Really bright and fresh dish.

My love of pasta is deep. I’m a quarter Italian. I love carbs. It’s a match made in heaven for me really.

But there’s a slight problem with pasta. It can be a bit two dimensional.

What I mean is that pasta typically comes in two forms: either drowned in tomato sauce or drowned in cream.

Both are good, but both aren’t good all the time. Sometimes I’m in the mood for pasta (actually I’m always pretty much in the mood for pasta), but the tomato or cream options leave me stranded.

But a dish like this is my pasta savior. My favorite thing about this dish is that you can smell it when you’re in the other room. The lemon flavors cut through all the other stuff and just smack you in the face. It takes normal pasta flavors and makes them altogether new.

Lemon and Bacon Pasta

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

10-12 ounces fettuccine or linguine
4 ounces thick bacon or pancetta
1 pound broccoli florets, about 5 cups
1/4 Cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 Cup olive oil
1 large lemon, zest and juice (you can use two if you love lemon)
2 Teaspoons fresh thyme
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Pepper

Helpful Equipment:
Zester for lemons (I also use it to grate Parm)

Directions:

1) Prep all the ingredients. Dice bacon. Cut up broccoli into florets. Grate cheese. Zest and juice lemon.

2) In a large pot, bring salted water to boil. Once boiling, add broccoli florets and boil for 2 minutes until bright. Remove with slotted spoon and run under cold water to stop the cooking.

3) Add bacon to a small pan over medium high heat and cook until crispy, about 10 minutes.

4) Cook pasta in same water as broccoli.

5) Drain pasta and return to same pot. Stir in butter, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme, and if you want, a bit of bacon grease.

6) Stir well to combine, then fold in broccoli and bacon.

7) Season with pepper and serve with a handful of Parmesan cheese.

Prepping the Ingredients

This whole meal takes about 30 minutes to make, but there are a few different tasks. First, you’ll need to blanch the broccoli before adding it to the pasta at the end.

Since you’ll need to get water boiling for the pasta anyway, you can just use the same boiling water to blanch the broccoli.

Good greens.

Chop the broccoli into even florets, no bigger than one inch. You might have to chop some in half or even in quarters. Once your water is boiling, add 1 Tablespoon of salt and then add all your broccoli florets.

Cook them for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly. They should turn really bright green. Remove the florets from the water with a slotted spoon and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process. They should have a tiny bite to them still.

Set them aside for later!

You’ll also need to dice up some bacon. Again, not hard. I recommend the thick stuff for this recipe.

You could use pancetta...

Zesting and juicing the lemon is another task. I always think it’s easier to zest before juicing. Remember to try to get just the bright yellow skin of the lemon, not the white pith underneath which is really bitter.

I used just one lemon, but I think if I make this again, I might even up it to two just to bring an even more lemony flavor to the dish.

Using the whole lemon...

Add your bacon to a pan over medium-high heat and cook it until the pieces are very crispy. This might take 10 minutes. You can start cooking your pasta during this time also.

Once the bacon is nice and crispy, remove it from the pan. These are the few other ingredients you’ll need.

A few of my favorite things.

Cook your pasta according to the package and after you drain it, add it back to the pot with the butter, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and thyme. Stir that all together really well.

If you wanted to enhance the bacon flavor, you could add 1 Tablespoon of bacon grease to the pasta as well. I didn’t do this, but I considered it!

Once your pasta is coated well with the sauce, stir in the bacon and broccoli and you’re ready to go! Don’t forget to add some pepper. It probably won’t need salt because the Parmesan cheese is pretty salty.

Mix it up!

Serve up the pasta with a good sprinkle of cheese on top.

Lots of cheese obviously.

Betsy was worried about this dish being too heavy because of the bacon and butter and stuff, but it’s actually really light. The ratio of butter and oil to pasta is relatively small compared to a standard cream based pasta recipe and the lemon brightens the whole dish and makes it really good.

If you’re in a pasta rut, give this guy a shot.

Trust me though. I’m not complaining. I’m like a kid in a candy store. One of the gifts we received that I’ve been dying for is a really nice wok. In the past, when I made stir-fries, I used a normal pan, but now I can use a real deal wok and it’s a lot of fun.

My first meal with my new toy was this simple and delicious beef and broccoli stir-fry.

Saucy, but not too saucy.

My main problem with most beef and broccoli stir-fries comes down to two issues that most take-out joints fail at. First, the broccoli is normally WAY overcooked. Soggy broccoli sucks. Second, the whole dish is way over-sauced and goopy. I think this recipe and cooking method gets rid of both of those issues.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound beef, sliced thin (strip steak or flank steak work great)
1 pound broccoli florets
1 red pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 inches of ginger, peeled and minced
1 Tablespoon neutral oil
Brown rice (or your favorite) for serving

Marinade for beef:
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon corn starch
1 Teaspoon chili oil
Pinch of red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
2 Teaspoons rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 Teaspoon corn starch
1 Teaspoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon chili oil
1/4 cup chicken stock (or water)
Fresh ground pepper

Helpful Equipment:
A wok! (But you can use any large saute pan.) I'm not going to link to a specific wok recommendation. More on that in the post.

Directions:

1) Slice the steak thinly. Whisk together marinade ingredients and marinade steak for at least 15 minutes.

