The Fat Girl's Guide to Living

Ever peer inside the vegetable drawer and discover something you’d forgotten about? Something fresh and colorful you’d purchased with good intentions, but never quite got around to preparing? Something that, if not dealt with soon, will probably be destined for the compost bin? Happens to me all the time.

Just the other night I was digging around the fridge looking for something to make for dinner (planning is not my strong point) and found a couple of pretty bunches of asparagus that I’d picked up a week or so earlier and promptly forgotten about. Not one to let a good veggie intentionally go to waste (especially one full of potassium, vitamin A and folate), I set out to incorporate the asparagus into that night’s dinner. A few additional ingredients and about fifteen minutes later, and dinner was born.

I can’t tell you how much I love flexible dishes like this. You can use whatever pasta you have on hand. You can add chicken or shrimp for a little protein. You can trade the goat cheese for a little shaved Parmesan. The possibilities make my mouth water. Make it as written or make it your own, just don’t forget to check your veggie drawer first!

Pasta with Asparagus and Pine Nuts
12 ounces pasta (your choice)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-1.5″ pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces goat cheese

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and garlic and cook until the pine nuts are toasted and garlic is just crispy (but being careful not to burn) – 1-3 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook until bright green and just tender, another 2-4 minutes.

Add the asparagus mixture to the cooked, drained pasta and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into serving dishes and top with goat cheese. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

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One of my “resolutions” for 2010 has been to get re-focused on finding/developing great dinner recipes that don’t take a lot of time to put together. There’s nothing better than a really great meal on an otherwise “regular” day, but most weekdays we find it really difficult to come home and spend an hour and a half in the kitchen cooking dinner. Too late, too tired, too hungry… if there’s not something easy in the queue, it’s highly likely we’re going to skip cooking and go straight to take out or pizza.

A recent favorite is a more sophisticated take on tacos — Cumin-Crusted Pork Soft Tacos, a take on a recipe from FGG’s beloved magazine, Cooking Light. These beauties satisfy any craving for Mexican food, and I love the freshness of the corn-tomato salsa (which you can easily assemble while the pork cooks). Sometimes we eat them with black beans and rice, others we just have tacos with a side of margaritas; but no matter what you decide to accompany them with, they’re pretty amazing for something that comes together in about 20 minutes.

Cumin-Crusted Pork Soft Tacos
(adapted from Cooking Light)
Pork:
2.5 teaspoons  ground cumin
1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut in half crosswise into two, 1/2 pound pieces
1  tablespoon olive oil

Salsa:
1/2  cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
12 grape tomatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons red onion, diced
1 1/2  teaspoons fresh lime juice

Chipotle Sour Cream:
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced

8  (6-inch) corn tortillas

To prepare pork, combine first 4 ingredients. Rub cumin mixture over pork. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 4 minutes or until browned on all sides. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes until a thermometer registers 155°. Remove pork from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Cut pork across grain into thin slices.

To prepare salsa, combine corn and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

To prepare chipotle sour cream, combine sour cream and chipotle.

Wrap tortillas, 4 at a time, in a damp paper towel. Microwave on high 20 seconds. Place about 1 ounce pork onto each tortilla. Top with 2 tablespoons salsa and a dollop of sour cream. Fold in half.

Yield: 4 servings