I love pasta, but I don’t usually have a lot of variations - most of my creations are some combination of noodles, ground beef, red sauce and cheese. Sometimes I’ll get crazy and alfredo it up. I’m a busy working mom. I love to cook, but I just don’t have enough time or energy to play in the kitchen. Besides, my family is picky and they don’t want to try new foods.

Isn’t that lame? Because, really, there is no excuse! Going (somewhat) vegetarian has forced me out of my comfort zone with food and I’m finding it’s incredibly fast and easy to discover new recipes. We’ve had a couple flops, but we’ve also had some interesting successes. I’ve been impressed by how my family has taken to this culinary adventure.

This week so far we’ve tried two new pasta dishes.

Garlicky White Beans, Sage and Orecchiette

[Click for recipe]

This recipe would have been a direct hit, but I screwed it up a little. Because I was cooking for the WHOLE family (which includes 3 girls ages 8-12 and one 15 year old boy, plus one hungry daddy and one always-ravenous nursing mama), I made TWO packages of the orecchiette. That was all well and good, but I only doubled the bean mixture portion of the recipe and I probably should have tripled it. It didn’t quite stretch and it needed to.

With that said, however, the beans had a wonderful flavor and everyone enjoyed this dish! It was fast, unusual and filling. As a bonus, it’s a “pantry recipe,” meaning that you can have no idea what the heck you’re going to have for dinner tonight and make the decision about this recipe 30 minutes before dinnertime without any emergency run out to the grocery store. (Don’t have orecchiette? Use whatever pasta you DO have. Don’t have fresh sage on hand? Dried is fine.)

By the way, when cooking this up, the aroma was divine. I love recipes that start off with garlic and herbs sauted in olive oil. Add the white wine and a simple beans-and-noodles dish goes gourmet.

The funny thing is, this meal was as fast and simple as making hot dogs and Kraft macaroni and cheese - yet so much tastier and a million times healthier!

Kids in the kitchen: My 12 year old drained and rinsed the canned beans, chopped the red and yellow peppers and set the table while I did the rest of the preparation.

Whole-Wheat Pasta with Broccolini and Feta

[Click for recipe]

Wow. Just wow. This was another simple recipe, but the flavors - feta and orange vinaigrette - were so intense and complex. You can serve this up hot, room temperature - or cold as a pasta salad. We had it warm and I loved the texture and flavor of the melt-y feta on the pasta.

One slight variation I made… no shallots on hand, so I threw some thinly sliced sweet onion into the pot when I blanched the radish slices. I think you also couldn’t go wrong with a handful of pine nuts tossed in.

And let’s talk about the radishes - I eat them VERY rarely; usually just a few raw slices in a salad mix. I’m surprised this recipe even appealed to me because of the radishes, but they had a wonderful mild flavor and tenderness when slightly blanched. Even the kids liked the radishes!

On the side: We had raw red pepper slices and orange segments (my husband peeled and segmented the orange I had used for the zest).

Family review: The verdict? Well, I loved it! My husband was skeptical, but decided he really liked it after a few bites - he took it to work next day as a cold dish, too. My 12 year old mostly liked it. I think the flavor overwhelmed her about halfway through, however. My 8 year old LOVED it. My 10 year old was completely not interested. She opted to reheat some leftovers for her dinner. Because of that, I probably won’t make it frequently as a family meal where it is the primary course.

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: ALFREDO worth 50 points good through 03/02/08.
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Day 1 of our family’s vegetarian adventure.

I wasn’t actually ready to start planning vegetarian meals yet. I was giving myself a week to adjust to the idea before I dive in with menu planning and grocery shopping with vegetarianism in mind.

But then I saw this recipe for Pappardelle with Spring Veggies on our SheKnows site, and I thought hmmm. I don’t have all of those ingredients, but I can easily modify it for what I DO have. So I went at it. I prepared the veggies, sautéed the nuts and cooked the pasta. I didn’t have an fresh Parmesan on hand, but I did have a delicious sheep cheese a visiting friend brought over one day. It’s similar in texture to fresh Parmesan, and it has a fresh, nutty flavor. It seemed like it would blend beautifully with this this dish (and it did!). While the pasta was cooking, I grated some of this cheese.

The house smelled wonderful - is there any better smell than onions and garlic sautéed in olive oil? Any meal with that as the base is usually a sure-fire hit with me.

I called my family to the kitchen and started dishing up.

“What’s for dinner?” “Oh, this is something new.” “Smells good, mom!”

My husband, Scott, says, “I don’t know how well I can do this vegetarian thing when I’m looking at this meal and thinking it looks like a great side dish for a… STEAK!” Heh, we had a good laugh about that one. We do love our steak.

I am pleased to report: Everyone loved the meal, including my picky 11 year old! I would absolutely make this again - it is even likely to go into regular rotation. It’s an easy dish, perfect as a last minute meal decision, especially since I’m likely to have the ingredients on hand (and when I don’t, the recipe lends itself to variation). Scott ended up feeling that this meal was very satisfying and surprisingly filling. The flavors and textures were perfect.

Here’s my version of the recipe:

Whole Wheat Penne with Spring Vegetables

This served 2 adults, 3 kids - and I had two days of generously portioned leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients

1 package whole wheat penne pasta
1 lb. green asparagus
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of slivered almonds, toasted
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Remove the tough ends of asparagus and blanch for 5 minutes in water until just tender. Blanch peas separately until heated through.
2. In a heavy saucepan, gently sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil until they begin to turn gold. Add peas and asparagus and cook for a few minutes.
3. Cook the penne in boiling water according to package instructions, drain and pour into serving dish. Add veggie and oil mixture to serving dish. Add almonds and parmesan and season to taste. Serve immediately.

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: ONIONS worth 50 points good through 03/30/08.
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