that, unless I deliberately set out to utilize them, they would sit in my pantry, untouched forever. I needed, however, an excuse, some reason to dredge them out, open their cans and ingest the ingredients within.
I also had the same issue with a package ofbowtiepasta noodles. So I felt the reasonable choice was to combine the two.
I brought out the big pot. Which is really just a medium sized pot, but it has a lid and is perfect for the type of boiling noodles requires. Fill with water and add some seasoning (Nature's Seasoning ™ specifically, - mostly salt, pepper and a few other tidbits), then bring to a boil. The "bringing to a boil" part takes a while, so in the meantime I got out the pan.
The pan is used for many things: pancakes, vegtables, burgers (before I got my grill), and it manages an excellent job with all of these. Now, the canned corn and green beans I could care less about. They were filler, nutrients that I needed to eat at some point. But the spinach, popeye the sailor brand spinach, that deserved some special treatment. You see, spinach from a can has the very unfortuante property of tasting as if, well as if it was from a can. There is a distinct "canny" taste in each leafy bite, and that can be distracting, especially when with each bite, you know that that spinach could have been so much more.
The can-water was drained and into the pan the spinach went. Toss in some oil, 5-spice, and turn up the heat. Eventually the oil and spices claim the dish and enhance the "spinachness" while leaving the "canness" behind.
Of course, also during this process I realized I did not have a meat to put into my dish. A meat is important. So, scavenging, I found a lone pre-cut salmon steak in my freezer, given to me by my mother in a sweet gesture of food-related gifts. This would do well, especially since my other option was a quarter block of tofu which had been sitting in the fridge for too long (it got the trash).
Secret food preparing tip: If you need to thaw something, just heat it up...in the microwave.
DING! salmon is thawed...mostly, and also unevenly, but enough that it can go into the pan...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Eventually the water has boiled and the noodles, added to it during salmon hunting, have reached their tender point. The heat is turned off and the water strained. Then DUMP IN THE VEGGIES, and mix in the now cooked spinach.
Now, in the pan which has the remains of a nicely cooked and seasoned spinach - the salmon was tossed in, broken into pieces, and brought from a delicious pink to a different-kind-of-delicious white-pink. DUMP IN THE SALMON.
Then, because it is a pasta, DUMP IN THE ALFREDO.
(then mix a little bit of almond milk with the alfredo and DUMP IT IN)
Put on a little heat, mix, stir, and serve.
The spinach breaks apart easily, and essentially coats the entire dish, it becomes more a seasoning itself rather than a seperate ingrediant, but that's how I like it (it's actually fantastic in a fried rice).
Anyway I ate it, several times.
THE END.
The world of pasta is a friendly one to the inexperienced bachelor (or bachelorette). The method is simple, the ingredients, affordable, and the result is almost always delicious.
Simply put, you must boil these "noodles" (I shall use the term noodles, though in my case it was bowtie pasta), for a reasonable amount of time, 8-10 minutes perhaps, and then after removing the scalding water, mix in whatever ingredients you desire. It is a recipe difficult to botch, and easy to adapt.
In my case, I found myself with a predicament. I had purchased a surplus of canned vegetables, (spinach, green beans, corn) and I found that, unless I deliberately set out to utilize them, they would sit in my pantry, untouched forever. I needed, however, an excuse, some reason to dredge them out, open their cans and ingest the ingredients within.
I also had the same issue with a package of
I brought out the big pot. Which is really just a medium sized pot, but it has a lid and is perfect for the type of boiling noodles requires. Fill with water and add some seasoning (Nature's Seasoning ™ specifically, - mostly salt, pepper and a few other tidbits), then bring to a boil. The "bringing to a boil" part takes a while, so in the meantime I got out the pan.
The pan is used for many things: pancakes, vegtables, burgers (before I got my grill), and it manages an excellent job with all of these. Now, the canned corn and green beans I could care less about. They were filler, nutrients that I needed to eat at some point. But the spinach, popeye the sailor brand spinach, that deserved some special treatment. You see, spinach from a can has the very unfortuante property of tasting as if, well as if it was from a can. There is a distinct "canny" taste in each leafy bite, and that can be distracting, especially when with each bite, you know that that spinach could have been so much more.
The can-water was drained and into the pan the spinach went. Toss in some oil, 5-spice, and turn up the heat. Eventually the oil and spices claim the dish and enhance the "spinachness" while leaving the "canness" behind.
Of course, also during this process I realized I did not have a meat to put into my dish. A meat is important. So, scavenging, I found a lone pre-cut salmon steak in my freezer, given to me by my mother in a sweet gesture of food-related gifts. This would do well, especially since my other option was a quarter block of tofu which had been sitting in the fridge for too long (it got the trash).
Secret food preparing tip: If you need to thaw something, just heat it up...in the microwave.
DING! salmon is thawed...mostly, and also unevenly, but enough that it can go into the pan...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Eventually the water has boiled and the noodles, added to it during salmon hunting, have reached their tender point. The heat is turned off and the water strained. Then DUMP IN THE VEGGIES, and mix in the now cooked spinach.
Now, in the pan which has the remains of a nicely cooked and seasoned spinach - the salmon was tossed in, broken into pieces, and brought from a delicious pink to a different-kind-of-delicious white-pink. DUMP IN THE SALMON.
Then, because it is a pasta, DUMP IN THE ALFREDO.
(then mix a little bit of almond milk with the alfredo and DUMP IT IN)
Put on a little heat, mix, stir, and serve.
The spinach breaks apart easily, and essentially coats the entire dish, it becomes more a seasoning itself rather than a seperate ingrediant, but that's how I like it (it's actually fantastic in a fried rice).
Anyway I ate it, several times.
THE END.