2) Blanch broccoli florets in salted water for 1.5-2 minutes. Then dunk them in ice water to stop the cooking.

3) Prep all the other stir fry ingredients and whisk together your sauce ingredients. Make sure everything is ready before you start cooking.

4) Get your pan over high heat and let it heat until it's really hot. Then add a drizzle of oil and the steak. Cook it for about 90 seconds, until it's mostly cooked.

5) Next, add the red peppers and cook for another minute. Then add in the ginger and garlic and cook for another 15 seconds.

6) Pour in sauce and stir. Add in blanched broccoli and cook for another minute. Sauce should reduce down immediately.

7) Serve stir fry with rice!

Preparing the Beef

Marinating the beef before cooking for 15 minutes or so gives it a flavor boost and also the corn starch helps it to form a good crust on the outside of the beef as it cooks. Try to slice your beef pretty thin, but not deli style thin.

Slice it thin people.

Prepping other stuff

While the beef is marinating, go ahead and prep all your other ingredients. You want to make sure you have everything ready before you start cooking this meal.

To solve the soggy broccoli problem, blanch the broccoli florets in boiling salted water for about 90 seconds – 2 minutes. They should be bright green. Then transfer them straight to an ice bath (also salted) to stop the cooking process. The florets should be bright green and still have a little crunch to them.

Now you can add them right at the very end of the cooking process and they’ll be perfectly cooked by the time they heat up.

Don't go light on the garlic and ginger.

Making the sauce

If you cook stir-fries regularly, you’ll probably have most of these ingredients already. I actually was out of rice wine vinegar so I substituted white wine vinegar without any noticeable difference in flavor. Also, be careful with the oyster sauce. That’s the stuff where if you over-do it you can end up with the dreaded goopy sauce of take-out places.

But used correctly, it’s delicious.

Saucy!

The Pan in Question

The reason I didn’t really recommend a specific wok is because I’m not sure that I know enough about them to feel comfortable doing so. I can tell you that based on my somewhat limited research, it seems like there are only two kinds that are worth getting if you’re in the market: A stainless steel style with an aluminum or copper core or a more traditional carbon steel variety. These are the best styles for even heating and high heat cooking.

The cored stainless steel is easy to clean and maintain and the carbon steel acts like cast iron in that it needs to be treated and seasoned. For the home kitchen, I think both probably wok fine. (So punny)

I ended up getting the stainless steel version and I’m very happy with it after the first use. Maybe someday if I have enough room in my kitchen, I’ll pick up a carbon steel variety just for comparison (they are a lot cheaper also).

The beast.

Cooking the Stir-Fry

Regardless of what pan you are using, put it over high heat and get it hot. A drop of water should sizzle and evaporate instantly on it. Then add your oil to the pan and it should glisten immediately. Throw in your beef next and arrange the pieces around the pan. They should cook after just 30 seconds or maybe a bit longer.

Next add your red pepper and give everything a toss. If the dish looks really dry at any point, add a bit more oil.

So literally, you’ve been cooking for maybe a minute or 90 seconds at this point and it’s time to add the ginger and garlic. I made a little well right in the middle and tossed those in. Adding them that close to the end ensures that they won’t burn.

Wok cooking goes fast...

After 10-15 seconds of cooking the garlic and ginger, add the sauce to the pan. It should sizzle like crazy and start thickening right away. After another 15 seconds or so, add your broccoli to the pan.

Blanching this stuff is KEY.

Another 20-30 seconds and your sauce should be thick, but not goopy and everything should be perfectly cooked. Pour it out on a big platter and let people help themselves to some rice and stir-fry!

What's not to love?!

As you can imagine, there are a ton of variations on this dish, but this is a really good start.

Has anyone used or owned a carbon steel wok? This dish turned out great for me in the aluminum core stainless steel, but I’m naturally curious.

Anyway, I made a dish very simple to this a few months ago, but the technique that they recommend in Cook’s Illustrated for stir-frying broccoli is definitely different than the one I used. It produced great results though.

Warning: If you’re not a broc lover, maybe you should skip this post and just check out a random recipe or something.

Pretty tasty... assuming you like broccoli.

But assuming you even somewhat like the green stuff, this is a great dish. It’s very healthy and just left me feeling energized. Betsy had the same review and even handled the leftovers before I could have any!

Stir-Fried Broccoli

Yield: Serves 3-4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds broccoli, cut florets into 1/2 inch pieces. Peel stalk and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 Teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Garlic oil:
2 Teaspoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 Teaspoon red pepper flake

Main sauce:
1/3 Cup chicken broth (homemade is best)
1 Tablespoon dry sherry (I substituted rice vinegar)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
1 Teaspoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Thai chili sauce (or chili-garlic sauce)
1/2 Teaspoon Sriracha (optional)

Toppings:
Chopped peanuts
Sesame seeds
Broccoli sprouts

Directions:

1) Cut broccoli into even-sized pieces. Peel the stalk and cut it into about 1/4 inch pieces. You can go as big as 1/2 inch pieces for the florets.

2) Prepare the rice according to package.

3) Combine garlic oil ingredients in a small bowl and let them marinate a bit.

4) Whisk together main sauce ingredients in a separate bowl as well.

5) Add broccoli to a large skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of oil. This will give the broccoli time to steam a bit as it cooks.

6) After about 6 minutes of cooking, add sugar to the broccoli and continue to cook. The sugar should caramelize the broccoli a bit.

