Pasta al Pomodoro

It's pretty nice to have someone cook for you.

One might even say that it is the ultimate labor of love. A meal is the epitome of warmth, happiness, nourishment, and contentedness. It tastes delicious, it makes you feel happy, and if someone's making you a meal, they probably like you enough to want to spend time eating it with you too.

If you're interested in showing someone a little love - your girlfriend, your roommate, or possibly your mom who's expecting Stouffer's lasagna out of the freezer when she comes to visit your crappy apartment - make her this. It's easy, it's cheap, and it is oh so good.

I know exactly what you're thinking - this is spaghetti with red sauce. Not special, not exciting, possibly even kind of boring. The process is what makes this dish worthy of a pretentious Italian name. Cook the pasta until it is just underdone, put it in the pan with the red sauce, and then continue cooking the pasta in the sauce until it is done.

The key here is good ingredients. There aren't that many to begin with, so make them count. When you buy your pureed canned tomatoes, San Marzanos can't be beat. Buy the prettiest fresh basil you can find. Pay the extra $2 for really good Parmesan.

The slightly spicy, rich, and flavorful sauce will absorb into the noodles, creating a little pasta marriage. Serve it with some sauteed green beans and make your mom really proud of you. For the most delicious pasta she's ever had, but also because you thought to serve a vegetable too.

Pasta al Pomodoro
tweaked from Bon Apetit

Yields: 6 servings
Total Time: 45 minutes, prep to plate

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 28 oz. can tomato puree

Kosher salt

5 large fresh basil sprigs, chopped

16 oz. bucatini or spaghetti

2 Tbsp. cubed unsalted butter

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino

Preparation

Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a 12" straight-sided sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add minced onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes. Add crushed red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute more. Increase heat to medium, add puréed tomatoes and season lightly with kosher salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in basil sprigs, and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot. Season with salt; add spaghetti or bucatini and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.

Heat skillet over high heat. Stir in reserved pasta water to loosen sauce; bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add butter and cheese; toss until cheese melts. Transfer to warm bowls; serve with more cheese, if desired.

Sunday Link List

Hope you all had a great weekend! Saturday was a rainy day for the Farmers' Market, but we made up for it by some simple, but unbelievably special recipes for dinner, and I possibly made Matt watch old episodes of The Biggest Loser with me.

During the week I end up reading a bunch of stuff on the internet, so I thought I'd share with you! Also, if you find a sweet link, send it to me and I will put it on the Sunday Link List. Deal? Deal.

• Whenever you're feeling down during a rough day, take a look at this.
• This recipe says, "balance" to me in a yoga teacher voice.
• The 10 worst rap lyrics of all time.
• My friends have a funny tumblr.
• Allison is awesome and I could never to her job.
• Food photography inspiration.
• This video blew my mind.
• Looking forward to making all of these kale recipes.
• This flowchart makes me wish bacon was vegetarian.
• This blog inspires me to do my laundry. And organize kitchen drawers.

Blogger Backlog

"Kate, you talked a big game about how you had all of these ideas and updates for the blog, but then you totally flaked and didn't post ANYTHING for like, ever. Why should I believe that you didn't just abandon katiemanfred.com for three weeks and totally forget about my need to procrastinate?" - Liza's brain.

I attribute this to Liza, but I'm thinking that Slaton probably had this thought more than she did. I mean, he loves the blog.

For a little peek into my brain, here are the photos that I took with the good intentions of, "I should probably take a photo of this so I can blog about it!", but that I didn't actually blog about because I was doing other stuff. Like watching The West Wing on airplanes.

Easter in Chicago
This is a multi-part event. It started off with The Second City e.t.c. show on Friday night which was one of the funniest things I've seen in a very long time. We laughed our butts off.

Okay that's a bit of a lie. It started with my family having a "News Team, Assemble!" weekend in Chicago, the rest of my family getting pretty buzzed in the middle of the day of Friday, me having an emotional breakdown in the middle of Lakeshore Drive because I Could. Not. Get. To. The. Hotel., and then finally meeting them midway through dinner and sucking down a G&T faster than what would be considered a lady-like pace.

After all of that we went to the Second City show, which was, all sorts of funny.

THEN we went to Wrigley Field and watched the Nats trounce the Cubs on Saturday. And Matt caught a foul ball! Not only that, he gave it to a little kid, and it made his day. What a mench.

To round out our Easter weekend, we had another amazing meal at Perennial Virant. Matt and I ate there in December and we decided that the Manfred clan would also enjoy it. We were right.

Skeet Shooting in Birmingham

I have to travel to 'Bama every now and again, and somehow I found myself in Alabama firing a shotgun at a neon orange ceramic disk. Yup, I went skeet shooting, y'all.

Why yes, that is me being taught how to shoot a 28-gauge shotgun by a twelve year-old. But he's a State Champ, so it's cool.

Baking with Slaton

While I was in Bama I got a request for some baking assistance. Nautrally I accepted, under the condition that I could blog about it. Good thing Slaton likes the blog!

The Murphy Bed.

And just because it's ridiculous, I thought I'd tell you that I slept on my first Murphy bed. In a hotel room. And this wasn't just any hotel, this was a full-service Marriott, and my bed folded into the wall. I could see Camden Yards from my window though, so that was a perk. The room was also big enough for me to do a solid workout in my hotel room, even without folding up my bed. I could probably have had two or three others in there with me and it would have been fine.

