little woman

I am so excited to be blog number 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,…

Ok so I totally know that no one will read this and I am fine with it. I got the idea awhile back but havent really done anything about it… And technically, I didnt do anything about it this time either… I asked Paul what software I should use and he set it up for me fabulous boyfriend!!

But more specifically… last night I made dinner while Paul was playing Smash Brothers (I love watching when he plays video games!). He seemed to like what I made so I thought, I should probably keep track of what we like and what we dont like. So I started looking for online food diaries but all I came up with were “ways to count your calories” bleh bleh bleh. Well, one of my favorite past times is to get yummy vegetarian recipes off of blogs so…. why not start one of my own!!

Paul and I are vegetarians so I love to find veggie recipes or recipes that I can vegetarianize (huh?) easily. He likes lots of flavor and spice! I tend to get heartburn after super spicy stuff… SO what did you make, you ask? As usual, it was my own version of a recipe I found online…

Three Way Garlic Pasta with Beans and Peppers

This is an incredibly flavorful dish that is hearty enough to make you full and offers protein from the cannelli beans and beta carotene from the orange bell pepper (they are Paul’s favorite).

1 orange bell pepper

5 gloves of garlic

1lb of pasta

1 can of cannelli beans

2 teaspoons dried thyme

Put the pasta on to boil. (Yesterday was St. Patrick’s day and Paul wanted to add some green food coloring to the water. It turned the pasta green just a little!)

After its al dente, drain them in a collendar reserving just a little of the cooking water (about 1/4 cup). While the pasta is cooking, put your bell pepper on a cookie sheet and under the broiler for about 8 minutes, or until the skin in charred on all sides. Getting the skin charred makes it very easy to peel. When its finished, take it out and let it cool. It will shrivel a bit. Skin it, take out the ribs and seeds and cut into 1-inch pieces.

and now for the three way garlicky party…

1) In a large serving bowl, thinly slice a a garlic clove and add your thyme.

2) In a small saucepan, bring the reserved pasta liquid to boil with 2 garlic cloves until they become soft. When they are finished, add the liquid and the cloves to a small food processor and pulse until it looks like cloudy water.

3) Heat some olive oil in a pan and thinly slice the remaining 2 garlic cloves. Brown those a bit to bring out the flavor. Add the roasted bell pepper pieces and let it heat through again. Open the can of cannelli beans and rinse them well. Add them to the pan to heat through. Finally, add the garlic puree and bring to a slight simmer.

Put the pasta in the bowl with the fresh garlic and thyme. Mix well. Pour over the bean/bell pepper mixture and mix well. The pasta will absorb most of the excess liquid which makes it extra garlicky and yummy!!

~ciao~

kp