7) Right before broccoli is cooked, make a small well in the pan and add in the garlic oil mixture. Let it cook for 15 seconds in the hot spot and then mix everything together.

8) Finally add the main sauce and stir. Cook for about a minute and the sauce should thicken immediately.

9) Serve the broccoli over rice with extra Sriracha and/or chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.

Adapted from a Cook's Illustrated.

Prepping the Broc

One of the most important things about this recipe is making sure you take your time prepping the broccoli.

Big Stalks.

You need to make sure that the stalks and florets are cut into evenly sized pieces or the dish won’t cook evenly. The stalk pieces are much harder to cook so cut them into smaller pieces. I did about 1/2 inch pieces for my florets and 1/4 inch pieces for my stalk.

The exact size isn’t as important as making sure that your pieces are uniform.

Also, before you cut up your stalk, remember to peel it! The outside skin of the stalk is really tough, but the inside is tender and tasty.

Peeling and Chopping...

The Sauces

Besides the broccoli, there are three things you need to do to get this meal ready. You want to make sure to do all of these or at least get them started before actually starting to cook your broccoli. The cooking will go fast once it’s started.

Rice – Gotta have rice with this meal in my opinion. I used some Basmati, but use whatever you have available.

Garlic Chili Oil – We’ll add this to our broc near the end, but basically just combine your oil, chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and let them chill for now.

Spicy oil!

The main sauce – The main sauce for the broccoli has a chicken broth base. I beefed my version up a bit from the one they had in the magazine by adding some sriracha to it.

The chicken broth I used was some I had frozen from the stock I made after my five spice roasted chicken. See! Making stock does pay off later!

A bit spicier than the original

Basically, just whisk together all of your sauce ingredients so the cornstarch doesn’t clump and then you’re all set!

Very good sauce.

Cooking the broccoli

I’ve had pretty good success stir-frying broccoli in the past by steaming it slightly first and then cooking in a blazing hot pan.

The method they recommend give you the best of both worlds but definitely contradicts what I think of when I think of stir-fry. For one, the recommend against using a wok. Instead, they recommend a heavy skillet.

Second, instead of high heat, they say to cook over a medium high heat which will give the broccoli time to steam a bit while cooking.

Third, and most strangely of all, the say to sprinkle a tiny pinch of sugar on it cooks. This will bring out the sweetness in the broccoli and also help to caramelize it a bit.

All of these things worked like a charm for me!

I added my broccoli to a hot pan with a Tablespoon or two of oil over medium high heat and let it cook for a few minutes, stirring every minute or two. Then I hit it with a pinch of sugar and stirred more. My broc was perfectly cooked and a bit brown after 10 minutes!

Adding the Sauces

CI recommends adding the garlic oil after your broccoli is mostly cooked so it doesn’t burn. Following their lead, I made a well in my pan and poured the oil garlic mixture right in the center!

Their method. Not mine.

Let that cook over the same heat for literally 15-20 seconds. Then mix it all together with your garlic.

Next, add your main sauce to the mix. It should start bubbling immediately. Stir continuously for the next minute or so and the sauce should cook down pretty substantially.

It should coat the broccoli but not be really thick like some sauces that you get with take-out dishes.

This was how my finished version looked:

Not goopey at all!

I plated my stir-fry over rice and drizzled it with a little extra Sriracha for more heat and topped it with chopped peanuts and sesame seeds for some texture.

Gotta serve on rice.

I think my previous method of quickly steaming the broc and then stir-frying it over high heat works equally well, but this is a bit easier and only requires one pot.

It’s a great way to guarantee good results with stir-fried broccoli and the sauce is really awesome.

The sauce is spicy enough to give tons of flavor to the dish and I don’t really miss the meat!

Spicy and healthy!

This dish is very flexible. I’ve made it twice now two completely different ways. The sauce is very adjustable and I’ve topped it with peanuts or cashews, different kinds of sprouts, and scallions one time and cilantro one time. So go crazy with it!

Broccoli Pad Thai

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 pounds broccoli, cut into florets
1 package (14 ounces) rice noodles
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Sauce:
1/4 Cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (obviously leave this out if you are shooting for a true vegetarian version)
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon chili sauce (I used a chili garlic sauce one time. It was awesome. Also adjust this to your heat desires.)
1 lime, juice only
3 inches ginger, peeled and grated

Garnishes:
Peanuts or cashews, chopped
Sprouts, bean or broccoli are good
Scallions
Cilantro
More chili sauce or soy sauce to taste!

Helpful Equipment:
Wok
Vegetable Steamer

Directions:

1) Chop off all florets from the broccoli, cutting them so they are basically the same size. Peel the stalk and chop it as well (optional).

2) Par-cook the broccoli until it’s cooked but still slightly crunchy. You could do this in a pan or other options to cooking the broccoli are to use a steamer for four minutes or blanching the florets in salted, boiling water for about 3 minutes and then shock them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking. They should be bright green when they’re done and cooked but still slightly crunchy.

3) Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. This should involve putting them in boiling water (off the heat) for about 15 minutes. Remember to use a lot of water (one gallon per package). Also, be sure to stir every few minutes.

4) Drain the noodles through a colander and give them a rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

5) Lightly beat a few eggs.

6) Whisk sauce ingredients up in a bowl.

