Stovetop Inventions

With no heart for crowded supermarket aisles on Sunday, putting dinner together turned out to be a dig through the pantry, a juggling of ingredients uncovered, and a bit of improvising at the stove. But that’s fine with me, since I’m the type of “cook” who enjoys dreaming up a mix & match without benefit of a recipe or list of planned ingredients. If push comes to shove there is always on hand a stash of staple ingredients with the potential of a tasty and healthy if not knock-out entree. Times are many when following a cookbook recipe is exactly the exercise I enjoy, but there are equal times when invention is even more fun, and if not delicious then at least interesting and illuminating in a cook-wise sense.

The three primary ingredients that stood out in my Sunday improvisation were shrimp, pasta and a combination of vegetables. It was pure luck the shrimp were on hand, something bought Saturday, stashed in the refrigerator and quickly forgotten. Pasta in one shape or another is always in my pantry, something watched over as closely as salt and olive oil and coffee. This time is was farfalle, or bow-tie pasta. Next, I dug out a stalk of broccoli, part of a cauliflower, snow peas and mushrooms, and also found half a bag of ‘broccoli cole slaw,’ a mix of shoestring broccoli, carrots and red cabbage.

UNNAMED PASTA MEDLEY

Ingredients:

At least ½ a box of farfalle or penne pasta

Dozen or more fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails left on

½ cup diced green pepper

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

2 cups or more of mixed fresh vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, mushrooms and yellow squash

¼ bag of packaged broccoli cole slaw

½ cup roughly chopped mushrooms

8 oz can of Rotello chopped tomato with green chilies, drained

6-7 pimento stuffed olives sliced in half

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

5-6 shredded basil leaves

½ teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Put a large pot of water seasoned with salt and olive oil on to boil. In a large wok heat the olive oil on medium-high heat and add the vegetables, holding the mushrooms back until the end. Stir fry the vegetables adding the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper until almost but not quite soft. Add the pasta to the boiling water and set the timer to al dente; the box has a suggested time. Add the mushrooms and shrimp to the vegetables and cook a few more minutes. Drain and rinse the cooked pasta and add it to the wok along with the basil, olives and chopped tomato with green chilies. Mix well and allow to cook on low heat for no more than 3-4 minutes.

This is a colorful dish and very filling, so the addition of a side salad and maybe a piece of French bread with olive oil should make a delicious and bountiful evening meal. Bon appétit!

From the Whatever Files

I’m not what you would call a cook. I have a sister who with one day’s notice could turn out a five-star dinner for royalty and not even wrinkle her apron. But she’s a natural. As for little brother, I can cook for friends once in a while, managing half the time to elicit a couple of, “Hey, this is good,” comments. When the schedule allows and there’s no pressure, banging the pots and pans around and stirring up something on the stove is a job I don’t mind doing as long as the menu is uncomplicated. Forget about making bread and baking pies, that sort of thing. Keep it simple and I can make a few basic recipes that most of time come to the table tasting pretty good, at least.

For a couple of years I’ve been making an odd kind of pilaf, or rice stir-fry that has over time evolved to a level where I don’t mind offering it to friends, or sharing the ‘recipe,’ which is one made up by me start to finish. It probably won’t work for you if you prefer a meal with a lot of meat, but if you like rice, and you like beans, and a little bit of ground beef, then this recipe below might be a tasty change for you and your friends or family.

For lack of a name, let’s just call it the HEALTHY PILAF.

Ingredients

(Use your own judgement; balance amounts according to the number of people.)

Brown rice - one cup serves maybe three people

Chopped onion

Chopped green pepper - red or yellow also good (adds color)

Handful of Chinese snow peas

Handful of pistachio nuts

A little over 50 grams of ground beef (1 to 2 ounces)

Cup and a half of cooked soy beans

Half an avocado

Big handful of herb greens

Two or three olives for garnishing

Preparation

I cook this in a wok, because it gives you room to stir and toss the ingredients well. First, sauté the ground beef in the wok until it is still pink but beginning to brown. Toss in the chopped onion and pepper, along with the trimmed snow peas. For now, that’s all you want in the wok. Watch it carefully as you stir, as you don’t want to overcook the vegetables. Two or three minutes should do the trick, then turn off the fire under the wok.

In a large bowl mix the cooked rice with the soy beans. Give it a good stir. Add the rice & bean mix to the wok and stir everything together well. Shell the pistachio nuts and be sure to rub off the loose husks well with your fingers. Add the nuts to the mix in the wok, stir them in a little. Cut the avocado half into four parts, peel them and then cut the avocado into bite-sized pieces and add it to the rice mixture. Stir the avocado in carefully, because you don’t want to mash it. By now the whole mixture should be cool enough to add the herb greens without them wilting with heat. Again, toss the mix well until the greens are well integrated. You don’t want the greens to wilt, so don’t overdo it.

Put the whole thing in a serving bowl (a wooden salad bowl works well) and garnish with chopped olives with pimento.

And as Julia Child used to say, “Bon Appetite!”