Plain ol’ pasta doesn’t have to be plain at all
I really don’t know what to call this dish. After all, it *is* simply rigatoni with sauce and cheese.
Then again, for whatever reason, turning all the noodles upright after cooking and then baking them this way made this dish way more fun….both to make and eat.
It didn’t take very long, but it did take longer than I thought it would. I figured I could do more than one noodle at a time, laying them in bulk, but not a chance. Each one had to be stacked individually.
Doesn’t it look cool when they’re ready, though? And then comes the sauce and cheese. And then more sauce, ‘cause hey, why not?
And then hey, why not some more cheese to melt on top of that?
Yum. Now the tricky part was actually serving it. You see, with all that sauce, the pasta couldn’t exactly stick together, could it?
Notice it going everywhere? (Oh, and those cheese biscuits in the lower left? Also really, really good)
Yeah…. So it might’ve been a little messy….
But it still looked cool in the pan and tasted so much better than just “plain ol’ pasta.”
Zucchini pizza appetizers – Who needs a crust?
I like fried zucchini.
I like pizza.
I even like zucchini pizza. Whether it’s the kinda where you add slices atop a crust or where you make the crust out of zucchini slices.
So this was a no-brainer side dish and pre-dinner snack for us. It could’ve probably served as the main dish had we not enjoyed them so much before supper, oops, ha.
They’re certainly not the prettiest things, but they do taste good, so who cares?
Wanna make your own?
Slice zucchini, salt, and grill or fry. I filled my griddle with mine. Add some cheese and pepperoni (or whatever other toppings you might want). Cook a bit longer until the cheese melts.
Now mine were small slices and I chose to cut my pepperonis into quarters first (hence the triangle look). Mini pepperonis would make this look much better. Maybe add an olive slice in the middle of that, too? Would be presentable for company even. Yay summer get-togethers!
Broccoli raisin salad – Recipe or no recipe?
I was recently denied from a food blog site because I didn’t post enough recipes. So fine, here, have a recipe, pfft. :P
Broccoli Raisin Salad
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sugar
Mix together first and let set while you make the rest
Salad:
- A head of broccoli (maybe it’ll be 2 cups, maybe it’ll be 4 cups)
- The half an onion that’s sitting in your fridge (or maybe that small red one you didn’t have plans for yet)
- The rest of the raisins in the box (about 1/2 cup, if you really want a number)
- 1/2 cup of almonds…or walnuts…or both….or maybe 3/4 cup if you like nuts…or maybe chop a whole cup ‘cause you’ll likely eat half of them while you’re making this
Mix together. Add dressing. Mix some more. Make more dressing if you think you need it or like it creamier….or don’t. Maybe add some salt. Maybe don’t. Maybe sneak the kids some broccoli while you’re at it ‘cause they’ll think it’s a treat at this point…not a veggie. Put in the fridge until ready to be served. The mayo/sugar dressing gets better with time and nothing in the salad can really get “soggy” with it, so don’t be afraid to let it set for several hours or even overnight. Or eat it now. Whatever.
And that’s why I don’t do many recipes. I don’t *remember* the recipes. I didn’t *follow* the recipe I found online in the first place.
As much as I hated my mother always telling me “until it looks right” (and still do! how do I know what it’s supposed to look like if I’ve never made it before??), that’s how I end up cooking a lot of times. I work with what I have in the fridge or pantry….I adjust to taste a lot….I leave out ingredients (this likely called for bacon or something….and vinegar in the dressing) or add other ingredients.
In the end, if it tastes good, we eat it, and nobody cares if it was supposed to be walnuts instead of almonds or if the recipe called for red onions instead. It just works. But it really doesn’t translate well to publishing a recipe online. :P
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