Improvisational Cooking

Time to use up those leftovers.

Pasta:
1 box of penne pasta, cooked al dente
(Fusilli or bow tie would work well, too.)

Sauce:
1 garlic clove, minced
milk
dried parsley
salt and white pepper
shredded cheese—cheddar, Italian blend or Mexican blend

Leftovers:
roast turkey breast or chicken, cubed
Italian dry salami, cut into thin strips
cooked broccoli florets

Fillip (some nice extras; add what you like):
sliced mushrooms, cooked
frozen peas, thawed
capers
bacon, crumbled

In a large saute pan, heat the salami over medium heat, until the fat is exuded. Then add the cubed turkey or chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned. Add broccoli and fillip and toss. If the pasta was cooked on another day and refrigerated, add the pasta and cover. Turn the heat to low.

In a large saucepan, sweat the garlic in just a bit of olive oil and salt. Add milk (enough to make sauce for the ingredients in the other pan), parsley, white pepper and stir. Heat slowly over medium low until the milk steams and just barely bubbles. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheese into the sauce and whisk until completely melted and smooth. Continue adding cheese in this manner until the sauce is the desired thickness.

Toss the pasta mixture with the sauce. Serve topped with fresh ground pepper and shredded parmesan cheese.

long beans, strung and snapped into 2-inch pieces
minced garlic
canola oil
sea salt

Heat oil and salt in a hot wok. Toss in beans and stir constantly. Add garlic as the beans gain color. Continue stirring constantly, until the beans have deepened in color and slightly withered.

Adapted from the Bob's Red Mill recipe.

½ cup garbanzo flour
2/3 cup water
a generous shake of garlic salt
a dash of garam masala
a dash of cumin, or curry powder, if you prefer
a teaspoon or so of dried cilantro

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet (medium to medium high heat). Whisk all the ingredients together thoroughly. Pour the batter in the skillet all at once. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Uncover, spread a tablespoon of oil over the top of the bread and cook 5 more minutes. Flip and cook for another 5.

A bit like hummus, but round and flat and crispy on the edges. One of the best things about this recipe is that it doesn't require any fresh ingredients... so if it's late at night and you haven't been to the store and you don't have a thing in the house except your pantry items, you can still have something decent to fill your belly. Get the garbanzo flour from a health food store, or sometimes markets have it in the bulk food section. Stock up, it'll last a while, especially if you keep it in the fridge.

For dinner. (I picked up a 5-pound bag of potatoes yesterday for 99¢.)

potatoes, chunked
sweet red pepper, chunked
carrots, sliced
onion, sliced
minced garlic (or garlic powder)
curry powder
canola oil or butter
chicken broth
salt to taste

Sweat the onions and red pepper with a salt in a little oil over medium heat. Add garlic and curry powder liberally and stir. Add carrots, potatoes, and butter, and stir. Pour in chicken broth, almost enough to cover the veggies. Bring to a simmer and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender and sauce is slightly thickened. Taste it midway through the cooking and add salt or curry if needed.

(in honor of the Olympic games)

2 medium potatoes, shredded
2 large eggs
1-2 t milk
corn meal
salt & pepper
herbs or spices, if you want
olive oil

Beat 2 eggs with a little milk in a medium bowl. Add the potatoes. Salt & pepper liberally. Add your herbs and spices. (I like garlic powder and parsley.) Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle some corn meal in, just enough to thicken the egg batter a bit. Mix again.

Put a bit of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Spoon in some potato batter and spread it to make a thin, even layer of potato. Cook, flip, and cook until golden brown (a couple of minutes on each side should do it).

A couple of pancakes with a short glass of TJ's low sodium veggie patch juice is a royally good breakfast!