Yes We Can!

Tangy Tuna and Tomato Rigatoni 
It's the eve of a new term. I had a fantastic 2013 and a great Winter Break of travel, delicious food, and relaxation. But it's (once again) time to focus on work, health, and life. Weeks of celebration can give anyone a bit of a food hang-over and I'm in need of something easy, light(er), and tasty. Matt commented the other day, "It's so nice when you're home more." Yeah . . . this near-month of non-work has its advantages (clean-house, completed projects, yummy slow-cooked dinners) but also its disadvantages (isolation, over-indulgence, etc.) And so here I am ready to delve into a new term of teaching and a new directing project. Once again, my evenings will be monopolized by rehearsals and my days full of teaching. How will I feed my family nourishing meals with such time restrictions? Well . . . things like this. Mostly using panty ingredients, I devised this tangy tuna pasta dinner. It makes a ton of food - great for leftover lunches! I also got to use some of my delicious canned tomatoes from my 2013 crop! The sour zip from briny olives and artichoke hearts play nice with the rich and flaky canned tuna. Yeah . . . not everything is "market fresh" - but it's January for crying out loud! Recipes like this are a great way to get a helping of veggies, fiber, and protein in one deeply satisfying pot! Enjoy and Happy 2014!

Ingredients
- 1 lb. dried rigatoni pasta
- 2 cans tuna (packed in oil or water - olive oil tastes better)
- 28 oz. canned tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 8 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and lightly rinsed
- 1/2 c. chopped olives (a mix of Kalamata and green make a great flavor)
- 1 c. dry white wine
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. capers, drained and roughly chopped
- salt and pepper
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped Italian parsley
- juice from one lemon
- grated Parmesan for serving

Set a large, heavily salted pot of water to boil. While waiting for the water to boil heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-high in a large, heavy pot. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the onions become sweet and translucent (about 6 minutes).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until the garlic becomes sweet and fragrant. Increase heat to high and add white wine, deglaze pan, scrapping dark bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minutes and add tomatoes, sugar, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, lemon juice, and drained cans of tuna.

Bring mixture to a boil, then partially cover, lower heat, and simmer over low for 20-25 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken a bit.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water to al dente (about 9-11 minutes according to package directions). Once pasta is cooked, drain, reserving about a cup of pasta cooking liquid.

Add cooked pasta to sauce then splash some pasta water to loosen sauce. Toss with butter to make a silky and tasty sauce! Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Sprinkle pasta mixture with chopped parsley and stir gently to combine. Serve rigatoni in bowls, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. Very yummy and filling without being too heavy - the perfect January dinner!

In Minutes Flat

Super Fast Greek Chicken Flat Bread Paninis
I must say . . . I have a crush on my panini press. Some sort of leftover meat, a random assortment of condiments, cheese and like magic . . . a hot delicious dinner! Flat bread is a staple in our house for everything from falaffle to fantastic and quick mini pizzas! This time around, I decided to fold it over and grill it panini style. Some leftover homemade Caesar dressing, roasted peppers, and oregano added a flavorful punch to this quick and easy dinner. This recipe makes enough for four flat bread paninis- plenty to share!

Ingredients

- 4 pieces of flat bread

- 1 cooked chicken breast, diced

- 3 Tbsp. prepared Caesar dressing

- 1/4 c. kalamata olives, halved

- 1 roasted red bell pepper

- 4 marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

- 4 slices provolone cheese

- 1 tsp. dried oregano

- 1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

  

Heat panini press to high. In a small bowl, toss chopped chicken breast with Caesar dressing. Set out flat bread pieces and top each with one slice of provolone cheese. Divide chicken, bell pepper, artichoke hearts, and chopped olives amongst paninis and mound ingredients on top of the provolone slices. Sprinkle each panini with a little dried oregano and crumbled feta cheese. Fold each panini in half and place on heated panini press.

Cook paninis on the press for about 5-8 minute until the flat bread becomes toasty and the cheese melts. So quick and easy- it's a great week night family dinner with a little tomato soup or tzatziki sauce for dipping.

Rockin' and Roastin'

Spaghetti with Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Kalamata Olives
If you've been keeping track of this blog, you may have noticed my recent obsession with roasting tomatoes. And why shouldn't I engage in the practice? It's a super easy way to pack the flavor into a variety of recipes. And . . . here's another one. The roasted tomatoes and fresh herbs combined with the creamy goat cheese and salty olives make for a perfect warm-weather dinner. The addition of a little chicken breast made for an easy protein source, but the dish is definitely flavorful enough to omit it for the vegetarians out there. I hope you like it! This was a fairly quick and very easy meal to throw together. I promise you, it was absolutely devoured!

