I’m on a rant today. I don’t do it often but sometimes things just have to be said. I scrolled through hundreds of recipes on Fooderific.com today. I take out the ones that aren’t food, are pinched from another blogger, are so blurry I can’t tell what they are, look like dog food or they have writing over the hero in the photo. When I began rolling my eyes, I messaged John and said I thought I was doing this food blogging thing all wrong.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I will never ever make gummy bear vodka or make chips out of cucumbers!”
“I think that’s probably a good thing,” he replied.
Do you ever look at some of the wacky concoctions that people eat and wonder if you’ve missed the boat somewhere? I don’t mind being adventurous and I know there are some who are way more adventurous than I am but are there things that are just too dumb to put together?
Maybe I’m just weird or old or some other thing but I do think from time to time that maybe I’m out of the loop on what tastes good. Especially today.
Sure there are lots of things I probably wouldn’t make for myself but I don’t find those weird. I don’t eat low/no carb and neither of us has a problem with gluten, or eggs or nuts so the recipes for foods that cater for those things might not be on my blog. I have a lot of respect for the people who share those recipes.
But… I’m probably never going to make chocolate ice cream with frozen peas in it. Say what you will, that’s just wacky.
What I did make today was an easy penne pasta with asparagus recipe that was a one-bowl hit with me. Asparagus is very inexpensive this time of year so my refrigerator is full of it. I also bought (I have no idea why) 2 large butternut pumpkins / squash. I roasted some of the butternut and then I thought maybe I’d use just a bit of it in our lunch. This is my go-to quick lunch when I can’t be bothered doing much else.
I put some olive oil in a skillet and added some thinly sliced some garlic and cooked it on low for a few minutes to get the oil good and garlicky and then I tossed in the tomatoes, asparagus and the leftover roasted onions and butternut. I didn’t have any herbs in the pots, nor in the fridge so we lived without them. When everything was nice and warm I tossed in the cooked penne pasta. Salt and pepper and then into a bowl and topped with parmesan. I think lunch took about 13 minutes to prepare from start to finish. (I did have the butternut left over, remember)
- 225 grams /8 ounces penne pasta (or elbow or anything else you like)
- 4 tablespoons good olive oil
- ½ onion sliced lengthwise (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup roasted pumpkin (or any leftover vegetable you might have - even frozen peas would be good)
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup Parmesan either grated or shaved
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil (if you have it, it's fine without)
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes until it's cooked al dente. Stir occasionally.
- In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low and add the garlic and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft but no color.
- Raise the heat to medium and add the cherry tomatoes and the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes. (If you're using frozen peas, add now)
- Add the leftover vegetables and toss just to warm.
- Add the drained pasta and toss lightly
- Pour into a bowl and top with parmesan and serve with some crusty garlic bread.