The point is that it was a large room. Large rooms are exciting things in my life.


What was the most exciting thing that happened to you in April? Did you find yourself in a large room with a Murphy bed? Did you find youself shooting a gun with a twelve year-old? Did you put a lot of alcohol in baked goods? If so, we should be best friends.

The Farmers' Market is Back!

And so am I! I'm sorry that it's been three weeks since I've had something new for you - believe me, I've taken photos and brainstormed ideas and had adventures that I've wanted to update you on, but every time I sit down to write something, I either get a high priority e-mail, get told to turn off my electronics before my flight leaves, or I pass out on the couch. 

But if there's one thing that get's me pumped up to post stuff all over the internet, it's the Dane County Farmers' Market. 

The Capitol in springtime, rhubarb, and of course, cheese curds.

I woke up to the sun seeping through my blinds and hopped out of bed like a kid on Christmas. I strapped my camera around my neck and made sure that there was cash in my wallet, and then I was off! 

It was such a treat to stroll up to the square from my apartment. I haven't had much free time at home in the past few weeks and weekends, and it made me think about the first time I went to the Farmers' Market last summer when I was just soaking up all of the new sights and really getting my bearings.

It amazes me that just over a year ago I was really struggling with my health and making my transition into a plant-based diet. Now I rarely eat fish, eat no meat at all, and I've completely rebounded from my runner's colitis. 

I wish I could have told my year-ago self that everything would be just fine. 

You're right Artist Lady, we do like it here.

But such is life, even when old stressors calm down, brand new things crop up that make sure my worry skills don't get too rusty.

Figuring out real life makes me want to be a kid again, especially given how much fun they were having at the Farmer's Market. The kids were out in full force at the Market, and I couldn't help but snap some sneaky photos of these funny little guys.

I'm sure there will be a day when I realize that things will constantly change and that I'll have to keep changing with them, but for now I wish things would stay the same for just a sec.

Whoa! Just got kinda serious on you - I guess that's the kind of blogging content that comes up when you constantly feel like you're trying to get your feet under you. 

No matter. I did my best to channel a really relaxing weekend. I cooked every night, I got a lot of sleep, I rode my bike, went to the gym, and bought some new shoes. 

Pretty shoes solve most problems. Pending long weekends solve the rest of them. What up Memorial Day weekend! I've got a date with a chaise lounge, some sunscreen, and a wide, sandy beach in 30 days, and no amount of phone bleeping is going to ruin it for me. But just in case, I'll have a fat ocean in front of me that I can chuck it into. 

How do you find stability when things seem out of control? Take a sick day? Eat raw chocolate chip cookie dough? Work harder? I want to know your secrets. 

Quinoa, Green Bean and Broccoli Bowls

For those of you who don't know, traveling is a big part of this gig here in Madison.

Many weeks I leave Monday morning and get back late Thursday night. Those four days are also filled with airport meals and restaurant dinners after work.

By the time I get home on Thursday night, I'm hungry. I also can't bring myself to purchase another meal from a restaurant. I actually crave a cold, fresh salad that is not doused in a creamy dressing or is prefaced by the word "potato" or "pasta".

The other edge of this sword is that I can't really have fresh lettuce waiting for me as soon as I walk in the door on Thursday. Most weeks both Kenzie and I travel, and no one wants to go to the grocery store at 9:30 pm after a day of work and travel.

This conundrum has made way for my go-to pantry/freezer dinner. It's light, filling, and packed with veggies and protein. I can also keep every ingredient in my house without worrying about it rotting or being wasted.

Quinoa (keen-wah) is a superfood grain that is gluten-free, packed with protein, and really quick and easy to make. Just throw it in a little pot with 2:1 ratio of liquid to grain. I used vegetable stock here to make it a bit more flavorful, but salted water works fine too. Stir occasionally, and you'll know it's done when the liquid is absorbed and the grain is no longer crunchy (it should still have a toothsome feel though). A good indicator is that the little ring around the grain is pulling away.

Then throw your freezer veggies into another pan with a smidge of olive oil. I'm partial to green beans and broccoli.

Fun Fact: Freezer veggies can be even more nutrient packed the the fresh variety. Since they are flash frozen right after they are picked, they don't have the open-air time for them to lose their nutritional value before they get to the grocery store. No excuses not to eat your vegetables when they're in the freezer!

I threw some chickpeas into the mix because I had them on hand, but they also pump up the protein if you're into that.

After that pan is all hot and toasty, throw your cooked quinoa into the mix too.

Once all of your ingredients have gotten acquainted, Put it into a bowl!

I put parmesan cheese on mine, but this could also be totally vegan if you forego the parm. You can dress up your bowl any way you want to - a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a sprinkle of lemon pepper - there's a lot of room for creativity.

A few takeaways:
1) Make quinoa your friend.
2) Keep veggies in your freezer.
3) Never worry about what you're going to eat when you get home from a trip again.

Happy travels!

Quinoa, Green Bean, and Broccoli Bowls
makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1- 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables (I chose green beans and broccoli)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup drained and rinsed chickpeas (optional)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
Put quinoa and stock in a lidded pot. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more liquid as needed if the quinoa is not completely cooked.

Put frozen vegetable in a saute pan with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and stir until cooked. Add chickpeas and saute with vegetables until heated through.

When quinoa is finished cooking, add it to the chickpea and vegetable mixture. Split into servings and top with parmesan. Enjoy!