Pasta Caprese

America’s Test Kitchen

 

We often eat this as a main course with a side salad, but this is also a great side dish to take somewhere in the summer.  You could add chicken if you want, but that might take away from the simple, but delicious flavors of the dressing.  This is especially yummy when you use homegrown summer tomatoes.  Don’t even try to make it with canned tomatoes, as it will become a COMPLETELY different dish!

America’s Test Kitchen recommends cubing the cheese and freezing it for about 10 minutes, so that the cheese remains in cubes rather than melting onto the hot pasta, but in the picture above, I simply shredded the cheese in my food processor and added it as the pasta had cooled a little bit, and it still turned out great.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2-4 tsp juice from 1 lemon (I usually add a little more than this)

1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp if you really like garlic)

1 small shallot, minced fine (I usually substitute red onion since I rarely have shallots)

1 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch dice (I don’t core or seed it)

12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I just use an 8 oz. block of part skim mozz.)

1 lb short tubular or curly pasta, such as penne, fusilli, or campanelle

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 tsp sugar (this is mainly needed if the tomatoes are not super sweet homegrown.)

salt and pepper

1.  Whisk the oil, 2 tsp of lemon juice, garlic, shallt, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper together in a large bowl.  Add the tomatoes and gently toss to combine;  set aside.  Do not marinate the tomatoes for longer than 45 minutes.

2.  While the tomatoes are marinating, place the mozzarella on a plate and freeze until slightly firm, about 10 minutes.  Bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil in a stockpot.  Add 1 Tbs salt and the pasta, stir to separate, and cook until al dente.  Drain well.

3.  Add the pasta and mozzarella to the tomato mixture and gently toss to combine.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Stir in the basil; season to taste with salt, pepper, and additional lemon juice or sugar, if desired, and serve immediately.

If it tastes a little bland, it probably just needs some extra salt!

Sesame Noodles with Shredded Chicken

Of course this was delicious because it came from America’s Test Kitchen!
It actually reminded me a little bit of my Pad Thai recipe
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1 piece (1-inch) fresh ginger, grated or minced (about 1 Tbs)
5 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice vinegar (I didn’t have any so I used apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp hot sauce
2 Tbs lightly packed light brown sugar
Hot water
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lbs) trimmed of excess fat
1 Tbs salt
1 lb chinese egg noodles or 12 ounces dried spaghetti
2 Tbs Asian sesame oil
4 scallions, sliced thin on the diagonal
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated on large holes of box grater (about 2/3 cup) – I used my food processor’s shredding disc

1.  Toast the sesame seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Reserve 1 Tbs sesame seeds in a small bowl.  In a blender or food processor, puree the remaining 3 Tbs sesame seeds, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds.  With the machine running, add hot water 1 Tbs at a time until the sauce has the consistency of heavy cream, about 5 Tbs; set the mixture aside (it can be left in the blender jar or food processor workbowl).

2.  Bring 6 qts water to a boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to 6 inches from the broiler element; heat the broiler.  Spray the broiler pan top with vegetable cooking spray; place the chicken breasts ion top and broil the chicken until lightly browned, 4 to 8 minutes.  Using tongs, flip the chicken over and continue to broil until the thickest part is no longer pink when cut into and registers about 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes.  Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.  Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.*

Add the salt and noodles to the boiling water; boil the noodles until tender, about 4 minutes for fresh and 10 minutes for dried.  Drain, then rinse with cold running tap water until cool to the touch; drain again.  In a large bowl, toss the noodles with the sesame oil until evenly coated.  Add the shredded chicken, scallions, carrot, and sauce; toss to combine.  Divide among individual bowls, sprinkle each bowl with a portion of reserved sesame seeds, and serve.

*I simply shredded the chicken with the food processor- so much easier than with a fork!

Chicken-penne Salad with Green Beans

From Cooking Light 

To quickly prepare the beans in this recipe, trim just the stem ends, leaving the tapered blossom ends intact.  Line up 5 or 6 beans at a time and cut them roughly the same length as the pasta.  You can have an entire meal ready in about 35 minutes.

This is one of my favorite quick and easy dinners!

2 cups uncooked penne
2 cups (1 inch) cut green beans (about 1/2 lb)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 (7 oz) bottle roasted red bell peppers drained and chopped*
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs red wine vinegar**
1 Tbs cold water
1/2 tsp salt**
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp black pepper
1.  Cook pasta in boiling water 7 minutes.  Add green beans; cook 4 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cold water; drain.
2.  Combine pasta mixture, chicken, onion, basil, parsley, and bell pepper in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine.
3.  Combine oil and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Drizzle over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat.
* or roasted yellow peppers
**I usually add extra, to taste

Pad Thai with Tofu

This is a family favorite around here, taken from Molly Katzen's cookbook.  The kids can't get enough of it, so to save in cost, I always double the recipe, but don't double the amount of tofu and egg.

Pad Thai

6 oz rice noodles (or ½ box angel hair pasta)

5 tablespoons soy sauce

2 TBS peanut butter

1 TBS brown sugar

cooking oil

3 eggs, beaten

6 scallions chopped (use red onions if you don’t have scallions on hand)

1 lb bean sprouts (optional)

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

Crushed red pepper (to taste)

1 pound firm tofu, cut into small cubes

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1 ½ cups chopped toasted peanuts

Wedges of lime

1. Cook noodles, drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.

2. Combine soy sauce, peanut butter, and brown sugar in a small bowl, and stir until it is a uniform paste.  Set aside.
3. Heat wok or large skillet.  Add a tbs of oil, add eggs, cook and remove.

4.  Heat wok again until hot, add 2 tbs oil, scallions, sprouts, garlic, and red pepper.  Stir-fry for a minute or   so.  Add tofu and stir-fry a few more minutes.

5.  Add the cooked noodles and stir-fry, attempting to combine everything as uniformly as possible, about 5 more minutes.

6.  Add peanut butter/soy sauce mixture, and vinegar .  Stir and cook a few more minutes. 

7.  Stir in the cooked egg.  Top with peanuts and wedges of lime.

Tuscan Garlic Chicken Pasta

From Cooks Illustrated Magazine
serves 4-6


6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
6 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs)
salt and pepper
1 lb penne pasta
1 bag baby arugula (or spinach), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
6 Tbs juice from 2 lemons
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1.  Bring 4 qts water to boil in large pot.  Meanwhile, combine garlic, pepper flakes, and oil in bowl and microwave until garlic is golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.
2.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer 1 Tbs oil from bowl with garlic mixture to large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Add chicken and cook until well  browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil.  Let rest 5 minutes, then chop into cubes and set aside.
3.  Add 1 Tbs salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water.  Drain pasta and return to pot.  Stir in sliced chicken, arugula, basil, lemon juice, Parmesan, and remaining garlic mixture, adding reserved pasta water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve.

My kids couldn't get enough of this dinner!!