No Straining Necessary Tomato Basil Pasta

A friend of mine linked to this recipe on Facebook (Debbie's Skinny Friends). I've made just a few adjustments.

It's very easy, very tasty, and cuts waaaay down on the dishes, which was my favorite part, I think.

12 ounces pasta (spaghetti, linguine, fettucine, etc)
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid (I didn't have a can handy, so I just chopped up some fresh tomato, and salted and herbed it)
1 large sweet onion, cut in thin strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Top with oregano and oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil (stirring periodically to get al the pasta in the broth). Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

OLD-TIME SQUASH CASSEROLE with PASTA

Modified from COOKS.COM

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2 lbs. (give or take) winter squash cut into small pieces
1 clove garlic

1 chopped onion
1 tsp. salt

~1/2 c. water, plus some as needed

¼ c. apple juice (optional)
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. milk

2 eggs
½ package of cooked pasta
1 c. grated Cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 c. cracker crumbs, divided

1 tbsp butter (melted)

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Butter a 2 or 3 quart casserole dish.

In saucepan sauté squash, garlic, onion, and salt for a couple minutes in a little butter. Add water (and apple juice, if you have it on hand). Bring to simmer; cover and cook, adding small amounts of water if needed as liquid cooks away, until squash is tender and mashable, mashing with the spoon as you go, 20 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to add too much water toward the end of cooking, so that there’s no liquid left to drain. Remove from heat, and finish mashing hot squash mixture with 2 tablespoons of butter.

Beat together milk, eggs and beat into squash. Add pasta, all but 3 tablespoons of cheese and enough of cracker crumbs (1/4 cup) to thicken mixture. Combine remaining cracker crumbs with 1 tablespoon of butter and reserved 3 tablespoons of cheese. Sprinkle on top of casserole and bake until bubbly and browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Serves 6 to 8

my vegetarian salad

In honor of Claire's birthday, here is a vegetarian dish that I made today and was pretty awesome. This called for cilantro, which of course i took right out. And the recipe was huge, so this is half, just right for 2 with leftovers. You mix the sauce and pour it over the other ingredients, then toss on the sesame seeds, but I didn't have any. It looks kinda crazy in the picture, but it was yummy, i swear! Here it goes:

Sauce:

• 1/4 cups Soy Sauce
• 1 T Sesame Oil
• 1 T Canola or veg Oil
• 1 T Rice Wine Vinegar
• ½ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• 
  
• 1/2 lb. spaghetti noodles, cooked and rinsed (called for wheat)
• A few Green Onions, Sliced, Divided
• 1/2 Red Pepper, Sliced Thin
• ¼ heads Red Cabbage, Sliced Thin
• 1 Carrot, Shredded With Vegetable Peeler
• 1 cup Shelled Edamame, Cooked
• 1/4 cups Toasted Sesame Seeds

And since I changed so much, if it turns out nasty, here is the original recipe.. http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/last-minute-sesame-noodles/ i love claire!!

Chicken or Shrimp Fettuccine

Carrie taught me this recipe a long time ago:

Cook 1 chicken breast (cubed) or 1 cup shrimp in 2 Tbsp butter

In a different pan, saute in 2 Tbsp olive oil:
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, mashed

Add
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano

Then add
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt/pepper

Pour over 1 lb pasta. (picture features all my leftover pastas together)

Chicken Parmesan

This was easy, fast, and delicious. The only non-staple ingredient was fresh parmesan.

I was working off this recipe http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001998parmesan_chicken.php.

Cut 3 chicken breasts into 8 pieces. Cut them the long way first, so you have two wide round peices that are 1/2 the thickness of the original piece. You're trying to maximize surface area for the cheese part.

Dip #1
1/3 cup butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 egg

Dip #2
equal parts breadcrumbs and fresh parmesan
italian seasoning (or i used seasoned breadcrumbs)
salt/pepper

So roll the chicken pieces around, then put them in a 9x13 baking dish. Cook at 450 for 15-20 minutes.

Pasta Salad

Since this is an idea blog as much as a recipe blog, I thought I'd add pasta salad up in here. I don't have an actual recipe for this, and if I leave anything out, feel free to add.

1 lb rotelle pasta

Any of the following:
artichoke hearts
broccoli
tomatoes (sun-dried or normal type)
salami
peas
cheese
olives
cucumber
red onion

Cover in italian dressing. Refrigerate. I believe Bernsteins Restaurant Style Italian is the dressing of choice. Again, if you have any tips or tricks to add, please do.

Pasta Carbonara

This might as well be called bacon and egg pasta, but carbonara sounds so much more fancy. It was really easy and tasted very much like a restaurant pasta. The only ingredients you may not have are fresh parsley and fresh parmesan.

I used this recipe http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/cooking-with-ryan-pasta-carbonara/