Healthy Pasta Bake in 15 minutes flat

It's possible I overbooked myself tonight, with a Vortex Cellars wine tasting just north of the city and The Dignitaries' three-year anniversary of the Seattle P-I's in the south end. And with home smack dab in the middle, there was no question about whether we would find the time to eat. The only question was whether it would be faster to go out and grab a quick bite to eat or to whip something together at home.

We pondered the options, I pondered the pantry, and I decided the wine drinking needed to continue, which meant home was the only realistic choice. With just 30 minutes to spare, I sliced up some onion, garlic and spinach, and got cooking with wine glass in hand.

Spinach and White Bean Pasta Bake
2 cups uncooked rotini pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
10 ounces spinach, chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, divided

Cook pasta according to package directions, and preheat broiler.

Heat a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then stir in onion until it begins to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, then add tomatoes, oregano and basil. Simmer while the noodles cook, at least 5-10 minutes. When pasta has about 2 minutes left to go, add the beans to heat them through.

Drain pasta, then stir spinach into the sauce until wilted. Stir in the noodles and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese until everything is just barely mixed. Transfer to a baking dish, then sprinkle mozzarella and remaining 1/4-cup Parmesan cheese on top.

Broil until cheese begins to bubble, just a few minutes, then serve immediately.

Coconut milk cools down spicy cauliflower soup

This creamy cauliflower soup might not look like much, but that's sort of the point of making a bisque anyway. It's supposed to be so smooth and creamy that you can't see anything but the color of the vegetable. I'm still learning the garnishing part, so maybe next time I'll cut up some chives before I grab my camera!

Cauliflower is chock-full of nutrients like vitamin C and fiber, but it’s not always beloved when served on its own. This soup, which is just as smooth and creamy as it is daringly spicy, is sure to please both those who love and loathe cauliflower.

Belly-Warming Cauliflower Soup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small leek (white and light green parts only), thinly chopped
½ head cauliflower, chopped (about 3 cups)
1 star anise
5 whole cloves
2 whole allspice
½ teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon red chile flakes
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
½ teaspoon salt

Heat medium sauce pan over medium-high heat and add coconut oil. Cook leeks until they begin to wilt and brighten in color, about 4 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook until it begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the star anise, whole cloves, allspice, red chile flakes and garam masala, and stir for about a minute. Add coconut milk, water and salt, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until cauliflower has softened but is not yet mushy, about 20 minutes. Remove star anise, whole cloves and allspice, then blend until smooth. Reheat if needed, then serve.

Note: You also can place the anise, cloves and allspice in a piece of cheesecloth tied shut with a piece of twine. Add with the water.

Spread the love with Cranberry Bean and Pesto Spread

While I was preparing for my culinary class this week, I was pondering just what I could do to make a bean spread that was creative. Who hasn't tried hummus with sun-dried tomatoes, or pesto, or roasted bell peppers? But then again, although I've tried all those as store-bought brands, I've never actually made them.

So I rather boringly decided to throw together a bean dip made with cranberry beans that we pressure-cooked (in under an hour, oh my!) mixed with pesto ingredients. Boring, perhaps, but also dang delicious! So delicious, I just must share it with you!

Cranberry Bean Spread with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
2 teaspoons oil from sun-dried tomato jar
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, packed
2 cups cooked cranberry beans
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup water
1 teaspoon salt
Dash freshly ground black pepper

Chop garlic in a food processor, then add pine nuts, followed by sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, all with the motor running. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the basil. Add some of the olive oil if needed to help blend the basil. When processed ingredients have a similar consistency, add the beans. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the right consistency has been reached. Add salt and pepper, then adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with crackers or flat breads and vegetables.

Experiments with Sage and Pork Chops

For years, I've been making Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce pretty much every time I buy pork chops. Once in a while, I'll mix it up and make Wiener Schnitzel or some other time-consuming dish, but my mainstay is just so quick and easy.

However, after experimenting in my culinary class with sage, one of the few herbs my sensitive palate doesn't hate, I decided to try to throw something together with my new favorite herb.

Unfortunately, my new favorite herb didn't add quite as much flavor to the dish as I thought it would, but because I brined the pork chops (the secret to success every time, it seems) they still turned out buttery and delicious:

Sage Pork Chops
3 cups water
1 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
4 boneless pork chops
2 tablespoons olive oil
16 large sage leaves
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon

In a large glass bowl with a lid, stir water, peppercorns sugar, salt, sage and zest until salt has dissolved. Add pork chops. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours.

Discard brine, then rinse pork chops and pat dry with paper towels. Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet big enough to fit all the pork chops over medium heat. Cook sage in oil for 1-2 minutes on each side, but do not burn. Remove sage from skillet and set aside. Place garlic cloves in oil and cook until brown and fragrant. Discard garlic.

Place pork chops in skillet and cook on each side for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned. A meat thermometer should register 155 degress Fahrenheit. Set pork chops on a plate and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add the lemon juice to the olive oil and let simmer until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Drizzle sauce over pork chops and garnish with cooked sage leaves.

