Summer Squash Spaghetti.

The working title for this dish was Simple Amazing Pasta, but, as my daughter said, "something this amazing deserves a little more descriptive name."  But, it IS simple. REALLY simple. And it is amazing.  Super fresh ingredients are the key.

• thin spaghetti
• zucchini & yellow summer squash, sliced crosswise with a mandoline slicer
• fresh Asiago cheese, shredded
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper
• olive oil

I prepared this dish for two, so I used approximately two servings of pasta, about a 1/4 cup of Asiago, half of a very small zucchini and half of a very small yellow squash, sliced very thin with my mandoline slicer.

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions, adding 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the water.  With two minutes remaining for the pasta to cook, add the squash to the boiling water.  After two minutes, quickly drain pasta & squash in a colander and return to cooking pan.  Gently mix in Asiago and transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and serve.

This takes about 12 minutes total. Simple. Amazing. Pasta.

Marinated Tomatoes with Pasta.

I bought some spinach & basil fettucine at the farmer's market this week.  Inspired by a picture on the front cover of this month's Martha Stewart Living, i picked up some yellow & red cherry tomatoes and went home to make this recipe.

• pasta (spinach & basil fettucine was amazing!)
• cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ¼ cup fresh basil, torn
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 T rice vinegar
• fresh sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

optional: Parmesan or Asiago cheese, shredded

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Mix other ingredients together, except cheese; once mixed, let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain cooked pasta. Mix tomato mixture into hot pasta and toss. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Serve with a green salad.

Chicken with Mushrooms & Artichokes.

This is an easy, no-fuss chicken recipe with great flavor. Serve with a side salad and pasta for a complete meal.

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 6 oz marinated artichoke hearts, quartered (reserve marinade)
• 6 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup Asiago cheese, shredded (more can be used)
• salt & pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with salt & pepper and place in pan.  Spread artichoke hearts and mushrooms over chicken.  Pour reserved artichoke marinade over all ingredients in pan.  Bake for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, sprinkle tomatoes and cheese over chicken and bake for another 15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Open Face Dumplings.

Package of potsticker wrappers in hand, I knew I needed to create something.  I wanted it to be simple, filling, and reasonably healthy.  This is what emerged. I aimed for a baked open face potsticker, with a common filling base that could be adjusted for individual preferences.  You can add just about anything to the filling, though it's important to have something that will bind your ingredients together (i.e. cheese, a creamy sauce) and to have ingredients that aren't too soupy, or your final product may be soggy.

Start by spraying a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray and gently pressing one potsticker or wonton wrapper in each cup.

Prepare your filling. Plan for about one to one and a half tablespoons of filling for each wrapper.  If you use wonton wrappers you could use a larger muffin tray and then will need at least twice the filling. When the wrappers are filled, bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and remove from the oven when the wrappers are obviously baked and very lightly browned.

Four Fillings

Goat Cheese & Plum

• goat cheese (mine was flavored with honey, from my favorite cheese seller)
• 1 red plum, thinly sliced, with slices cut into thirds
• hazelnuts, chopped
• cinnamon
• agave nectar

Put about 2 tsp of goat cheese in the bottom of the wrapper.  Sprinkle with cinnamon. Place several plum slices on top of cheese, sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts, and drizzle with agave nectar.

Artichoke & Onion

• marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• Italian parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, shredded (choose a good quality cheese and shred it yourself for the best flavor)

Mix ingredients together in equal quantities and spoon into wrappers. Because I was making several varieties, I only wanted four of these, with a total filling need of 4 to 6 Tablespoons. Therefore, I mixed 1 heaping T of each ingredient to make this filling.

Artichoke & Onion. And Shrimp.

• marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• Italian parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, shredded (choose a good quality cheese and shred it yourself for the best flavor)
• shrimp, cooked, peeled, deveined, and chopped

Notice, this the same base as the last variety, but with shrimp added.  Mix the ingredients in the same ratio as above, but add more shrimp according to your taste.  I added twice as much shrimp as other ingredients because I wanted these to be a bit more filling.

Tapenade.

• marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• Italian parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, shredded (choose a good quality cheese and shred it yourself for the best flavor)
• mixed olives in oil, finely chopped

Again, the same artichoke-onion-parm base, this time with olives added.  I bought mixed olives with Italian herbs from the olive bar at my local store, and then chopped and mixed them in.  These I kept in a 1:1 ratio because the olive flavor was strong. You could adjust however you like.

That's it!  Easy to personalize, easy to prepare. My next batch will likely have a cilantro-lemon-goat cheese base...

Nectarine & Corn Salad.

Back in my own kitchen after too long away. Lots to share in the coming days. For now, here's a simple salad we enjoyed this evening.


1 white nectarine, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
3 T cilantro, chopped
2 ears of corn, cooked and cut from cob
2 tsp lime juice


Toss all ingredients in a bowl. Chill for 15 minutes before serving.  Serves 4 as a side salad.  Simple, fresh, tasty!

Chicken Caprese Pasta.

This recipe is one that is completely determined by individual tastes.  Mix and match your favorite ingredients for a fresh, filling pasta.  I recommend trying some new combinations. You never know what you'll learn to love!  Here's my version.

• fresh asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
• cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• fresh mozzarella, cut into bite sized pieces
• sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, sliced into thin strips
• green onions, chopped
• fresh parmesan, grated
• basil leaves, torn

• chicken breast strips
• olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• lemon, cut into quarters

• fettucini

Cook asparagus in small amount of boiling water until just crisp. Plunge asparagus into ice water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Heat oil in large pan. Cook chicken on high until one side is browned.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and turn over.  When both sides of chicken are browned, squeeze the juice of 1/4 lemon over it and sprinkle more seasoning on the chicken.  Turn heat to medium, cover, and continue until chicken is cooked through. (Add a small amount of water to pan if juices cook off before chicken is cooked through.)

While chicken is cooking, prepare tomatoes, green onions and cheeses.  Cook pasta.

To serve, toss pasta with chicken, asparagus, tomatoes, green onions, basil leaves, and cheese.  Squeeze lemon on top, if desired. Yum!

Mushrooms & Shrimp with Pesto on Pasta.

This may well be one of the best meals I've cooked all summer.  Pick any pasta shape you like. We decided on gemelli today.  Use store-bought pesto or make your own, as I did.  As sauteed mushrooms and sauteed shrimp. Toss it together with a bit of freshly grated parmesan on top and pair with a simple green salad.  Mmmm....


Pesto

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients except olive oil in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until well chopped.  Slowly drizzle in olive oil and continue to blend to a smooth consistency.

The Rest

• pasta to serve 4
• 3/4 pound peeled & deveined shrimp
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Saute mushrooms in 2 T olive oil.  When mushrooms are cooked, set aside in a bowl and add 1 T oil to pan.  Saute shrimp in oil.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper before turning. When shrimp are cooked through, remove from heat.  Toss shrimp and mushrooms with pasta.  Spoon pesto over pasta mixture and gently mix together.  Sprinkle parmesan on top and serve.