7) Add sauce to a hot pan or wok. Once it is hot, add all noodles and begin stirring to combine the noodles and the sauce for a few minutes.

8) Once the noodles are hot and the sauce is reducing, add eggs and stir more. The eggs should cook almost instantly.

9) Add broccoli and keep stirring.

10) After a minute or two of cooking, it should be done. The sauce should be reduced down and thick and the noodles and broccoli should be hot and the egg cooked.

11) Serve with toppings – sprouts, nuts, soy sauce, chili sauce, etc.

Preparing the Broccoli

The first thing I like to do for this meal is prep the broccoli. Start by chopping off all the florets. If some are larger, cut them in half so they are basically the same size. If you wanted to you could peel the broccoli stalk and chop it up as well. I just used the florets though.

Next, you want to par-cook the broccoli until it’s cooked but still slightly crunchy. Soggy broccoli does not make a good Pad Thai. If you have a steamer, that’s probably the easiest, but I also made this one time and blanched the florets in salted, boiling water for about 4 minutes and then shocked them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking. That worked just as well as steaming. If you are steaming though, they’ll probably take about 5 minutes. They should be bright green when they’re done and cooked but still slightly crunchy.

Steamin' broccoli! Steamin' BroccolAY!

Preparing the Other Ingredients

Besides the broccoli, there’s a few other things you need to get ready for the meal. First, is the noodles. Basically, just cook them according to the directions on the package. This should involve putting them in boiling water (off the heat) for about 15 minutes. The two important things to remember about rice noodles is to make sure you use a lot of water. One gallon per package is probably good. Also, be sure to give them a stir every few minutes. If you don’t do these things, the noodles have a tendency to stick together and you’ll end up with clumps of uncooked noodles in your Pad Thai.

Strange creatures.

Once your noodles are cooked, drain them through a colander and give them a rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

Also, lightly beat a few eggs!

Whip it good. And by good I mean lightly.

Making the Sauce

While your broccoli or noodles are cooking, you need to prepare the sauce. These are a few of the things you will need. You’ll also want some soy sauce and ginger for sure.

Missing from the photo is soy sauce

Basically, just whisk everything up in a bowl. I think it’s pretty important to taste this and adjust for your taste buds. I consider my version above to be middle of the road spicy. It’s an incredibly flexible recipe though so taste a tiny bit and adjust. The sauce should be pretty intense because it has to flavor a lot of noodles and broccoli.

Good lookin' sauce!

Cooking the Pad Thai

It’s important to have all your ingredients ready before you start. This dish goes pretty fast, especially if you have a good wok. If you don’t, you can still make this dish though. I made it once just using my largest skillet and it was extremely edible.

To start, add your sauce to a hot pan. It will sizzle and bubble and start to reduce immediately. Once it is hot, add all your noodles and begin stirring to combine the noodles and the sauce. If you have a good hot wok, this will go very quickly – just a few minutes will do the trick for sure.

My crappy version of stir-fry.

Once the noodles are hot and the sauce is reducing, add your eggs and stir more. The eggs should cook almost instantly. Then add your broccoli to the party! Again, this is a stir fry. Not a let-sit fry. So keep stirring it!

Nice.

Toppings Galore

After a minute or two of cooking, it should be done. The sauce should be reduced down and thick and the noodles and broccoli should be hot and the egg cooked. The real fun of this dish involves toppings. I like to put out a bunch of bowls of various toppings (above in the recipe) that people can add to their individual servings.

I think some sprouts, a few nuts, and a good drizzle of extra soy sauce or chili sauce makes for a good version.

Top with all kinds of good stuff.

Start to finish this dish takes about 30-45 minutes to make depending on how good you are at multi-tasking and how hot you can get your pan or wok. It feeds a family and is pretty economical if you have a well-stocked pantry. All I needed to buy for my version was broccoli, rice noodles, limes, and ginger. It’s great the next day for leftovers also!

I haven’t experimented too much with Thai dishes like this, but I found it pretty straightforward and was as good as most (but not all) Pad Thais that I’ve ordered for take out. If you are looking for something healthy and quick this week, give it a shot!

This one pot dinner also happens to be pretty quick to make. The salmon and rice go great together and the only tricky part is making sure not to overcook anything.

This photo doesn’t really do this meal justice because of my haphazard plating, but it’s healthy, fast, and good eats.

Hmm... Not my best photo.

Salmon and Rice Dinner

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 5-6 ounce salmon fillets
3/4 Cups shallots or onions, minced
1 1/2 Cups basmati rice
3 1/4 Cups low-salt chicken stock or water (may need to adjust this)
1 bunch broccoli, or 2 Cups broccoli florets
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Glaze:
1/4 Cup fresh lime juice (about 1.5 limes)
2 Tablespoons lime zest
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 Tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste)

Helpful Equipment:
Dutch Oven

Directions:

1) Mince up cilantro, zest and juice lime, and then whisk everything together. Chop broccolini and onion or shallots for the rice.

2) If you purchase a larger piece of fish (instead of pre-cut salmon fillets), remove pin bones and remove the skin.

3) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

4) Heat up oil in dutch oven (it’s important that your dish can go from stove top to oven).

5) Once oil is hot, add shallots or onions and sauté them until they are soft. Then add rice and stir it into onions for a few seconds until it’s hot.

