Grilled Chicken - How difficult can that be!

Cut up a whole chicken - why not - it's much less expensive and easy to do once you get the hang of it. And grilled chicken on the bone really adds so much flavor. I halved the chicken and then just cut off the leg and thigh and kept them together. Sometimes I just cut the chicken in half. But tonight we had a combo of breast and wing and leg and thigh. I put the chicken in a baggie and added spices from the cupboard - garlic, salt, sweet red pepper, rosemary, thyme and two juiced lemons - throw the whole lemon in the bag too. Chill to marinate and take out and bring to room temp before grilling so you get an even bake. Grill about 40 minutes - grill each side to get a nice char and then move to indirect heat, close the lid and let em bake.

Pasta Salad - made with Brown Rice Fusilli

We wanted to cook healthier yesterday, so I said I'd bring a whole-grain pasta salad. (I admit, I've never made a pasta salad that I thought was worth repeating, but this turned out tasty.)

And, with the veggies, it was a pretty salad. Today (next day), the fusilli has a pink tint to it.

Windmill Farm's didn't seem to have any whole grain pasta, but they did have Brown Rice Fusilli. The package said it cooks in 7-9 minutes; I boiled the pound about 11 minutes, then gave us and decided it was to be VERY al dente. I decided to pretend it was supposed to be firm.

For the veggies, I cut up the following and put into a colander:
1 yellow, 1 red, 1 orange bell pepper
1/4 of a purple onion, chopped very finely
1 small head of broccoli flowerets, again, cut very small pieces.

Not in the colander, but in a separate bowl, some nice roasted beets that were already cooked and in a vinegary sauce, which I'd bought at the salad bar at Windmill Farms. The salad bar charges $4.99 a pound, and to save me the trouble of cleaning, roasting, peeling, saucing beets, I thought this was a good thing. (Regards, Martha)

When the pasta was "done", I poured the boiling water (and fusilli) over the veggies,just to get them a little tiny bit cooked. Shook the colander to get rid of excess water.

Dressed with this dressing:
3-4 tablespoons of good mustard (I used Maui Sweet Onion mustard), 3-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise, some rice wine vinegar, some honey. Mix, taste,add some more ingredients. Salt.

Tim tasted and said "Mom, the pasta's not done." I replied "It's supposed to be nutty." He bought it.

Capellini Pomodoro

This was tasty...don't let the amount of olive oil fool or scare you. It cooks very quickly and I suggest you get the water boiling for the pasta before you start cooking the sauce. Here's the prep:

Pour a small glass of red wine. Set to the cook's side.

Chop 8-9 roma tomatoes, or use 2 pints of cherry tomatoes.
Chop a big bunch of basil, and two teaspoons fresh parsley.
Smash, mince, squash 5-6 cloves of garlic
Chop up a few tablespoons of fresh thyme.
Grate 1 1/2 cups of good parmesan.
1/2 lemon, ready to squeeze
Have at the ready, some pepper to grind, salt, and some red pepper flakes. And 3/4 lb capellini, which cooks very very quickly.

Heat up 1/4 cup olive oil.Add the garlic and cook and stir for just 30 seconds. Don't burn the garlic. Add in the chopped tomatoes, parsley, basil, thyme, fresh ground pepper, and some red pepper flakes. At the same time, get the capellini cooking; it only takes a short time (maybe 5 minutes???) Cook and stir the tomatoe mixture. Think about what Dan Quayle is doing these days. (right? you forgot about him, too?)

When the pasta is al dente, drain it (but save a bit of the water), then put it into the tomato pan, then toss it with the grated parmesan which of course will get all melty. Squeeze in the lemon juice. If the pasta seems too dry, add a bit of the pasta water or some extra olive oil. Taste it, you might want to add a bit of salt or more pepper.

Serve immediately with extra parmesan and extra basil.

There's no red wine in this dish, that was for me. And if you've never tried it before, go to a liquor store and buy a bottle of Lemoncello, put it in the freezer, and sip a little shot of it after dinner.

Simple and Easy Asparagus, Brown Rice, Toasted Pine Nuts and Parmesan

Cook 2 cups brown rice in your steamer for this dish. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Add 2 tablespoons pine nuts and brown lightly. Add 8 ounces of asparagus sliced on the diagonal in 1/2 inch pieces and stir-fry until just crisp about 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon minced garlic. Add the brown rice and combine. Remove from heat and top with grated parmesan cheese.