Don't Knock It Until You Try It

This is a new creation that I'm still tweaking, but I'm happy with the first round of results.
This pasta dish features a light tomato sauce that has pear-infused white balsamic vinegar. I really enjoy the taste of this vinegar and I like how it adds a subtle taste enhancement without overpowering other flavors. The tuna was an addition I enjoyed, but I'm aware that it might make people scratch their heads and wonder what I was drinking. I wasn't, I swear!

Overall, the sauce was the highlight; it was light and not heavy, but it doesn't mean that the dish wasn't filling. I'll be making it often!

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Tuna and Grape Tomato Pasta with Pear-infused White Balsamic Sauce
Recipe by Christina Provo

Ingredients -

1 16 oz. box of penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsps tomato paste
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup chicken broth
7 tablespoons Alessi White Balsamic Pear-Infused Vinegar
2 tins of tuna in water, drained and flaked
Extra olive oil
Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions -

1. Put a large pot of water to boil and add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.


2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet with high sides on medium. When heated, add the garlic and saute for 20 seconds. Add the tomato paste and saute for 1 minute before adding the grape tomatoes, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and crushed red pepper; saute for 3 minutes.


3. When water is boiling, add the penne, stir, and cook for 10 minutes or until almost al dente.


4. Meanwhile, add 1 cup of chicken broth to tomato mixture and let simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until reduced and thickened slightly. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, then taste for seasonings. Add the pasta, 1/4 cup of pasta water, and the tuna; cook for another 1-3 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.


5. Remove from heat. Dish the pasta into bowls, then drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on top and a light sprinkle of parmesan cheese and parsley.

Enjoy!

Weekend Dinner Wrap-Up

After an 8-miler I ran, I wanted something sweet to snack on. I had been meaning to make cookies for the past couple of days, but couldn't settle on a recipe. Actually, I didn't want a recipe that called for creamed butter because I didn't want to wait. Enter: Peanut butter-Honey Oatmeal cookies from Visions of Sugar Plum.
These are awesome! The perfect density-to-mix ins ratio, and it was pretty soft and chewy. I only had regular peanut butter and I subbed plumped raisins for the honey peanuts (which next time I will have), and next time I might add toasted coconut. Also, I loved the extra nuttiness that came from toasting the oats. Great recipe, Emiline!

Now, about the chocolate chips I used... I don't like using Ghirardelli chocolate chips. No, the taste is fine, and I love that they have bittersweet chips. It's just that the chip size is much too big and creates too much of an extrusion that negatively alters the shape.

Steak. I used to hate it. What changed? One day of walking around Chicago without proper sustenance, passing a sign of the restaurant in The Lake House that advertised something like "1/4 pound burgers!" In my anemic-like state, I craved IRON! In fact, my mom and I ordered liver and onions. Yes.

Saturday's steak (I forgot the cut) was cooked medium-rare. I prefer rare, but medium-rare, leaning more towards the rare, was what I felt like at the moment. As long as the meat is bloody, juicy, and not dry, I love it.

The steak was topped with a pear-infused white balsamic pan sauce. Basically, after the steaks were cooked, butter was added, swirled around, then the pear white wine vinegar was poured in. Maybe. I didn't make it and I forgot to ask, so I'm not quite sure of all of the ingredients, but it was EXCELLENT!

After dinner I had a tea smoothie. A forumite from the Runner's World forums told me about this smoothie. You brew a cup of tea (black or green), add frozen fruit (or fresh) to the blender, some frozen fruit juice concentrate (if you want), then pour the tea over it and blend away. My current favorite combination is black tea, frozen peaches and blackberries, a fresh banana, and pineapple concentrate (just a little). It really is the best way to cool down after a run, which is when I usually make it.

Sunday's dinner was steak quesadillas. The leftover steak was sliced and then sautéed with Worcestershire sauce, I think. There were also green peppers and onions. Look:

That's it until next week!

Hapi Snacks For Hapi Times!

A few weeks ago, I went to Saigon Market to buy some wasabi peas when I realized, much to my dismay, that they were closed. The next step I took was to try and find some at a standard grocery store.

I walked into the store, headed towards the Asian section, surprisingly found a few different brands, and bought one that I had been wondering about. Back in the car, I opened the can and, shock and awe! I didn't really like it, so I went back into the store to buy the other brands. Instead of just buying one, I bought them all. In the name of this here blog, just for you!

Hapi Wasabi Peas -

- Had a deep roasted taste
- The texture of the peas crunched easily and ended up crunching into a powdery-like consistency
- Wasabi heat was practically nonexistent unless you a) ate many in a row, or b) were lucky and one pea was loaded.
- Didn't say it had MSG.
- Cost was somewhere around $3.09, so for the price it wasn't really worth it unless nothing else was available. In a pinch, these tasted fine if you don't prefer a super hot wasabi experience.

JFC Wasabi Peas -

- Was very green
- Way too sweet, sort of like Ramen Noodles
- The wasabi heat was hit-or-miss; some bites were mild and sweet with a slight bite, others had the Zing!
- The texture was a bit tougher than the Hapi Peas, but not by much.
- Has MSG and fake wasabi flavoring.
- This was the cheapest, coming in at $1.39, definitely better than the Hapi Peas.

Feng Shui Wasabi Peas -

- This one made me chuckle, as it advertises "no artificial colors" and the picture shows vibrantly green peas, though the actual peas were a rather dull gray-ish-green
- The ZING! was intense! From the moment a pea landed on your tongue to the time you chewed and swallowed, your nose had a major zingy feel running through it.
- As for the texture, it was the only drawback to an otherwise perfect wasabi pea. It was reminiscent of crunching on egg shells, though it didn't really make you think you were chewing a cockroach on Survivor.
- The price was decent at $1.99. If I couldn't get to the Saigon Market where I normally purchase the wasabi peas, this is the brand I'd get.

In the end, my favorite wasabi peas remain the ones at Saigon Market.

The price is $1.79 and both the texture and zing! are perfect.