6) Next add stock and then bring the mixture to a simmer on the stove top. Once it’s simmering, add the lid and stick the pot in your very hot oven for about 10 minutes.

7) After 10 minutes, pull the pot out. The rice should be mostly cooked. If it’s dry, add another 1/4 Cup of stock or water to the dish.

8) Season all your salmon fillets with some salt and pepper and then put them down into the rice.

9) Finally, add broccolini, to the pot and then drizzle about 1 Tablespoon of sauce over each fillet.

10) Cover and return it back to the oven for about 8 minutes.

11) Once the salmon is cooked, drizzle the rest of the sauce over the dish and serve it up!

From a Bon Appetit Oct. 2009 recipe.

Making the Glaze

There’s only a few things you need to actually prep for this dish, the sauce being the first thing I prepped. You’ll need this stuff for the glaze.

Simple ingredients for a sauce.

Basically, just mince up your cilantro, zest and juice your lime, and then whisk everything together. Taste this and adjust it to your tastes. I actually added a bit more soy sauce than the original recipe.

A very good glaze.

Other Prep Business

Besides the sauce there are just a few things to address. First, prep your broccolini. If you haven’t used broccolini before, it’s great for this recipe because it cooks a bit faster than normal broccoli. You can by all means use normal broccoli if you want though. I would just make sure your florets are fairly small to make sure they cook evenly.

You could use normal broccoli oviously.

Also, chop up your onion or shallots for the rice.

Finally, let’s address the fish. You can definitely buy salmon fillets already cut, but I got a larger piece and decided to cut it down myself. The benefit of doing that is that you can cut the pieces to size. So if Betsy wants a smaller piece I can cut a 5 ounce piece for her and a 7 ounce piece for me. Also, I think the fish usually stays a little fresher if it’s in larger pieces.

Good color on this guy!

If you do get a larger piece, you’ll have two things to address. First, pin bones. These guys are medium sized bones that run throughout the length of the fillet. You can definitely leave them in if you’re in a rush, but it’ll make for a better dining experience if you remove them before cooking. This is actually kind of hard to do if you don’t have the right tools. Here’s a good tutorial on how to do it. If you have a nice butcher they might do it for you also!

Your cut will most likely come with skin on. Take a sharp knife and just run it along the back of the fillet to separate the skin from the meat.

I don’t really have good tools for removing the pin bones and forgot to ask the butcher to do it for me, so my pieces ended up a bit mushed. That’s okay though. They’ll still cook up nicely for this dish.

Go for about 6 ounce pieces.

Cooking the dish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Then heat up your oil in your dutch oven (it’s important that your dish can go from stove top to oven). Once your oil is hot, add your shallots or onions and sauté them until they are soft. Then add your rice and stir it into your onions for a few seconds until it’s hot.

Kind of like risotto.

Next add your stock and then bring the mixture to a simmer on the stove top. Once it’s simmering, add the lid and stick the pot in your very hot oven for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, pull the pot out. The rice should be mostly cooked. If it’s dry, add another 1/4 Cup of stock or water to the dish. Then, season all your salmon fillets with some salt and pepper and then wedge them down into the rice.

Makes for easy clean up!

Finally, add your broccolini, to the pot and then drizzle about 1 Tablespoon of your sauce over each fillet.

Good flavors happening here.

Cover this guy and return it back to the oven for about 8 minutes. It cooks really quickly so keep an eye on it. When I made it I cooked it for about 10 minutes and my salmon was just a bit overcooked in my opinion.

Once the salmon is cooked, drizzle the rest of the sauce over the dish and serve it up! I’m sure there’s a better way to plate this dish so it’s really pretty, but I was starving so I just kind of tossed it all on a plate!

Better than it looks!

The dinner was great. The salmon was good, the broccolini was cooked but still had a bit of a bite to it that I like. The rice was very flavorful and it may have been my second favorite part of the dish.

My absolute favorite part of this dish though? One pot. Easy clean up!

It would be solid for a picnic or just to use as a side dish. It always keeps really well and I ate it throughout the week. The night we made it though we just ate with some toasted homemade bread.

Turns out broccoli makes a good salad.

Before I dive into the recipe, I have to admit something. I was kind of a bad food blogger for this recipe. I took photos, but I wasn’t exactly measuring all the ingredients. Luckily, I don’t think this is a recipe that calls for exact proportions. In any event, the recipe below is just an approximation, but I’m very certain that it will produce good results and also that you could add a bit more or less of any one ingredient and it should be fine.

Broccoli Salad

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1-1.5 pounds of broccoli, floret and stems
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 red peppers, roasted, or maybe 1.5 Cups of jarred red peppers
1 Cup Kalamata olives
1 Cup Feta cheese
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Prep the broccoli by cutting off all the florets and then peel the stems and chop them into half inch cubes.

2) Dunk all the broccoli into a large pot of boiling salted water. (I usually use about 1 Tablespoon of salt per gallon of water and I always just approximate it.)

3) After about 3 or 4 minutes, drain your broccoli using a colander and then dunk the colander into ice water.

4) Roast peppers in the oven (450 degrees for about 30-40 minutes turning every 10 minutes or so) or on top of your gas stove (set the peppers right on the stove top, turn on the heat and using tongs, turn the peppers every few minutes until they are almost black all over for about 10 – 15 minutes).

5) Set the roasted peppers on a plate and wrap them up well with plastic for 10-15 minutes.

