Warm summer pasta with tomatoes, olives, ricotta, and zucchini

 

One of the best things about cooking in the summer is that the ingredients you have lying around the house are especially delicious. 

A few weeks back, both of us were too lazy to go to the grocery store but wanting to eat at home since we'd been going out a lot. With minimal rustling in the kitchen, I pulled together some heirloom tomatoes (a pound or so) and a couple of zucchini, both from our CSA box the week before; half a container of ricotta that needed to be used up; some pitted kalamata olives that had been hanging around the fridge for awhile; and a few kitchen staples (garlic, olive oil, parmesan, penne).

While the pasta cooked, I sliced up the zucchini into half moons and sauteed it very quickly in olive oil and garlic. I just wanted to take the raw edge off of it--I didn't want it soggy. I roughly chopped the olives and tomatoes (with skins and seeds intact--I was keeping the effort to a minimum) and tossed them into the pan with zucchini for one minute, just to warm them. A dash of salt and pepper and they were done.

When the penne was al dente, I tossed it with the ricotta until the pasta had a silky coating, then folded in the vegetables and a good handful of parmesan. A spoonful of starchy pasta water brought the dish together. 

I dished it up and presented it to the husband.

"Warm summer pasta with tomatoes, olives, ricotta, and zucchini," I announced solemnly.

In spite of his claim to not be very fond of vegetarian pastas, this was a hit with the husband. I resisted revealing that many of the ingredients had been sitting around a bit and needed to be used up. While I revel in finishing things off, this translates to him as "old food" and would have surely taken the luster off this pasta he was inhaling, which, for the record, made an excellent lunch the next day, served at room temperature.

Little coffee cakes with cardamom sugar

These little coffee cakes are just right for a weekend brunch. They're simple and delicious, moist from the sour cream, and fragrant from cardamom. Oh yeah, that's not part of the original recipe, but I thought it might be a good idea, and what do you know, it was. Every once in awhile I come up with a good one.

Since I'm a little pressed for time (and don't have anything clever to say anyway), I'll just point you in the direction of the recipe but also note my changes: 

1) I added 1/4 t. salt to the dry ingredients. I think all baked goods need salt.

2) I added about 1/2 t. cardamom to the batter. Next time I'll add more, but I'm a cardamom fiend.

3) I mixed up a little cinnamon-cardamom sugar to sprinkle on top.

Hope you like them. And, happy Fourth of July! I'm spending part of the weekend in Sonoma, wine tasting and celebrating my friend Amy's birthday. We will also be eating here, which I will be sure to report back on.

Chicken kebabs with nectarine salsa

Since I'm generally an optimist (unless it comes to politics, although, occasionally I am surprised by good things happening), I would argue that there are lots of upsides of getting older.

For one thing, when I was younger, I never liked other people being the boss of me. While I was a fairly obedient child, I always itched to be an adult and not have to live by someone else's rules. Being an adult-- especially one who is self-employed--gives you a fair amount of freedom that you just don't enjoy as a kid.

Also, as trite as it is, in your teens and 20s you're still evolving into who you are. Yes, it's an ongoing process (I do live in San Francisco--of course I believe that life is a journey!) but in my case, my 20s were a little too drifty. My 30s have been a much more confident and happy decade in every sense. I believe my 40s will be even better, full of more professional success, time with those I love, and world travel.

However, I'm not gonna lie to you: aging pretty much sucks from a physical standpoint. The metabolism slows. I have to work harder just to stay the same size. Tiny lines appear and don't leave. I buy things with "anti-aging" in the name. I've yet to get a grey hair, but I'm sure it won't be long. And, since I hope to live a long and happy life, occasionally I have to forego my decadent nature in favor of moderation. You can't stop time but you can try and slow the clock with some good habits.

Enter chicken kebabs with nectarine salsa, courtesy of Cooking Light. I pretty much followed the recipe, which you can find here, with minor exceptions--I don't go for bottled garlic, and I used a mix of white and dark meat. But I have to say, as skeptical as I was  (I'm hard-wired to scoff at healthy recipes), this was really delicious. The marinade would also be good on shrimp or pork (here I go, tweaking the recipe away from healthy) and the salsa would be fantastic with either of those things, or on grilled fish. And since the kebabs are broiled not grilled, they were hassle-free.

The dish was also colorful beyond belief and fun to eat (skewers always seem like a party), almost making me forget about eating healthy and hurtling toward death.