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 2" pieces
- 12 oz. dried spaghetti
- 1 pt. cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 c. dry white wine
- 1/2 c. Kalamata olives sliced in half lengthwise
- 5 oz. soft goat cheese
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with a coat of cooking spray. Rinse cherry tomatoes in water and pick off any remaining stems or leaves then arrange on foil. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the dried oregano and thyme. Roast in oven for about 20-30 minutes. Watch for the tomatoes to soften and for the skins to brown slightly. Remove from oven and set aside to cool while working on the rest of the meal.


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the back burner while preparing the rest of the pasta dish. In a large, heavy skillet with a lid heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Cook chicken breast pieces over medium heat for about 8 minutes until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Season with salt and pepper. Remove chicken from skillet and place in a small bowl. Cover in foil and set aside.

Return the skillet to heat and add another Tbsp. of olive oil and garlic. Cook garlic over medium for about a minute so that it softens and becomes fragrant. Add fresh chopped herbs, wine, and roasted tomatoes and any juices that they have rendered to the skillet, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the heat up to high to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 5-8 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Meanwhile, the water should be at a boil. Cook dried spaghetti until about 2 minutes before it is fully cooked through, so for about 7 minutes. 

Take a measuring cup and scoop out about 1 c. of pasta cooking water. Drain spaghetti and place the noodles in the skillet with the tomato and herb mixture, tossing with tongs to combine thoroughly. Pour about 3/4 c. of the pasta cooking water into the mixture and toss to combine, this should create a starchy, yet watery sauce. Add more pasta water if the mixture seems too dry. Bring the heat up to high so that the mixture comes to a quick boil. Cover and turn the heat to medium low and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, until the pasta is cooked to al dente. Remove skillet from heat. Add the chicken, chopped, olives, and half of the goat cheese.

Using tongs to toss together, combine the ingredients thoroughly. The heat of the pasta will melt the goat cheese into a creamy texture. Once things are nearly combined, add the remaining goat cheese and toss until everything is thoroughly incorporated. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Plate the pasta into 4-6 servings and top with an extra sprinkle of chopped Italian parsley if desired.

Peasant Uprising!

Golden Polenta Cakes Puttanesca

The appropriation and reinvention "low culture" to suit the tastes of the social elite is apparent in many areas of society. The gentrification of run-down neighborhoods into boutique-ridden hipster haunts or the commodification of the deliberate youth revolt against materialism into "grunge fashion" come to mind . . . And so it goes with food. When I first encountered polenta, it was served rich and creamy under a braised beef shank. It was decadent and delicious, but my father was quick to dismiss the polenta as "Italian peasant food" and the use of it in a fine dining experience as somehow cheating the consumer of a more authentically highbrow meal. He is right. Polenta is "peasant food" - essentially a corn meal mush and, on its own, nothing to get terribly exited about. But in its elegant simplicity lies the potential for a fantastic meal. In an effort to embrace this concept of "peasant food," I put together the two most down-and-dirty ideas I could muster and came up with polenta with a puttanesca (translated literally from Italian as "whore"). This was a quick, easy meal that elevates this pair of Italian peasants something darn, near sophisticated.

Ingredients
- 1 8 oz. tube of polenta (I got it at Trader Joes) sliced into 1/4" disks
- 5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 lb. mixed cherry tomatoes, rinsed and sliced in half
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 small red onion, peeled and diced
- 3 Tbsp. capers, chopped
- 1 small bunch Italian parsley, chopped
- 1/4 c. kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise
- fontina cheese, cut into 2" square slices

In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, onion, vinegar, sugar, capers, olives, and parsley. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Preheat broiler. Heat remaining olive oil over medium-high in a large skillet. Working in batches, fry polenta slices (about 2-3 minutes per side) in hot oil until the edges start to crisp slightly. Drain on paper towels.

When polenta slices are are cooked, arrange evenly spaced on a large pie plate or other broiler-proof cookware. Top each polenta disk with a small piece of cheese. place under broiler and cook until the cheese begins to melt and turns brown a bubbly. Remove from heat. To plate, arrange several slices of polenta and top with puttanesca It's vegetarian and really yummy. . . check it out.