Back to the grocery store

It is a little strange to be on my own, vegetable-wise. Last week I went to one of my old stand-byes, and one of S.'s favorites: a chicken and pasta bake.

I use this Giada recipe, with a few small changes: mini farfalle pasta, Italian seasoned tomatoes, a bit more chicken. I love this meal so much that I will probably make it again in the next few weeks.

Sunday night I made a spinach and feta pizza, which is a good quick option since it basically only involves assembling. I do saute a few minced garlic cloves in a bit of olive oil, but that's the only real prep necessary. Here's the "recipe":

Spinach and Feta Pizza

pizza dough (I use store bought)

tomato sauce (again, in a jar, though I prefer pasta sauce to pizza sauce. I am partial to Newman's Own)

cornmeal

flour

baby spinach

shredded mozzarella (I actually used a mozzarella/provolone mix this time.)

crumbled feta

2 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 and sprinkle a cookie sheet with cornmeal.

Flour your hands, and stretch dough to the shape of the cookie sheet. Spread sauce evenly over the dough.

Saute garlic in a bit of olive oil, then spread over the sauce. Top with more spinach than you think necessary, as it shrinks a lot. Top with shredded cheese, then more spinach, and then feta.

Cook for about 20 minutes, until the crust looks very lightly brown.

I still had two pumpkins left, so this weekend I cubed a froze the older one, and roasted the pumpkin seeds. Simmering them in salt water first is a really good trick. I used the cookie sheet I had used for the pizza, which still had a bit of oil on it, so I didn't need to add any to the pumpkin seeds.

Last night I made colcannon using a recipe I'd been eyeing on Gojee. This is the ultimate cozy dinner: basically mashed potatoes with kale and ham. I didn't bring it for lunch today, but I wish I had because I am craving it! Here's the recipe:

Colcannon

(adapted http://catesworldkitchen.com/2010/05/colcannon/, which was adapted from The Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews)

4 potatoes (quartered)

2 tbsp butter

1 bunch kale (leaves only, ripped or chopped)

1 1/3 cups whole milk (or 1% and a bit of heavy cream, as I did)

4-8 scallions, chopped

salt and pepper

2 thick sliced of ham, chopped

Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Pour out the water but keep the potatoes in the pan.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the kale. Stir to coat with the butter, and cook covered until wilted, about 5 minutes.

Bring the milk and scallions to a simmer in a saucepan and add a few pinches of salt and pepper. Stir in the kale, turn off the heat.

Warm the chopped ham in the kale pan.

Add the milk and kale to the potatoes, and mash until nearly smooth, seasoning with additional salt and pepper to taste. Add ham.