Today Maia and I managed to create a delicious pasta and chili for dinner. We are both vegetarians (although we do eat fish) so feel free to add meat to any recipe (or don't... and be earth-friendly).
Random Shit Pasta:
1 egg (which is all I had in the fridge)
some pasta
some bell pepper
2 basil leaves (or any other seasoning you like)
cabbage (I needed to use it)
vegetable oil and balsamic vinegar
1 pan, bowl and fork
1. Cook pasta and drain-if you have never cooked pasta before you know it's done when you try and eat a piece and it's no longer crunchy. Maia's preferred method is to throw it at a wall and if it sticks it's done. She advises against throwing it at the ceiling, a window tends to work best. However this method is not always foolproof so be prepared for some crunch if you use it.
2. Cook cabbage-should turn lighter almost translucent-with small amount of vegetable oil. When it's lighter add pasta and balsamic vinegar. Place in bowl.
3. Cook egg and add to pasta.
4. Cut up some bell pepper and add plus anything else you want that might taste good.
5. Add basil leaves as a classy garnish
6. Enjoy! Tastes good with a red wine.
Here's Maia's Recipe for Veggie Chili:
I'm not one to follow recipes, much less use measuring utensils that aren't already attached to my body.
I rinsed/drained/cooked 3 palm-fulls (~1 cup for you measuring folk) of lentils according to the directions on the bag... More or less 6 cups of boiling water for 30 mins. While the lentils were cooking, I pulled a couple cloves of garlic, half a yellow onion, one green and one yellow zucchini, half a red pepper, and a green pepper out of the fridge. I washed and cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, and diced the onion and garlic. Once the lentils had cooked for 30 minutes, I drained the remaining water off of them, and left them in the strainer. Into the still-hot, empty pan I put 2-seconds' worth (2 Tbs?) of olive oil, and the onion and garlic. I added salt, pepper, and chili powder, stirred it around for a minute or so, then added the rest of the vegetables. Once the vegetables were soft-ish, I added the lentils back in with a can of black beans and allowed the mixture to hang out (after I added more chili powder) for as long as it took me to complete my ab workout (15 minutes or so). Upon tasting the "chili," I decided it needed something more... and dug around in my cabinet for a can of condensed tomato soup. I added half the can, stirred it around until it was hot, and ate it. Om nom nom!
I had lots of leftover chili. I added a scrambled egg to a portion of the leftovers. Also delicious. Best enjoyed in a large blue leather chair while playing with Stella, the cat.
Clearly cooking in this apartment is a scientific endeavor, with utmost attention paid to precise measurements and careful matching of ingredients. Whatever... so long as it's inexpensive, healthier than McDonalds, and tastes better than ramen, it's fair game.
Hope you enjoy these recipes there will be many more to come!