6) Chop up your other ingredients like the onion, tomato, olives (in halves or quarters), and feta.

7) Peel and dice the peppers and add to mixture.

8) Add broccoli to the mix.

9) In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil into the vinegar to make a simple vinaigrette.

10) Add the vinaigrette to the veggies and add some salt and pepper to taste. Chill in the fridge for a few hours.

The Broccoli

Prepping the broccoli is pretty easy. Cut off all the florets and then peel the stems and chop them into half inch cubes. The stems and florets work great in this recipe.

Blanching ain't no thing.

Once you get your broccoli chopped, we need to blanch it which couldn’t be easier. Just dunk all your broccoli into a large pot of boiling salted water. (I usually use about 1 Tablespoon of salt per gallon of water and I always just approximate it.) After about 3 or 4 minutes, drain your broccoli using a colander and then dunk the colander into ice water. This will stop the broccoli from cooking. The broc should still have a bit of a crunch to it. It shouldn’t be soggy at all.

The Peppers

Now you can always buy peppers that are already roasted, but I like to roast my own if I have the time. That way they are really fresh and flavorful. Now you can definitely roast these guys in the oven (450 degrees for about 30-40 minutes turning every 10 minutes or so), but I like to roast them right on my gas top stove.

Literally, just set the peppers right on the stove top. Then crank up the heat!

No grill = get creative.

Using tongs, turn the peppers every few minutes until they are almost black all over. It’ll probably take 10-15 minutes to get the peppers totally roasted. Oh and you definitely cannot do this if you have an electric stove. Only gas here people. If you have an electric stove then you will have to use the oven or a grill if you have one.

Once your peppers are roasted, set them on a plate and wrap them up well with plastic. This will basically steam the peppers and make them super-easy to peel. They need to steam for 10-15 minutes.

Steaming is the secret.

While you are waiting for your peppers to steam, you can chop up your other ingredients like the onion and tomato.

Lots of chopping.

Then add in your olives and feta. I like to chop the olives in half, but you could quarter them if you wanted. Also, be sure that your olives are pitted. The last thing you want is a lawsuit because someone choked on an olive pit at your picnic. Ok. Maybe you shouldn’t worry about a lawsuit, but ya never know.

Adding the good stuff.

Once you get everything chopped, the peppers are probably cool and ready to peel and chop. When peeling the peppers you can run them under a little water if you want, but the skin on the peppers should basically slide off. If there are a few black specks that is okay. You won’t be able to taste it in the final product and it kind of gives it a rustic feel.

Dice these guys to be the same size as you tomatoes and onions.

These guys are good.

Then finally add your broccoli to the mix.

The dressing

In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil into your vinegar to make a simple vinaigrette. It’s pretty important to do it in a separate bowl so you can make sure the dressing is mixed well and also so you can taste it and adjust it if you need to.

Then add it to your veggies and add some salt and pepper to taste. I liked it with a lot of pepper. We probably added 1 Tablespoon of fresh ground pepper and that was a lot. You probably won’t need that much salt. The feta is pretty salty as is.

All mixed up!

This salad will be best if you let it chill in the fridge for a few hours. It is perfect on a hot summer day though. Not to mention it’s reasonably healthy!

Give this a shot if you are looking for an interesting salad on these hot days.

I would venture that most of the tofu people encounter fall into one of those two categories which is why most people don’t like it. But if you cook it correctly and season it nicely, it can be one of my favorite stir fry ingredients.

Yea. I eat tofu. What's it to you?

I made this dish with Jeff (my new roommate for the summer) the day after I got back from Amsterdam. My mind felt like a puddle and my gut felt like it was going to explode from cheese overload so I asked him to send me one of his healthier and faster dishes and we would cook it up that night. This definitely fit the bill.

Marinated Tofu Stir Fry
(Makes 4 large servings)

- 2-3 crowns of broccoli
- 1 package extra firm tofu, cubed
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into matchsticks
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 3 scallions, sliced thin
- 4-6 cloves garlic
- 1.5 inches ginger root
- 6 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- Red pepper flakes (optional and use as much as you like)
- Vegetable oil for cooking. Canola or sunflower works well.
- 1 cp dry brown rice (long grain or short grain are both okay; I like long grain) If you are really in a hurry obviously you can use a rice that cooks faster.

You could substitute tofu for a meat product obv.

Chop all your vegetables into pretty large slices and chunks except the scallions which will be used as a garnish basically near the end and the garlic and ginger which you want to be minced very fine. Also, feel free to use other veggies obviously. Some other good options would be eggplant, peas, other peppers, water chestnuts, or maybe bamboo shoots. Go crazy.

Double the garlic and ginger? Why not.

Like the caption says, Jeff and I actually almost doubled the garlic and ginger because I really like those. The recipe as is works just fine though unless you are a garliholic like myself.

Now, I don’t have an official wok (I wish I did), so I just use my best large pan to stir-fry everything together. Cook the tofu first in a few Tablespoons of vegetable oil. The fact that it has been marinated makes it cook perfectly and sear nicely on each side. If you don’t use a marinade like this, tofu has a tendency to stick to the pan which makes it a pain to cook.

Don’t throw away the leftover marinade! That will be the sauce later!

Like magic!

