pasta – Strong Roots Nutrition

favorites, main dish, pasta, summer, vegetable, vegetarian, weeknight

June 26, 2017

Simple Burst Tomato Pasta

My favorite recipes to share aren't the ones that look extravagant or take hours of prep to make. They're the practical ones: the ones that I myself make on a regular basis, the ones that can be whipped up on a weeknight, the ones that take under an hour to prepare. Sometimes it's fun to spend hours cooking something new and elaborate, but most of the time, I want to cook something that's tasty, fast, and gets the job done. Like this pasta. I started making this pasta when I had my first real garden and my Super Sweet 100 tomato was going crazy, vining all over[...]

appetizer, main dish, meal prep, pasta, salad, side, summer, vegetable, vegetarian

May 29, 2017

Greek-ed Out Couscous Salad

This grain salad was exactly what was needed after a steamy couple of weeks in the Midwest. It's hearty enough to be filling but tastes light and cool on a hot day. Grain salads tend to make great dishes for advance preparation; they can typically be served cold, warm, or room temperature, they last several days in the fridge, and they only get tastier as they sit and their flavors meld together. So many thumbs up. This dish will be even better if you can find a really good feta. I stumbled across the most delicious Greek feta when[...]

fall, favorites, main dish, pasta, spring, weeknight, winter

April 10, 2017

Glossy Roasted Cauliflower Pasta

During the week, we're all about quick meals that require little prep but taste delicious, and this is certainly a dish that fits the bill. If you've ever wondered how restaurants are able to achieve that saucy, glossy, sauce-clinging-to-noodles effect that makes the dish so good, this is one way to to do it. When the pasta is several minutes away from al dente, it gets moved to the sauce with a ladle full of pasta water. As you finish cooking the noodles in the sauce, you toss, toss, toss, adding more starchy pasta water as needed to provide enough of a ba[...]

main dish, pasta, vegetable, vegetarian, winter

March 10, 2014

Soba noodle bowl with creminis and cabbage

I've found that for many of my clients, lunch variety can be a challenge. Most people do not have schedules that allow for stopping mid-day to cook something for lunch, so packable or ready-made items are key. Sandwiches and wraps are staples for many. Sometimes salads are nice. Dinner leftovers can be useful. If you happen to have a few minutes to spare, this soba noodle bowl is a quick, satisfying, minimally inconveniencing meal that will help you make it to dinnertime. Noodle bowls such as this also reheat nicely if you need to take on-the-go. On[...]

fall, main dish, pasta

November 11, 2013

Baked whole wheat gnocchi in creamy marinara

One of the most memorable days I spent in Italy was one where I visited Parma Rotta, a gorgeous restaurant in Italy's famous pasta-producing city, Parma. The employees demonstrated pasta making to my study abroad group, and we tasted their swiss chard and ricotta-stuffed ravioli, strozapretti in marinara, and gnocchi with butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Hand-made gnocchi is seriously incredible. Gnocchi is really nothing special: just potatoes, flour, egg, and salt. But roll it out fresh and boil it ever so slightly, and you get the most wonderfully s[...]