Penne with Greens, Olives & Feta

Apologies about being gone so long! We always have so much going on around the holidays that I can barely keep my head on straight, and am often too busy to cook much of anything besides the odd meal of soup and grilled cheese. But I'm back at it and have been making an renewed effort to expand my kitchen horizons. I've been trying to work even more vegetarian meals into our weekly menus, although truthfully I've got a meat stockpile that I really should finish working my way through. But for the first week in the new year I wanted to prepare all meatless dinners to try and give 2010 a fresh and healthy feel from the get-go. This recipe is one that I tore out of the April 2008 issue of Bon Appetit, and then promptly stuck in the big stack of recipes to try and forgot about. I decided it was finally time to give it a try. This recipe could have been better, but all the fault lies with me I think. I'd never cooked with kale before, so I chose it as the greens for this recipe. My first mistake was I didn't buy enough kale, so the penne to greens ratio was pretty off. My second mistake was I had no idea how long to cook the greens for. All I had read was that kale was a longer cooking green, so I used the maximum time estimate in the recipe for it, and I think I probably should have taken them out sooner. So, keeping those two mistakes in mind, this recipe was pretty good. In fact, I thought it was better when I had leftovers for lunch the next day. I don't know if my difficulties with the recipe flavored (no pun intended) my opinion of it when we had it for dinner, but it definitely improved in my estimation over lunch. I didn't have the photograph of the meal with the recipe I tore out, so I'm sharing Bon Appetit's photo below to help anyone who wants to try this recipe get a better idea for what the end result should hopefully be.

Penne with Greens, Olives and Feta
Recipe from Bon Appetit; Serves 4 to 6

















1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large bunch greens (such as spinach, mustard greens, kale, or broccoli rabe; about 1 pound), thick stems removed, spinach left whole, other greens cut into 1-inch strips (about 10 cups packed)
12 ounces penne
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)

• Mix parsley, lemon peel and garlic in small bowl; set aside.
• Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add greens and cook just until tender, 1 to 6 minutes, depending on type of greens. Using skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer greens to colander to drain. Return water to boil. Add pasta and cook just until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking liquid.
• Return pasta to pot; add greens and 3 tablespoons oil and toss. Stir in olives, feta, and enough reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with parsley mixture and serve.

My notes: I already laid out the issues I had with the recipe above, so all that needs mentioning is that I used whole wheat penne in this recipe.

Photo by Coral von Zumwalt for Bon Appetit

No Heat Week Part 2- Greek Salad

Another thing I relied on during our week without air conditioning was healthy prepared or ready to eat items from the grocery store. One night I paired store-bought roasted red pepper hummus, marinated olives, and whole wheat pitas with some fresh, summery crudites and a Greek salad I threw together. Not a smidge of "cooking" involved in this meal, but plenty of flavor all the same.

Fast Greek Salad
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food














2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chunked
1 small cucumber, seeded and chunked
1/2 red onion, cut into chunks
1/4-1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
coarse salt and ground pepper

• Combine tomatoes, cucumber, onion and parsley in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together lemon juice and olive oil. Toss vegetables with dressing and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Way I Ate

Tuesday night Josh was going to be leaving from drum lessons and going straight to sub in for a friend's drummer at a show, meaning I would be dining alone. And that was fine with me, because as much as I would miss him I was pretty excited about vegging out in front of the TV and noshing on my planned dinner for the evening. This idea come from Everyday Food, and they title it the Middle Eastern Platter. I just call it heaven. The only real preparation is the salad. I buy red pepper hummus and marinated olives from the bulk bar at Central Market. The recipe calls for a block of feta sliced, but I just buy the crumbled kind, I find it just as easy and then I have feta that I can use for salad, pasta, or pizza too. I ate this for dinner Tuesday night, while watching The Way We Were. Luckily I finished eating before I started crying, as the olives and feta are salty enough without my tears, ha. And then I had the same darn thing for lunch yesterday and today. Divine!

Middle Eastern Platter
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4














3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 English cucumber, seeded and diced
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1 small red onion, diced
coarse salt and ground pepper
8 oz. store-bough hummus
1/2 teaspoon paprika
8 oz. feta cheese
1 cup black olives, such as kalamata
4 pita breads

• In a small container, combine lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil. In a medium container, combine tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley.
• Add onion and dressing to vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Serve with hummus (sprinkled with paprika and remaining olive oil), feta (thickly sliced), olives, and pita. Serve.

My notes: As you may have noticed those aren't kalamata olives on my plate. I usually choose different olives each time I make this, cause I love olives. this time I chose some that were marinated with garlic and they were delish! This is a great thing to serve when you're having friends over. I'm imagining it as a nice nosh during a board game. If you want to prep it ahead of time keep the dressing, onions, and vegetables separate, tossing just before serving. Also, since I get red peppered hummus I don't bother with the oil & paprika on that. And I use whole wheat pitas cut into wedges to devour all the goodies!