Perfect Pasta Bowl

This week we finally experienced Wawona’s first snow of the season! It happened on Monday. Well, I suppose it started Sunday night, but at that point, it was an uncertain snow, just a dusting. But when we woke up, a blanket! It kept snowing too, until we had almost a foot. This is the most snow I’ve had since I left Michigan after my freshman year of college. We all reveled in it. As soon as we finished our necessary tasks for the day, we went sledding… obviously. A day of hiking through the snow along with the general excitement left all of us feeling pretty tired and hungry. Pasta sounded perfect and some recent dieting intentions ensured that the fridge was packed full of vegetables. My plan? To fit as much of this as I could into a giant bowl.

If you plan on mixing your vegetables with something other than just sauce, pasta strands (spaghetti, fettuccini, etc.) don’t always work the best. When I add veggies or meats, I usually go for Penne, but all we had was some huge bags of macaroni. Macaroni is often overlooked when not being used with its classic sidekick cheese. However, macaroni is great if you’re feeding a crowd. You’ll get more bang for your buck with macaroni than with most larger pasta noodles (rigatoni, ziti, penne, etc.), since these just have bigger empty spaces.

This pasta hit the spot for sure. It was really filling, but also easy and fast. If you don’t have all the ingredients I used, don’t sweat it; just use whatever you have in the fridge. This is definitely a good dish to improvise with.

Perfect Pasta Bowl
Serves 8

2 lbs macaroni noodles
3 Tbs olive oil
3 large garlic cloves finely chopped or pressed
½ red onion finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
1 zucchini quartered and sliced
1 bunch green onions finely chopped
1 large tomato chopped
4-6 c baby spinach leaves
4 Morningstar Farms Chik Patties, thawed in microwave
1 c feta cheese crumbled
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

In large pot, boil macaroni according to instructions on package.

Heat oil in large pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté until they just start to become soft. Add jalapeno and red pepper and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add zucchini, green onions and tomato.

In separate pan, fry Chik Patties in a little olive oil until crispy. Cut into small pieces and add to vegetables along with the spinach. Cook until spinach begins to wilt, then remove from heat.

Stir vegetable mixture, feta cheese and dried herbs together with pasta in large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tips: If you’re not into spicy food, you can skip the jalapeno pepper. This dish is also good with cheeses other than feta. Parmesan, asiago, romano or goat cheese would be really good. You could skip the cheese altogether for a tasty vegan option as well. I actually served it with some medium cheddar on the side for the cheese lovers to add at will.

(Sort of) Spinach Quiche

The summer after my first year of college, I decided to stay home instead of working at summer camp as I had the past couple of summers. Mom had just started the Fat Flush Diet, so her presence in the kitchen mainly consisted of blending all natural cranberry juice smoothies. Eww. Mom was afraid if she cooked for us, she’d eat what she was making and since my dad isn’t much of a chef, meal responsibilities often fell to me.

Although I really enjoyed entertaining the idea of being a good cook, I hadn’t had much practice yet and it showed. Some culinary endeavors failed miserably. I spent most of one day making a few loaves of from-scratch, whole wheat bread, which tasted fine but were heavy enough to use as bricks (shot puts, blunt weapons, etc). I also spent about 4 hours on an authentic curry sauce that smelled like heaven and tasted like dirt (maybe worse).

Fortunately, there were successes as well. Mom pulled out a recipe card one afternoon for a good old-fashioned quiche. Spinach and Swiss cheese were the main components along with a basic egg mixture to hold everything together. I made the crust myself (“easy as pie” is such a stupid thing to say), and the end results were pretty good. But as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a big egg fan. I loved the melty cheese with the green hearty spinach, but I wondered if I could get away with fewer than the three eggs the recipe called for.

Quiche sounds complicated, but it’s actually very easy. The crust is the most difficult part, but you can buy one premade or just skip it all together and make a crustless quiche. Plus, you can use almost anything for a filling. Here’s what I whipped together the other day.


(Sort of) Spinach Quiche
4-5 servings

1 package of baby spinach leaves
1 c. sliced baby Portobello mushrooms
½ c. finely chopped red onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 c. mozzarella cheese
1 c. crumbled feta
½ c. shredded parmesan
1 egg
1/3 c. milk or cream
1 tsp. dill
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed black pepper
1 package of phillo dough, thawed
1 stick of butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter or margarine. Use basting brush to spread butter on 8 sheets of phillo dough while layering in pie pan. Trim overhanging edges.

Combine spinach, mushrooms, red onion, garlic and cheeses and place inside phillo dough.


Mix together the egg, milk, dill, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over mixture in pan.

Cover the filling with several more layers of buttered phillo and trim edges.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a fork inserted comes out clean.

Tips: If you want a fluffier quiche, you can use up to three eggs, but increase the milk or cream proportionately too. Be sure to thaw out the phillo dough completely since it’s very fragile when frozen, but like I said before, you could put the filling straight into the pan and skip a crust altogether. If you want larger pieces of onions, be sure to sauté them first so they aren’t crunchy. Also, feel free to experiment with different veggies and cheeses. Just about anything works.