Recipes: Simple Pasta Italiano & Asian Marinade

Ciao & こんにちは !

Yesterday I had a pretty stellar day, kitchen-wise! While rummaging through my cabinets and refrigerator (and throwing out too much…) I put some leftovers to good use. I will share those recipes with you another time, because first I MUST share two OTHER great recipes with you. Yes, I am on the proverbial role.

I just had to immediately share this recipe with you guys, it was the best lunch I have had in a long time (and I usually prep a fresh lunch!). It was so simple to throw together, most of it will be stuff you already have on hand. I combined pasta & ‘ meat’ ball leftovers with a few simple things and had a terrific meal. It’s so nice to have a fresh, flavorful lunch in the midst of working, studying  or whatever it is you’re doing! I strongly encourage you to switch up your old boring routine now and again and trade in sandwiches for a freshly prepared meal.

Simple Pasta Italiano
Serves one hungry hippie

* leftover cooked whole wheat spaghetti (or cook up a portion)
* 4-5 mock meatballs, prepared, halved
* 1/4 – 1/2 an avocado, sliced
* one small tomato, chopped (or cherry tomatoes)
* a handful black and/or green olives, halved
* a spritz olive oil
* pepper & coarse (sea) salt
* fresh(!) basil leaves

Mise en place, combine, dig in! A taste of Italy during a busy day

This second recipe was inspired by V&D, a Dutch warehouse with a pretty magnificent eatery. I used to grab a bite there with my mom or friends quite a lot but since I don’t visit the movie theater nor the shops that often anymore I don’t get to eat there that often anymore either. I have always been the most fond of their marinated, stirfried mushrooms. They are softened and seasoned to perfection. I remember that me and my mom asked some years ago what the marinade was made of. I forgot of course, but I did a pretty decent job of recreating those flavors right out of my kitchen. Here’s the recipe for an intense asian marinade for your veggies:

Asian Marinade
For 400-600 grams veggies

* 5 T liquid aminos (or other soy sauce)
* 4 T ketjap marinade
* 2 T balsamic vinegar
* 1 T rice vinegar (or use more balsamic)
* 2 T Sucanat (or brown sugar)
* 1 T molasses
* 1/2 – 1 t cayenne powder (1 t makes for a pretty spicey marinade!)

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Chop your veggies, place in a large bowl and pour the marinade over and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least three hours, stirring once per hour or so. I think the rice vinegar and molasses are pretty important but feel free to experiment! The marinade is a perfect blend of sweet, sour, spicey.

I stirfried the veggies (brussel sprouts & mushrooms) over low heat for ca. 10 minutes (no extra oil needed) and served it with rice and roasted peanuts!

I’m down to only TWO more exams! This week really has flown by, which is great. I know I passed exams one and two, and I think I passed yesterday’s as well. For today’s exam all I have to do is memorize 2 A4s filled with products and their calorie/carb/protein/fat/fiber content. Sweet. Like learning French words all over again. ‘ Thanks’  to being obsessed with calories for some years, this is not too difficult for me .

Tomorrow marks the end of exams and the end of me being 22 . After the last exam the class is going downtown for drinks, afterwards I’ll be going to my family in Haarlem to celebrate me and my aunts birthday (we were born at the same day!). Can’t wait!

And now I’ll stop teasing you all and announce the give-away winner! This was my first time doing a give-away so by accident I made it a little hard on myself by replying to comments but I just randomized a number and counted leaving out myself and anyone that commented twice . Result:

Winner: Melissa Garcia Koel! Please email your adress and printscreen of sharing the post to sabine @ gmail dot com!

Have a fabulous day all!

Love,

Sabine