Archive for November, 2011

November 17th, 2011

Creamy Avocado Saffron Papardelle

pasta

Inspired by this recipe and an abundance of saffron courtesy of Costco, Jens came up with this recipe. It’s great because you get a creamy sauce without the heaviness of cream. There’s also something really decadent about having a saffron-flavored dish on a weeknight. Seriously, if you ever see saffron on sale at Costco, snap it up. It’s so much cheaper than buying almost anywhere else (6 strands at a time? No thanks.) I’m also amused by how very serious the “Kirkland signature” saffron is. From the package:
saffron

“The Consejo Regulador, recognized by the EU, guarantees the consumer that saffron with the DO La Mancha seal is authentic. The numbered label on the jar, supplied only by the COnsejo Regulador, guarantees that this saffron has been grown, harvested, and packed in La Mancha and that it is the highest quality available.”

/end Costco fangirl rant.

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November 17th, 2011

Maximum healthy, minimal dishes

After explaining the recipe to me, Jens gave a monologue about “maximum implementation, minimal implements.” He really likes minimizing the amount of dirtied utensils. I actually have gotten very exasperated at him as he strategizes about dishes and said, “Just dirty another butter knife, I’m the one who does the dishes and I don’t care!”

So as a preface to this dish, he wants to point out that if you plan ahead, all you’ll be dirtying is: 1 non-stick pan, 1 cutting board, 1 knife, 2 bowls (that you’ll be using to reserve things and eat from), 1 spatula, and 2 spoons. He’s sitting across from me looking very pleased with himself.

This feels very healthy. It’s tasty, but not mind-blowing, but I thought I’d post it anyway because maybe someone will have suggestions on how to improve it. I actually prefer it when blogs post things that aren’t perfect-awesome-mindblowing because it makes them more approachable rather than aspirational.

Jens claims it’s sort of Chinese but I pointed out to him that A) Chinese people usually eat white rice and B) brussels sprouts don’t seem very Chinese to me. I guess if you think of them as stand-ins for Napa cabbage?

For the recipe, read more »

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