All it took for the tooth to turn from omnivore? A turkey sandwich from The Sandwich Board in Alameda did the trick. After that it was downhill: burgers, tacos, enchiladas, curry chicken and endless turkey sammiches.
But Sarah, my friend from Minnesota and former co-worker, has held steady with her vegetarian diet. She came for dinner a week or so ago, and I found myself contemplating my vegetarian repetoire.
There are a lot of things that can be adapted to serve a vegetarian diet, and I'd already cooked my favorite vegetarian meal for her a month or so before. A few nights before I'd thrown together a linguini, veggie & chicken dish that turned out for the better, only I'd found myself wanting more vegetables. I resolved to recreate the serendipitous pasta dish, only sans chicken for Sarah.
Linguini Mess With Vegetables + Chicken
Tools:
Chopping knives, cutting boards, meat mallot, measuring utensils, 1 large pan for sauteeing, 1 sauce pan, 1 additional oven-safe pan for chicken (optional), whisk, spatula & tongs, pasta pot & pasta scoop or collander
Ingredients:
(Everything's approximate & to taste since I sorta threw it together)
1 cup chopped spinach 3/4 cup grape tomatoes (add more if you like 'em)
1 orange bell pepper, diced 8-10 baby carrots, thinly sliced on a diagonal
1-2 shallots, thinly sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 zuchinni, diced 10 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (optional)
1 tablespoon butter for each chicken breast
olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Sauce: 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 cup pasta water, 2 tbsp butter & 1/2 tbsp (tops!!!) flour
First things first, get your water going in your pot for your linguini. You don't want to have ready-to-go veggies and nothing for them to go into, ya know? So, Polly put the kettle on (or large pasta pot, in this case), and get that sucker going.
Once I've made sure the pasta is in a good place, it's veggie time.
Oil into the pan at about the same time you toss the pasta into the water. Linguini takes 8-11 minutes, roughly, depending on the tooth of your liking. I tend to toss the veggies in, give it a sec, and then start the pasta cooking.
Add those vegetables, giving a good stir with each addition. Give them a gentle salt-and-peppering.
If you're into meat like I am (and like Nate is) then you'll want to make sure you don't mix the two and contaminate the veggie dish.
Pound until even and season liberally. Then chicken meets hot pan with a bit of oil. Let it get a nice sear and then add a bit of butter in the center for some real rich flavor. Once the butter is mostly melted and running down the sides of the chicken, flip and transfer the pan to the oven to finish (about 5-7 minutes).
Meanwhile, keep stirring and rotating those veggies over medium heat.
As if there wasn't enough to do, you'll want to pull your white wine sauce together. In your saucepan, melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour, a tad bit at a time, whisking constantly for about five minutes. Whisk in the wine & pasta water plus a pinch of salt and whisk, whisk, whisk until it's mixed consistently, simmer for about a minute. By now, linguini should be ready and drained (you can always lift directly from pot into pan using a stellar pasta scoop)-- add it to the veggies and toss with the white wine sauce.
Serve, if all veggie. If adding chicken, remove from oven, let stand a few and then cut into strips and plate atop the linguini.
Top with shredded parmesan cheese regardless of meat stature.
Sarah said it smelled pretty good.
She's either a diplomat or really dug it, because she cleaned her plate just like at our first company party.
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