Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Dinner during Dora: Tequila Pasta

I don't want to write about politics right now. I can't promise not to write anything more about politics until after the election, but I can promise I probably won't write much about politics. I don't think I have anything particularly insightful to say, and at this point, we probably already all know what we plan to do in the ballot booth, and in the time until election day.

So, let's talk about other things! For instance, I decided to tweak the design of this blog. I'd like to migrate to WordPress someday, but that would take more time than I want to invest right now, so I settled for decluttering a bit. If there's something that you really liked that has gone missing, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the less crowded layout.

Also, I continue to cook weeknight dinners. And I continue to not want to spend a lot of time on that, even though my kids are now old enough to wait a bit longer for dinner. So, I continue to find recipes that fit my "Dinner during Dora" theme, even though no one watches Dora here anymore.

I realized as I made this dish last Tuesday (Tuesday night is pasta night....) that I had never posted the recipe. It is one I invented. I was trying to make a cheese-free pasta, although I'm not really sure why. So, this recipe doesn't call for any cheese. If you want to sprinkle some on, I guess a cotija would be most appropriate, but I tried some of the pseudo-cheese in a green can that my kids like and honestly, that was pretty good.

So, anyway, here's the recipe for Tequila Pasta:

1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 carrot, cut into discs and then halved
1 small zucchini, cut into discs then halved
3/4 cup frozen corn
~1/2 package rotini (or bowtie pasta, or your favorite shape)
~1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs tequila
Dried chopped onions, salt, and pepper (to taste)

Cook the pasta. While the water's coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, make the rest of the recipe.

Toast pepitas in a skillet. No added oil is necessary, but watch they don't burn. When they're toasted, set them aside.

Yummy toasted pepitas

Add the olive oil to the skillet and then saute the carrots and zucchini in it. Sprinkle dried choped onions (from the spice aisle), salt and pepper on the veggies while they cook.

About 3 minutes before the pasta is done, add the corn.

Sauted veggies
Cook ~2 minutes, then add the tequila and let it boil off.

When the pasta is done, reserve ~1/4 cup of the cooking water and then drain it.

Add the reserved water and veggies to the pasta. Stir to mix.

Add the pepitas and cilantro, and stir to mix.

Serve!



Source: I invented this one. It was probably inspired by something, but I can't remember what at this point.

Who eats it: Just me and Mr. Snarky. The kids eat plain pasta that I set aside before I add the disgusting veggies.

7 comments:

  1. This is great! I cook 100% of the time and the main issue is that my husband and sons don't consider anything a meal unless there's meat.. And meat always adds prep time. (Or if I make something meatless they are digging through the fridge within a couple of hours.)

    I like you new blog theme!



    I like the change to your blog theme!

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    1. Thanks! I like the new look, too.

      I think you could easily add some pre-cooked chicken at the end of the veggie saute. You know, the stuff they sell to add to salads, over with the deli meats. Or at least that's where it is in my store.

      Or, I suppose, you could just chop up some chicken and cook it after the pepitas, set it aside, and then do the veggies.

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  2. Or you could be super lazy like I am and only use one pan without moving anything in or out. (Meat, probably sliced chicken or pork here, would go in after the carrots in this case.)

    DC1 and I made a stirfry together last night. We are a lot lazier!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you could add the meat directly! You're right. But you'd still want to pull the pepitas out before starting the rest of the things, or they'll get soggy. As is, they add a nice crunch.

      Delete
    2. On weeknights we always add raw crunchy things last (or buy them pre-toasted). Laziness! Yes, I know it's not as good, but we're willing to make that trade-off.

      Delete
  3. The whole time I was reading this, I was wondering where I went wrong that even your (admittedly picky) kids were eating all those veggies on their pasta. Looks super yummy and my husband and I would eat this...with plain pasta for the boys (one ONLY eats red sauce, the other ONLY eats white sauce)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, no way either of my kids would eat this. Sometimes, I can convince them to eat some of the pepitas, but on the side.

      I don't worry about this, because I was exactly the same way as a kid.

      Both my kids will do plain pasta with cheese on top. Petunia will eat pasta with red sauce, too. Pumpkin won't.

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