'EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK' PASTA
a tasty, but healthful recession meal
Had a roast chicken the other night - always good for two, three meals (or more if you make soup) and decided to use the leftovers for a chicken pasta.
This is not going to be a long blog with wonderful European pictures or fancy recipes fried, boiled, baked, grilled, roasted or broiled by Richard -- this is basic, healthful cooking on the cheap -- the same principle I use when making my leftover salmon pasta... Simply put: use whatever you have in the fridge that's sitting on the fence between "keep" and "toss."
Last night's "everything but the kitchen sink" pasta included a clove of garlic that was about ready to apply for Medicare, lemon juice squeezed from lemons shivering and shriveling in the fridge from neglect, wilting arugula that was dancing with its expiration date, frozen peas not quite ready for prime-time freezer burn, half of a very ripe red tomato, shaved parmesan cheese, mushrooms liberated from their little canned prison and the leftover chicken -- all sauteed in EVOO and poured over whole wheat spaghetti. Doesn't sound all that appetizing, does it? But it was delicious and we didn't need gravy or a cream sauce.
Voila! Another light, healthful, tasty dinner for pennies! And the kitchen sink? We saved that for the clean-up.
7 comments:
I'm a sucker for leftover roast chicken and pasta. We roasted 2 the other day, and our pasta permutation had penne, artichoke hearts and asparagus... yum!
Sounds very yum, Steve. Want to be a guest 'columnist/blogger"?
I'm a mushroom... I'm free! I'm free! They were about to ship me off to the Can Film Festival.
Loved it. Sounded alot like our refrigerator!!!!
Is that you, Mershad? A lot like your fridge? :)
We find leftover chicken always starts a pasta dish... In summer, cherry or other almost overripe tomatoes, basil, fresh grated parm does it, sometimes with some black olives tossed it at the last minute. But remember sun dried tomatoes? They've fallen from grace, yet the oil-packed variety once added a lot to dry goods-based or overly chewy leftover meat pasta dishes. You can take left over chicken, sun drieds, a bit of onion, saute and add cream or half and half at the end and wind up with a dish. Always tasty. I personally tire of over garlic-ed food, and find a sweet onion provides a more balanced flavor. Maybe because so much restaurant fare/prepared food relies on garlic exclusively. There's a whole school in Italy these days that's banished garlic, feeling it's tainted la bella cucina. Don't get me wrong -- I love it. But in this country, we over-extend its value. Hal
Your 'leftover' pasta sounds fabulous -- and I, too, love sun-dried tomatoes in oil.
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