Garden Pasta Salad, hold the guilt... hey, Pesto!

Why does everything have to come with guilt?

I wish they could make an official guilt-free day. Just one day, every two months or so. Where:

a)I don't feel guilty about leaving patients even though my shift finished 2 hours back and I haven't sat down or breathed normally in God-knows-how-long.

b)I can spend a quarter of my pay check on a good meal and not care about how I'm wasting money.

c)I can be the first person to leave the library without giving a flying *beep* about the rest of the homogeneous medico-nerds plodding away at 3000-page texts, oblivious of a world where people breathe and eat and excrete (even though that covers half of Physiology).

d)I can skip gym and watch two back-to-back movies (a chick-flick and depressing, film-noir). Two desserts in one day. One chocolate, one caramel/mint/coffee with chocolate. Back to back, even. Without feeling like ten types of crap.

Is that too much to ask for?

Experience (lousy teacher that she is) clearly agrees. Boring sayings like good things-are-good-only-in moderation and all of that have been proved true.

 Since I've been OD-ing on the cholesterol lately, I thought I'd give you a recipe that is delightful and quite easy to rustle up for one of those weekdays when you've overindulged to the point where you can no longer live in denial.

It's green. And not mint-chocolate chip ice cream from Baskin Robbins.

After a week of Iced mochas and Nutella-from-the-jar, this meal makes me smile extra wide. It's got all my favourite things in it; zucchini, basil, Parmesan, peas, lemon and wholewheat pasta. You can't screw this up even if you tried. Heck, I can't screw it up even if I left the kitchen to watch Bones.

If your family can be picky and complain of the lack of any meat to bite into, you've got tofu here! Don't substitute with paneer, just this once. Not for our collective arteries' states, but tofu works wonders here. Love how it goes from sour beancurd to baked little golden morsel robed in a luscious, creamy pesto and other similar Nigella-isms.

Garden Pasta Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette:

For the Vinaigrette:

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves (I used a mix of basil and spinach)
1/3 cups extra-virgin olive oil (more if you dare)
1/2 c grated Parmesan (I added half parmesan, half pecorino)
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
3 tbsp red or white-wine vinegar (I used Balsamic)
9 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped (you can use less)
1/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper

Pasta Salad:

1 package tofu, drained
440 grams whole grain pasta (I used fusilli)
300 g green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup peas
1 medium zucchini, sauteed in 1 tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Method:

Cut the tofu into bite size chunks. Place them a little apart on a baking tray lined with oiled-foil and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes until they turn golden.

Slice the zucchini. Place a sauce pan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the slices for about a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep aside.

Make the pesto vinaigrette:

In a mixie or food processor, add the basil/spinach/coriander,olive oil, Parmesan, lemon juice, lemon zest, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend until a smooth, mint-chutney-like consistency develops and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

In a large pan, bring 5 litres of salted water to the boil.

Add the green beans and boil for about 5 minutes until they are cooked, but still retain that bite/snap.

Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Add the peas to the leftover boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes until they're cooked (but don't let them mush up too much!) Remove and keep aside.

Add the pasta to the leftover boiling water. Cook until al-dente, as per package instructions. Whole grain generally requires a bit more cooking time, so pay heed!

Your pasta is now ready to be mixed! You can either

1)Place the drained pasta, tofu, zucchini, peas, beans, toasted walnuts in a big bowl and toss them with the vinaigrette. Stash in the refrigerate for about 15 minutes and serve. If you're planning to serve it later (this gives time for the flavours to meld into the pasta), cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate. Tastes best cold, like any other pasta salad.

2) Or if your family/friends are a little choosy, you might have plate up for each person separately, mixing-and-matching.

Arrange the stuff (as per requests/demands) on a plate.

Pour over as much vinaigrette as the person desires. Warning: there might be a shortage later.

Toss. Garnish with extra toasted walnuts or Parmesan curls.

Get a load of that goodness. The peas, garlicky pesto, hearty pasta and the nut, in one bite. Mmm. Not cookie-dough-brownie-bar mmm, but Mmm-glorious-food indeed.

Pasta with Rainbow Veggies/United Colours of Pasta-ton!

