Roasted carrot soup

September 7, 2010 at 10:10 am (B plus (3.5 stars, like a lot), Cook's Illustrated, Root vegetables, soup, Vegetable dishes)

I bought a bunch of carrots to make carrot halvah, but then Derek never got around to making it, so I decided to make carrot soup.  I found this recipe for roasted carrot soup in Cook’s Illustrated “Best Light Recipe”.  It calls for half chicken broth but I used all veg. broth. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pasta Estate

September 7, 2010 at 9:41 am (B_(3 stars, like), Cook's Illustrated, Derek's faves, Pasta, Starches, Summer recipes, Vegetable dishes)

Yeah, I know.  Pasta Estate (pronounced eh-STAH-tay) doesn’t roll off the tongue quite like Pasta Primavera.  But it’s Summer, not Spring.  What can I do?

My memories of  pasta primavera are extremely positive.  I don’t actually have any specific memories of  eating pasta primavera in my youth, but nonetheless I associate it with culinary perfection.  My memories (despite being hazy) tell me that pasta primavera is rich and delicious and satisfying, and a real treat.  Every couple years I try making it, and it never lives up to my memories, but I keep trying.  This weekend I had some leftover cream, and in trying to figure out what to do with it I thought of pasta primavera.  But it’s summer not spring, so I decided to make Pasta Estate instead.  I found two primavera recipes on the Cook’s Illustrated website.  Both recipes called for the same vegetables:  asparagus, frozen peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, and basil.  All of those vegetables are common in late summer except for asparagus.  I thought about using frozen asparagus but decided to sub in broccoli instead.  I bet cauliflower would also be nice.  I also added in two grated carrots, for color, and because my memories of pasta primavera always include grated carrots. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chili pasta with arugula and coriander seeds

September 2, 2010 at 4:15 pm (B_minus (2.5 stars), Dark leafy greens, Italian, Other, Pasta, Quick weeknight recipe, Starches)

This recipe comes from the cookbook Rancho la Puerta, by Bill Wavrin.  I was intrigued by the idea of a somewhat Italian-style pasta but with coriander seeds and chilis as the main flavoring.  I made a few modifications though.

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Zucchini “carpaccio” with feta and pine nuts

September 2, 2010 at 1:18 pm (B_(3 stars, like), Derek's faves, Quick weeknight recipe, Salads, Summer recipes, Website / blog)

I made this no-cooking-required zucchini salad from chow.com in August when I had a ton of zucchini lying around.  It made a huge bowl of salad, but between Derek and I we ate it all in one sitting! Read the rest of this entry »

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