Penne with Beet Greens, Olives and Red Pepper

One of my favorite things is to make something delicious out of absolutely nothing. I don't know what it is, but I am tickled pink when this happens. I'm talking the day before you go shopping, and the fridge is empty. "Helloooo in there!" you call, and the mustard bottle shivers, cold and alone. Ah, but what is this? A jar of olives with ten or so lonely swimmers at the bottom of the brine. And this? A jar, half-full (optimistic indeed) of red peppers. Some pasta in the cupboard gets rustled out. An onion. Some garlic. A few mushrooms. Beet greens I intended to eat the day I got them. For shame. All this gets sauteed and tossed with pasta and some of its cooking water. Lots of good olive oil and cheese, fresh-cracked pepper, and we are in business.

Oven-Roasted Cod, Portobello Mushrooms and Buckwheat Noodles

This was Christmas in a nutshell: a wonderful holiday spent with family, visiting with people who sorely needed a visit, some driving in cold, nasty weather, and way too much random and purposeless eating. Which is the point, right? However, the excesses of the holidays are now behind us. I always sigh in relief after the holidays are over. I have usually had enough. And essentially, they are over, because New Year's isn't really the exciting night it once used to be. Steve and I simultaneously (and probably half the country) realized that the time was now upon us to return to healthful (ish) eating. Last night we had this really delicious meal which felt healthy and hearty; a great combination in my book.

Put fish on a large cookie sheet lined with foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Olive oil, salt and pepper on the fish. I used northern atlantic cod, though I'm sure many filets would do. Check with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. (I really like their Super Green List.)

Top with a dressing of

3 or 4 cloves grated garlic,

1 large knob of ginger,

1/4 cup light olive oil,

splash of tamari or soy sauce, and

1 T lemon-lime glaze (or use some lime juice, lemon juice, a teaspoon of brown sugar--a mix of citrus and sweetner)

Mix this up and use most of it on the fish. Put the fish in the oven for about twenty minutes.

On the lower rack put a tray of sliced portobello mushrooms, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. These two trays will take the same amount of time. Halfway through you could flip or toss the mushrooms around while checking on the fish.

Meanwhile, cook buckwheat noodles, reserving two cups of the cooking water after draining. Put the reserved liquid back on the heat to simmer, add two heaping tablespoons of mild miso and dissolve. Return the noodles to heat up.

To serve: ladle broth into bowl, add noodles, fish on top, portobellos on the side. The mushrooms get slightly crispy in the oven, seasoned perfectly, they are meaty and dense. The fish is light and the sauce is a perfect blend of garlic, ginger and sweet citrus. Add to that the hearty noodles and savory broth, you've got a perfect bowl of repentance.

Pasta with Chard, Peas and Mushrooms in Cream Sauce

I know it doesn't look like much, but I don't intend it to. After the debauched past few days, tonight's meal seemed rather uninspired. What I love about this, is this: that with a few things pulled from the fridge (chard, peas, mushrooms, cream, cheese) there can be such a quick, healthy (mmm, maybe not the cream and cheese part) satisfying meal. Do you ever wonder how specials come to be? Um, we have a lot of chard left over, what should I do with it? So, I give you the next day's meal with not a lick of turkey in sight. What's great about this meal is that I will probably never cook this again. Not exactly. Or, until I have all these ingredients in the fridge again in the same way. The probability is close to nil.

In olive oil, I sauteed garlic, then onion, then mushrooms, then chard. When I added the chard I also added two or three ladlefuls of the water that the pasta was cooking in. Let it all simmer. Added the peas. Then lowered the flame and added some cream. Drained the pasta and put it in a bowl. Added the creamy veggies. Lots of grated cheese and fresh parsley. Tossed it all. And you know, then it was time to eat. I like that.

Orecchiette with Roasted Red Peppers

Tonight I was at a loss. The kale has been overtaken by cabbage worms. So, lo, in the fridge was a pint of roasted red peppers with garlic in olive oil. While I cooked up a pound of orecchiette, I dumped the peppers in a cast iron skillet to heat and bubble off the water in it. Sliced up the peppers. Drained pasta, tossed it in the pan with the peppers. Into a bowl to greet chopped fresh parsley and generous amounts of grated Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses. Pepper and salt, a honk of bread, and we're off.

Chicken Orzo Soup

What a soothing balm chicken noodle soup of any kind is on a rainy, stay at home day. I don't believe I need to say more, except that making your own is easy, and delicious. I started off with a whole chicken (an inexpensive fryer from our local super marche, actually, good chicken, not like, the national brands or nothing) and I filled the trusty stock pot with water and boiled off the chicken making a lovely, simple stock. The chicken went in a bowl to cool, and then to be picked. the stock was strained and kept off to the side.

To the soup pot: olive oil, onions sauteed til soft, carrots added, cooked for a bit (five minutes?), stock added slowly while it warmed up til boiling, 1/2 cup of orzo and the shredded chicken meat. In ten minutes, I was reaping the benefits of a hot bowl of soup. Don't forget salt and peppa!