Lemon Spaghetti

On Friday before I left work, I perused some of my favorite food blogs to find a yummy pasta dish for my pre-run dinner.  I found a recipe for lemon pasta on the smitten kitchen blog and I was set!  It seemed like a refreshing, light, new twist on a pasta dinner.  And it was!  It was so good I could barely wait long enough to take some pictures of this tasty dish!  A side of steamed asparagus rounded off the entire meal. 

But I write with a word of caution for anyone who has recently developed acid reflux but refuses to take appropriate medication!  I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my chest and my throat were ON FIRE!  I was awake for hours waiting for this uncomfortable pain to pass.  Needless to say, a 16 mile run on three hours of sleep was not in the cards on Saturday!  So I had to wait until Sunday, with it's warmer, stickier morning weather.  Lesson learned: lemon pasta + acid reflux - zantac = ouch.  Instead of a run on Saturday, I went straight to the pharmacy for meds so I can enjoy my delightful lemon pasta leftovers.  In short, this pasta dish is worth any associated pain!  This recipe will make 3-4 servings. 

Ingredients
1/2 pound dried spaghetti or linguine pasta
2 lemons
2 tbls heavy cream
2 tbls olive oil
bunch of basil, chopped
handful spinach, washed
big handful of grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Directions
Bring a big pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water liberally and add in your pasta.  Once it's cooked to al dente, reserve about a cup of the pasta water and drain.  Rinse and dry the pot (if you want to do the next step in this pot and save your dish washing).

Meanwhile, zest the two lemons and reserve the juice from about 1 1/2 of the lemons.

In the dried pasta pot, bring the olive oil, cream, lemon juice, and about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes over medium-high heat.  Remove from heat and add in your cooked pasta.  Toss to coat with the sauce, and add a bit more of the pasta water to thin the sauce if you'd like.  Add in the basil, spinach, and cheese and toss again.  (The spinach will still have a bit of a bite to it.  If you want it to be more wilted, add it in to the boiling oil/cream/water mixture.)  Salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy.  (And don't forget the antacids if you require them!)

Kale Chips

I've come to realize that all people fall into one of two categories: you either crave salt or you crave sugar.  I don't mind the occasional candy bar or giant chunk of delicious brownie, but more often than not, I'm all about the salty snacks.  The other night I was staring into my cupboards, looking for something salty to munch on, and there was nothing.  (I apparently had been exercising willpower during my previous grocery store run....)  So I opened the fridge and again, nothing.  But then I spied a huge bunch of kale that I'd bought at the Farmers' Market a week back and I knew I was saved! 

It's true!  You can make a delicious, salty, crunchy, and somewhat healthy snack out of kale.  It's truly miraculous.  So I whipped up some kale chips and ended up eating the ENTIRE giant bunch of kale that night.  Hopefully I managed to reap some health benefits from that salty binge fest.  But you seriously need to try out this recipe.  It's easy, salty, and yummy. 

Ingredients
Big bunch of kale
Extra virgin olive oil
Seasoning salt

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Wash the kale and be sure that it's very dry.  Tear or cut out the ribs in the middle of each "leaf" of kale -- they won't taste too good.  Tear or cut the kale into medium-sized pieces. 

Put the kale pieces into a bowl and drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Toss to coat the kale in the olive oil.  You don't need a ton of olive oil here!!  Sprinkle on your favorite seasoning salt to taste.  Spread the kale pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Try to keep them in one layer in order to ensure that they get crispy.  You make need to bake on two pans or in two shifts.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the kale pieces have brown edges and are crispy.  Put into a bowl and enjoy.  Then try your hardest to stop eating them...you won't be able to...I promise. 

Mmmmm, best snack ever.

Carb Time! Baked Parmesan Risotto

This weekend I had a bit of a reprieve from my marathon training.  Months ago I signed up for the Warrior Dash, figuring it would be a nice change of pace from my regular training runs.  Plus there was the added bonus of getting to skip (well...prolong....) my first 18 miler of the season!  Since I was running an atypical run, I thought I'd make an atypical meal of preparation carbs....but what?

Barefoot Contessa to the rescue!  An easy Parmesan risotto...that you bake in the oven?!  Yes please.  I love risotto.  It's creamy and delicious, but in order to cook it correctly, you have to pay attention.  Classic risotto requires you to gradually add cups of simmering broth to arborio rice in order to develop that starchy, creamy consistency.  There's a lot of stirring and a lot of watching.  All well and good, but maybe not for a Friday after work.  This recipe yields all of the classic taste and texture of risotto but without all of the attention to detail.  Love it!!!  This will serve 4-6 people.  Or one person with a TON of leftovers!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
5 cups simmering vegetable stock, divided
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tbls butter, diced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup frozen peas

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Put the rice and 4 cups of the simmering stock into a dutch oven.  Cover and bake for 40 minutes, or until the rice is al dente and most of the liquid as been absorbed.  Remove from the oven and add the remaining cup of stock, cheese, wine, butter, salt, and pepper.  Stir vigorously for about three minutes, until the rice is thick and creamy.  Add the frozen peas and stir until heated through.  Serve and enjoy.

I wanted some more veggies to go with my starchy rice, so I steamed some broccolini and topped it with a pinch of salt.  Delicious!  A great way to get prepared for the Warrior Dash!  Though, if you ran it too, you'll understand that proficiency in mountain climbing would have been MUCH better preparation......