pasta

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When I was little, I HATED cabbage. That didn’t stop my mother from putting it in quite a few meals. We often ate kielbasa, cabbage, and potatoes on the grill in the summer. And then there was sauerkraut and pork (BLEH), and stuffed cabbage, or halupki as it was known in our house. I can remember the very smell of some of these dishes making me want to run for the hills. Sorry, mom!

I really can’t remember when I started to like it, but now I can’t get enough cabbage, pickled, in salads, coleslaws, braised, and all other forms. One of my favorite things about visiting Prague last winter was that there was cabbage with every meal.

The other night, still feeling awful and unable to cook or eat much, I returned to my childhood for a simple, comforting meal, cabbage and bows. I have included a real recipe at the end of the post, but I just winged it, remembering flavors over measurements.

I started with about half of a sweet Vidalia onion, chopping it into thin pieces. The onion should cook down quite a bit, so you can feel free to make it as small as you like.

Vidalia onion

My childhood cabbage and bows was made with green cabbage, but I had a purple cabbage on hand, so that is what I used.

purple cabbage

I roughly chopped up about a cup of cabbage for the pasta and ate about half a cup while chopping. Raw purple cabbage is so good!

purple cabbage

The chopped onion and cabbage get added to a generous amount of butter, Kerrygold for me, enough to coat the bottom of a frying pan. You could use something lower in fat like a butter substitute, but I wouldn’t. Butter gives this dish flavor, and it is comfort food after all!

image

Back in the day, cabbage and bows was made with bowtie pasta. I also didn’t have that stocked in the cabinet, but I did have some whole wheat rotini which worked just fine.

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While the pasta cooked, I cooked the cabbage and onions down in the butter until they were nice and soft. I mixed the cabbage, onions, and butter with the finished pasta, added salt and pepper, and climbed under a pile of blankets to get some much-needed comfort.

cabbage and noodles

Do not, I repeat, do not get sick. I take pretty good care of myself, but I think I let some of the stress of all of the changes and wondering in my life right now get to me big time. 

The last time I left my house, other than to go to the doctor on Thursday, was last Tuesday. Help!

Do you have a food or foods from your childhood that you hated then and love now?

Tags: butter, cabbage, childhood recipes, comfort food, cooking, Food, onions, pasta, recipes, vegetables, Vegetarian

Also known as a meal I magically threw together using only ingredients we already had in the house. While I spent last weekend out of town visiting my family, my husband spent the weekend working 15 hour days until he finally got to come home at 1:15 am on Monday. Needless to say, neither of us got to the grocery store this weekend, and coming up with a delicious meal became a daunting task.

Trader Joe's cappellini

Luckily, we always have some sort of random items in the cabinets and freezer. I started with a half package of Trader Joe’s cappellini. I love super thin pasta, and this one is a bargain. It really does cook in three minutes, as the package promises.

I busted out a can of black olives, also from Trader Joe’s. Canned black olives might not be the most highbrow menu item, but I really like them. I used half the can in my sauce and the other half as my snack while I patiently waited for the husband to get home Smile

black olives

I had some jarred capers left over from many months ago. They were still good!

capers

And I had the last of my gift from the Muir Glen tomato dinner, their super fancy Meridian Ruby Reserve tomatoes. I can’t wait to order some more Muir Glen products. Their tomatoes are truly superior.

Muir Glen Meridien Ruby Tomatoes

To make a nice puttanesca-style sauce, I added five chopped cloves or garlic to some olive oil and started the garlic cooking until it sizzled. I then added the chopped olives, capers, more olive oil, and the tomatoes, liquid and all.

puttanesca

I let the mixture simmer, added some garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes, then got started steaming some lobster tails I have had in the freezer for awhile. My mom really spoils me with all sorts of food items when I go home! Smile

lobster tails

Steaming the lobsters was quick and easy, as was cutting the shells, removing the meat, and cleaning out the vein. I was left with sweet lobster meat which tasted freshly caught.

lobster meat

I boiled the pasta and at the very last minute, I added the hot pasta and the chopped lobster to the sauce. I didn’t want the lobster to cook any more as I did not want it to get tough. Mixing it with hot pasta and hot sauce made it the perfect temperature while leaving it nice and tender.

lobster puttanesca

Not too bad for someone who had NO clue what dinner was going to be at 5:00 last night!

Canned tomatoes and pasta are must-haves in my pantry. What do you always have on hand?

Tags: canned tomatoes, capers, easy recipes, Food, garlic, lobster, Meridian Ruby tomatoes, Muir Glen, olives, pasta, puttanesca, quick meals, recipe, spaghetti, tomatoes

Admit it. Turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, etc. are great for awhile, but a day or two after the big holiday meal passes, there is such a thing as too many leftovers. I usually get through a late night snack, lunch the next day, and maybe a dinner before looking for something a little different. Inspired by Megan’s spaghetti and meatball post and an insatiable need for carbs after my 13 mile run, I whipped up a simple but completely delicious pasta dish last night. This would be perfect for those of you tired of cooking-and eating- Christmas delights.

I started with a freezer staple, medium shrimp, shelled and deveined. I took them out in the morning so that by dinner they were thawed.

medium shrimp

While I prepped my veggies and shrimp, I boiled up a kettle of water and started some whole wheat angel hair. This was the Stop & Shop brand, and in addition to some good nutritionals, you can’t even tell its whole wheat.

whole wheat angel hair

The star veggies of the evening were a green and red bell pepper and five large cloves of garlic. Clearly, the vampires will not be visiting me this week!

red and green peppers

chopped garlic

I added the peppers to the hot pan first, in addition to a knob of Kerrygold and a glug of olive oil. After just a minute, I added in the shrimp and then the garlic. I fear burnt garlic.

image

Once I had everything a-sizzling, I poured in about a cup of Bonny Doon Vineyard Verjus, let it all simmer, and used tongs to add the cooked pasta to the sauce.

shrimp and pasta

I had a heaping bowl of the pasta and sauce topped with the obligatory crushed red pepper flakes. For a meal that took about 20 minutes start to finish, I thought this was pretty tasty, with lots of flavor, crunch from the peppers, and soft, comforting pasta. It satisfied this runner’s need for pasta and made me feel like I can do another run this week. Before that I literally felt empty despite eating a ton of other stuff. Does that ever happen to you, or is it just me?

What do you and your loved ones eat for the December holiday meals? Is your Hanukah/ Christmas/Kwanzaa/New Year’s meal similar to Thanksgiving like ours is? Or do you have entirely different food? It’s fun to hear what people eat, especially from different regions and ethnic backgrounds!

Tags: cooking, dinner, Food, pasta, recipe, shrimp

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