A guiltily delicious weekend with Buttermilk Biscuits

What do you do on the weekend with a half-pint of buttermilk that needs to get used? Well, make buttermilk biscuits, of course!

Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, cut in small pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together dry ingredients, then add the shortening and continue mixing until it looks like coarse corn meal. Slowly add the buttermilk until dough is just barely mixed. Dump contents on a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes. Roll out to a thickness of 3/4-inch, then cut out biscuits using a floured mug/glass and place on cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 8-10 minutes.

Note: I actually used bacon grease for this batch, and they turned out delicious but not quite as fluffy as with shortening.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

It's been a snowy couple of days for us unsnowy people, so I missed a trip to Mom's to celebrate Chinese New Year and had to throw my own, much less traditional affair. Part of the problem is that I don't really understand the tradition, except that it has to do with eating. And that, I can do.

I did, however, make one of Mom's recipes. Well, actually, it's Jamie Oliver's recipe for Monkfish Wrapped in Banana leaves with Ginger, Cilantro, Chile, and Coconut Milk. But since Mom discovered him and this recipe years ago, it has evolved into her creation and hers alone.

Gotta say, I really don't think I ruined this one. You'll notice that the fish, however, is not wrapped in banana leaves, and that is something I definitely picked up from Mom. To be sure, banana leaves would add eons of flavor, but it's so much easier to just use a casserole dish with a lid.

To impress your friends or family, I would suggest following Jamie's delectable recipe, but my way is definitely the easier option! Here's how I made what we'll call:

White Fish with Ginger, Cilantro, Chile and Coconut Milk
Adapted from a recipe by Jamie Oliver

4 (6-to 8-ounce) pieces white fish such as monkfish rock fish, Pacific mahi mahi, farmed striped bass or farmed catfish
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced and zested
1 can (2 cups) coconut milk
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 sticks lemon grass, smashed and chopped in 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place fish in a casserole dish with a lid. Mix remaining ingredients, except for the lemon grass, in a food processor. Add lemon grass and pour mixture over the fish. Cook until fish is done, about 15 minutes. Remove lemon grass and garnish with sliced green onions, if desired. Serve with rice drenched in sauce.

In yet another Chinese New Year shoutout to Mom, I made Stir-Fried Broccoli that of course tasted nothing like hers. Each time I stir-fry I get closer, but like I've said before, I just need to turn up the heat. Well, at least got the basics down!

Stir-Fried Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or other high-heat cooking oil)
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 onion, sliced
1 bunch broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
Splash rice wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon corn starch
1-2 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce, to taste

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil, garlic salt and onion. Stir fry until onion begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove onion from pan and add broccoli. Cook until bright but not wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Return onions to pan, and add rice wine. Cover pan and let wine simmer for about a minute. Meanwhile, combine chicken broth and corn starch in a small bowl. Add to the stir-fry with the oyster sauce, and bring to a simmer to thicken the sauce. Serve immediately.

Practicing the art of cutting up a whole chicken

You're probably going to get really sick of me talking about my new cooking class, but with all of the cool stuff I'm learning, I hope I can pass on at least a few little gems of knowledge!

Or maybe even some big gems, like this week's lesson where we learned how to cut up a whole chicken. My parents can cut up chickens with their eyes closed, but despite their efforts to teach me, I've always been scared to do it myself. Even after watching my mostly vegetarian teacher make cutting up a chicken look like a cake walk, I still was scared and took forever making the tiny little cuts.

But this is culinary skill I definitely want to utilize — it's a much more inexpensive way to eat chicken, and it's such a great way to make broth (something we also did in class this week). So since practice makes perfect, I decided to give it a try on my own this weekend while it was still fresh in my mind (and without a teacher grading me on my skills or lack thereof!).

Not to shabby! Well, except for the gorgeous "oyster" in the middle. My still-untrained hand left the tenderest piece of the thigh on the carcass, so I cut it out anyway and just roasted it on its own. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again, but I think it's going to take a few more whole chickens before I get this one down.

We also were given free reign of the spice cabinet to make a roasted chicken breast in class, and I think mine turned out so delicious, I plan to make it again.

Cinnamon-and-Spice Roasted Chicken Breast

You can use any combination of your favorite spices mixed with olive oil to make roasted chicken breast, but on a chilly night this cinnamon-and-spice combination is sure to warm you to the bones.

1 boneless chicken breast, skin intact (or other similar-sized chicken pieces)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
1/4 teaspoon anise seed
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine olive oil and spices on a plate. Place chicken on the plate and rub the mixture onto both sides. Allow to marinate for 5 to 15 minutes.

Heat a dry, heavy skillet to medium-high. When skillet is hot but not smoking, place chicken in skillet, skin-side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until it starts to pop and looks cooked on the bottom quarter.

Turn breast over and place entire skillet in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: For a more intense flavor, try using whole spices and grinding them along with the anise seed and chile flakes.