The tofu will probably take 7-10 minutes to cook. When each cube is nicely browned, remove it to a plate. Immediately throw in your minced garlic and ginger. It will sizzle! Stir for just a few seconds to combine well and then add all your veggies at once. If you let the garlic and ginger cook too long by itself it will burn very quickly.

If you are cooking on a high heat (you should be), then the veggies will need probably 5 minutes to cook. I like mine to have a bit of a bite still. Kind of al dente, if you will.

Once the veggies are almost cooked, throw your tofu back in and pour all your leftover marinade in the pan. Finally, top the whole mess with the chopped scallions.

Healthy.

Give that a few shakes or stirs and serve it piping hot over your rice. This will make 4 large platefuls so if you are just feeding two, like me, then you will have plenty of leftovers!

Anyone have any good stir-fry ideas for the summertime? Leave a comment!

Even though I’ve been out of college for some years now, I still like to revisit my old friend Ramen every once in awhile.

College.

There are a few differences between my life now and when I was in college. First, I have money. Not a lot, but some. Second, I have a stove. Third, I know how to cook reasonably well. Over the years, I started experimenting with different things to add to Ramen that give it a bit of a lift. Of course, I still like it normal, but below are 4 ways you can try it if you are looking for something new

This is Betsy’s favorite of the four here. It’s a fantastic way to clean out the pantry a bit as you can use pretty much any veggies that you have. For this version I used 1/4 of a red onion, a few broccoli florets, and a few leaves of Swiss chard. I started by sauteeing the onions and broccoli in 2 Tablespoons (about) of olive oil.

A good chance to clean out the pantry.

Once they started to get soft, I added my Ramen spice pack to the veggies. Once the veggies are cooked but still have a bit of a bite to them, drain your cooked Ramen and add it to your veggies. Stir everything together and serve immediately. You shouldn’t need any additional salt or pepper. The spice pack should be just right.

If you wanted something a bit more substantial you could try:

Again, this one is pretty simple. I chopped up about 2 strips of bacon and 1/4 of a red onion and got those cooking in a pan. You shouldn’t need to add any oil as the bacon fat will render out. Once the onions are cooked down and the bacon is cooked to your liking (some people like it crispy, I actually like mine still soft), add about 1/3 cup cream.

Also add the Ramen spice pack to the cream at this point and let it simmer on low for a few minutes. The cream will start to thicken and then you can add in your cooked, drained Ramen.

A basic cream sauce.

The third way I like to make Ramen is similar to the stracciatella recipe I made last week.

The key to this recipe is to use a bit more water than you normally would to cook Ramen. This should be pretty soupy. Get one egg and lightly whisk it with 1 Tablespoon of grated Parmesan. Also, I like to add a handful of spinach leaves.

Simple and delicious.

When you Ramen is done, add your spice packet and make sure it is mixed in well, then add your egg mixture and finally the spinach. Stir it together and the egg should form little strands. It is actually a pretty good soup.

Say you don’t have a stove though, or extra vegetables or ingredients. Heck. You don’t even have water. You can always try:

Betsy thinks this is the weirdest thing in the world, but I used to do it all of the time as a kid. Crush up your Ramen in a plastic bag and add your spice packet to the crushed noodles. I don’t add the entire packet as that would make it pretty salty.

You can eat these like potato chips! They are crunchy and salty and about as easy as it gets.

No water needed.

Ok. So maybe the last one was kind of a joke although I did actually eat Ramen like that and it isn’t bad. I’m assuming though that most people would think it is too weird. Do me a favor though. The next time you are cooking Ramen, try a little bit with a pinch of seasoning on it before you cook it.

I used all chicken flavored Ramen for this post because I bought a huge 12 pack of it. You could use any flavor probably. Do you have any interesting ways to spice up Ramen? Share them in a comment!

If you liked this post, I would love it if you shared it using the icons below. Everyone should know a few different ways to change up this classic.

For those people that do not under any circumstances eat vegetables, let me introduce you to something:

Eat your vegetables!

I don’t understand how anyone could not like this dish. It is cheesy and delicious! If a broccoli-hater were forced to eat this blind-folded, I imagine they might say: “Oh wow. That tastes like pure cheesy Heaven!” And then they would open their eyes and see all that green and probably pretend they don’t like it, but secretly sneak some into their backpack.

Broccoli Gratin (From Gourmet Feb. 2009)

- 1 bunch broccoli (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1 Cup whole milk
- 1/2 Cup heavy cream
- 1 Cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I wanted to beef this up a bit so I used 3/4 cup Parm and 3/4 cup Gruyere.)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Cup bread crumbs
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

We are going to use both the florets of the broccoli and the stems. Be sure to peel the stems with a veggie peeler or knife and then cut the stems into 1/2 inch sections.

Choppin' BROCCOLI. Choppin' Broccolai...

If the above caption is lost on you, here ya go:

I think this video is actually impossible to watch and not laugh at. I’ve tried around 100 times. Impossible. Also, Hulu is really cool. You can embed video with place markers so it starts right where you want it to. I’m such a dork.

Choppin. Chop. HUH.

Ok. Back to the recipe. Mix up all of your other ingredients except the broccoli, bread crumbs and oil in a bowl.

A simple cheese custard.

Then you need to pre-cook your broccoli. Boil all the pieces in slightly salted water for about 5 minutes or until they are tender. Then move them to a 9 X 9 casserole dish.