The easiest way to keep yourself away from pastries would be to bake them yourself. By the time you're done taste-testing and batter-tasting and baking yet another batch of cookies, you don't want to see another one. Only for the next few hours, though. You'll be putting your hand into the cookie jar the most, if you're, well, me.

I do make things without vanilla and chocolate; here's one of them. Pasta with Rainbow Veggies. A great way to deal with those boring weekday dinners. You've had a sandwich or less for lunch, and you want a proper dinner, to combat the weekday blues.

You know what my medical advice to you is? A pot of pasta, bursting to the seams with vegetables, with a hint of comforting cheese; it fills your whole house with the smells of tomato, garlic, onion and oregano. Don't go around getting pizza cravings now.

And it's healthy enough for you to have an excuse to indulge over the weekend (get yourself a steak au poivre with a side of potatoes!).You meet atleast two days' worth of your vegetable requirement. And veggies are so forgiving; besides cleaning up your cells, they don't give you food poisoning if undercooked or go all eraser-textured if overcooked. I also used a bechamel, so I can get creaminess in the dish with less than a tablespoon of butter.

It isn't restaurant-style Italian, so don't expect pancetta to be fried or carbonaras being cooked. It's fancy enough to be eaten with a fork, and not so fancy that it tastes weird.

Pasta with Rainbow Veggies:

Ingredients:

1 bag of baby corn (up to 2 cups when chopped)
200g mushrooms, quartered.
3 bell peppers/capsicum (I use red, orange and green), cut into slices.
3 tomatoes, pureed.
1 onion, chopped.
5 cloves garlic, quartered.
1 tbsp butter.
1 tbsp all-purpose flour (maida)
1 cup milk.
1/2 cup ready-made pasta sauce (can be substituted with 2 tbsp if ketchup).
250 g pasta (penne, fettucini, spiral, bowtie/even macaroni).
Olive oil-2 tbsp.
Dried herbs-2 tbsp, and some more to sprinkle.
A handful of cheese-either parmesan/feta/mozzarella.
Dried red chillies-3 or 4.
Salt and pepper-to taste.

Method:

1) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in your pasta; when al dente (meaning they still have  a bite to them, not too soggy), take it out and wash with cold water to stop the cooking process.

2)Make your bechamel-the white sauce that goes on an Au Gratin.

Heat a tablespoon of butter over low heat. Stir in the maida and make a roux.

                                

When golden, pour in the milk while whisking actively. Let the bechamel concentrate over low heat, until you have a creamy consistency. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg (optional). Keep aside.

Don't let any floury lumps remain-it is not appetizing.

3)Prep your veggies. Make sure they're all equally sized pieces so they finish cooking at the same time.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick vessel over med-high. Add in the baby corn (it takes the longest to cook). After a minute of tossing, drop in the chopped onion and garlic. Toss until the onion turns transclucent.

4)Add in the mushroom. Cook for 2 minutes. Add in the bell-peppers. Cook for another 2 minutes. Add the pepper and salt.

Less is more. You can always add extra salt later. And I strongly recommend you pound some vathal (dried red chillies) or add chilli flakes to the vegetables. It cuts through the homogenous bechamel.

5)Add the tomato puree (it'll taste better if you've boiled it before blitzing). Cook until the raw smell of it goes away. Approximately 5-7 minutes.

Add the readymade pasta sauce. If you don't have any, increase the tomato puree mix and add tomato paste/ketchup. I only had it because I got it on an offer (free bag of Fusilli with the Pasta Sauce). I am not a fan of readymade pasta sauce, but it's handy on a weekday, I won't lie.

6)Cook down for 10 minutes. Add the herbs. Taste the mix, and adjust the seasoning according. Toss in the cooked pasta until well coated.

7)Add in the white sauce you've made. Toss some more.

Don't keep mixing the pasta with a spoon; you'll make it all gloopy by overworking the gluten.

8)Spread the pasta out on a baking tray. Sprinkle a handful of cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees celcius (maximum, you don't want to dry it out).

9)Serve with a slice of garlic bread. This is simply to mop up all the juices and sauce from your plate. Yum.

Recipe Source: Me! Don't be too scared.

And I know I've been doing too many "Loaded with Vegetables", "Super Healthy, Super Tasty!" type of recipes lately. So next time, it's going to be a meat and cheese affair. At least, that's what I told my family, and that's what I'm telling you.