Mediterranean inspired pasta salad (warm)

Monday night is often pasta night in this house. I have two in sports and one in occupational therapy. We come home at different times and everyone is always starving the minute they enter through the mudroom. On Mondays I try to prepare dishes that can be enjoyed hot as well as at room temperature.

I often refer to myself as the stove-top scientist as I never really know what I am going to prepare and how it's going to turn out. I may know that we'll have pasta, but I won't know what kind of pasta until I am in the middle of cooking it. Often, just after I have dumped the pasta in to the boiling water I'll sift through the ingredients in my fridge and pantry and see what tastes good together. This is exactly what I did last night.

With the pasta cooking away I grabbed the basil, goat cheese and and olives from my refrigerator. From the pantry I retrieved artichoke hearts and cannellini beans.

I drained and rinsed the beans and the artichoke hearts (which I chopped up) and sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil with some sea salt. I cooked them until they started to brown. And then I added the olives.

When the pasta was ready I drained it and returned it to the pot adding in the beans, artichoke hearts and olives. I made a Greek vinaigrette using 3 parts oil to one part vinegar and some oregano which I poured over the pasta. I tossed in the goat cheese which melted in to the hot mixture giving it a cream-like consistency. At the end I julienned some fresh basil and tossed it in.

If desired you can crumble and brown some sausage to sprinkle in if you feel you need a little meat in this dish.

Ingredients:

2 cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans of artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and chopped
1/2 cup sliced, chopped or diced kalamata olives
1/2 cup of goat cheese, or more to taste
1 cup of fresh, julienned basil

For the dressing
1/3 cup of red wine vinegar
2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil, plus more to coat the pan
1 heaping tsp of oregano
sea salt to taste

Pour ingredients in to a jar and shake well and pour over pasta.

This dish is simple and easy to make. If you do not eat this immediately, you may want to drizzle a little extra olive oil over the pasta to replace any that had been absorbed. This is great as a meal or as a side dish

Oven Roasted Vegetables with Shells and Goat Cheese Dressing

I feel this dish could use a little more color... perhaps next time I'll add some roasted squash. It would add another dimension of flavor and color. But this was one of those recipes that came from what do I have in the house that's quick and easy? It was all about connecting with my inner-laziness. I also wanted to see if my oldest son would eat a vegetarian dish! Heh heh heh... shhhhh! ;)

So what did they think? Each and everyone of them thought it was magnificent. As did I! You could add chicken or sausage, or serve it as a side, but I thought it was perfect on its own. And sometimes my kids can do without eating meat. I'll serve this as a leftover, perhaps tonight. Since I won't have enough to serve everyone as a full meal I will make some chicken to accompany it... perhaps a lemon cutlet...

Anyhow, without further ado, these are the ingredients I used. But feel free to use more or less and add something that I might not have.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower cut into bite-sized pieces
4-5 broccoli crowns, cut into bite-sized pieces, stems included
1 can of chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 can of canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 small or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil to coat veggies and saute pan
1/2 cup of crumbled goat cheese, NOT Feta


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

* Cover veggies (beans, cauliflower and broccoli) in a light amount of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet or two, as needed. They should be ready in about 20 minutes. Watch closely... you want them to brown slightly. Since they are small they shouldn't take long to cook but you will want to keep an eye on them and adjust the temperature as necessary.

* (If preferred you can saute veggies in a pan for equally wonderful results. If you choose this method you will need to saute them batch by batch. Place cooked batches in a large bowl as they are done. Add small amounts of oil to pan as needed.)

* While veggies are in the oven fill a large pot with water to boil for the pasta. When the water is ready, cook pasta per directions on the package. Drain and and add a drop of olive oil to prevent sticking.

* In a saute pan with a little oil, add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add to the pasta when they are ready.

* As soon as the veggies are ready add them to the pasta. Mix well

* Add the goat cheese to the pasta, mix well so that the cheese melts and incorporates with the pasta and the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper as desired.