Steamin' broccoli. Steamin' BROCCOLAI. I'll stop.

Then pour your cheese sauce over the broccoli. It’s that simple! If you have large slices of cheese make sure you have them pretty evenly distributed.

Pour in the custard.

Then in a separate bowl, toss your bread crumbs in your olive oil and then coat the dish with that mixture. Also sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.

This is crumby.

Bake this bad boy at 350 for 30-35 minutes and then broil it on high for about 3 minutes. You’ll end up with something lovely like this.

Take that broccoli.

Be sure to let this cool for 5 minutes before ripping into it. You need to give the custard time to set just a bit. I served this with some toasted bread and it was very good.

This barely even tastes like broccoli.

So if you happen to know, or be, a broccoliphobe, put this on the menu sometime. It is about as un-broccoli as broccoli can get.

Mashed potato pizza is one of those things that you might think is weird or gross when you hear it, but I promise it is really good.

It turns out that mashed potatoes and pizza are made to be together.

This was one of the best pizzas I've ever had.

There is no tomato on this pizza. In its place is a thick layer of garlicky, buttery mashed potatoes. I actually had mashed potato pizza for the first time in New Haven at a place called “Bar,” but I’ve sort of made the recipe my own and I think I might be able to give them a run for their money.

Mashed Potato Pizza

The dough (This makes two pizzas. From Alton Brown’s recipe.)
- 4 Cups bread flour
- 4 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher salt (I probably used 1 3/4. The original is a bit salty.)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 Cups lukewarm water
- Flour for dusting the pizza peel or baking sheet.
- Olive oil for rising the dough.

Pizza
- 4 large potatoes (enough mashed potatoes for 2 pizzas)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/2 cup milk or cream
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces of bacon per pizza
- 10 ounces mozzarella per pizza
- Broccoli
- Anything else that fits your fancy!

Helpful Equipment:
- Pizza stone and peel

Let’s make the dough first. Pizza dough is something that really needs to rest for a good amount of time to mature in flavor and get nice and elastic. I typically like to make mine the day before I intend to cook. To start, combine the yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and water in a bowl.

Yeast soup.

Add your flour and bring all of the dough into a ball. When it looks like the below you can start kneading it. If you have a fancy mixer you can beat it with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes and save yourself a workout.

Before a 10 minute knead.

If, like me, you rely on pure brute strength to make awesome pizza, then you’ll need to knead this dough for at least ten minutes but probably closer to 15. Eventually it will become very smooth. Then it is time to rise. Pour a bit of olive oil in your bowl and lightly coat your ball of dough. This will make sure it doesn’t dry out.

Let it rise at room temperature for two hours.

This is active dough.

After the rise, you can punch it down and cut it into two balls. If you must, you can use them right away, but they will be much better if you let them chill in the fridge for at least a day. They can keep for a few days though if you coat them in a bit of olive oil. If you do put them in the fridge, let them rise at room temperature for an hour before using them.

Now we need to make the toppings for this guy. I’m assuming you know how to make bacon (crispy is better for this recipe). You also probably know how to make mashed potatoes, but if not, just cut up the potatoes into cubes and boil them in lightly salted water for about 10 minutes until they fall apart when poked with a fork.

Then mash them up with the garlic, cream or milk, and butter. I actually like mine a bit on the chunky side. It gives the pizza a good texture.

Good ingredients.

Next, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone in it.

Forming a pizza takes a bit of practice. If it is your first time, go slow and be patient. The dough is very forgiving if you made it correctly. It will be very elastic.

Take a ball and roll it out into a circle. With light pressure start working it from the inside out. Once you feel comfortable feel free to pick it up and stretch it over your knuckles a bit. It shouldn’t rip if you keep it moving by lightly rotating it around your hand.

If you are feeling brave, you can give it a toss!

Had a little photography help on this one.

Once you have a rough circle that is the size you want and the thickness that you want, slap it on a pizza peel that has been dusted with corn meal or flour. If you don’t have a peel, you can use a baking sheet. The sheet just makes it a bit harder to slide it into the oven. I used one for years though before I got a peel.

Feel free to make a decorative crust or just leave it flat. Whatever makes you happy.

No need to do a crust, but they are pretty easy.

Sprinkle a bit of olive oil over your dough. Since we aren’t using a sauce, we need to add a bit of moisture on the bottom.

A sprinkle of oil.

Then lump on your mashed potatoes. No need to spread them out evenly or anything. They will flatten out while baking. Also, don’t be stingy. This is the base of the pie.

No need to go light on the potatoes.

Next, add your bacon. Sweet, sweet bacon.

I mean come on.

Then add your grated mozzarella. Feel free to sprinkle on some dried basil, pepper, and salt at this point also.

Ready for an oven.

Carefully slide the pizza into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Try not to drool on the oven door.

Longest 15 minutes of my life.

Take out your pizza and the crust should be crispy and great. The cheese should be lightly browned. Wait a few minutes, slice, and eat a piece right away.

A little slice of Heaven.

A made a second pizza with broccoli and some cheddar on top. I think it was even better than the first.

Healthy?

I cannot express how good this recipe is. If you like pizza, you will love this. If you don’t like pizza, then you will probably still like this. If you don’t, then I’m not sure we can be friends.

If you liked this post, I would love it if you used the below links to share it with others. Everyone should try this guy.