penne with spinach and cannellini beans

• 1 lb penne
• 2 bags of fresh baby spinach
• 2 cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• crushed red pepper ( I prefer Simply Organic)
• ground nutmeg
• shredded Italian cheese (I had leftover Asiago)

In large pot of lightly salted water, cook pasta according to instructions on box, checking for doneness once a minute beginning 3 minutes before suggested cooking time. While that action is going on the left burner, warm a few swirls of olive oil over a medium high heat on the right burner (really, it doesn't matter what burner you use). Add spinach to oil a handful at a time, tossing every so often, allowing each batch to wilt. When about 3/4 of the way through the spinach, add beans and a little more olive oil to mixture. Season mixture with Kosher salt and fresh pepper and a healthy shake of nutmeg. Spinach mixture will be fully cooked by the time the pasta is al dente. Drain pasta and place serving on plate, drizzle with a little good quality olive oil, add mixture to top and sprinkle asiago cheese and red pepper flakes on top.

The dish: Popeye was right, spinach is something you should eat pretty regularly whether or not you'll be sparring with a brutish sailor thug over your emaciated beau. I can't imagine that I'd want to eat too much right out of the can, but when the fresh stuff is wilted you can eat more than you'd imagine. For a dish like this I count on one full bag per person, when just wilted as a side dish I use about one and a half. Just a point of reference there's about a bags worth on the pasta in the picture. The nutmeg trick is lifted straight from the one and only Rachael Ray; she advises to add a pinch to cooked spinach, and it really does work. The end result is nothing that tastes like Christmas, but rather it gives the spinach a seasoned flavor that plays well off its natural earthiness.

confetti salad

• 2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 can white corn, drained and rinsed
• green onions, chopped fine
• fresh parsley, chopped fine
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I'm still using that bottle of Champagne vinegar I have, but any will do)
• juice of half a lime
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Combine beans, corn, green onions and parsley in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lime juice and sugar, adjusting amounts of each to taste. Once dressing is to your liking, stir into larger bowl mixture, taking care not to break the beans. Serve cold.

The dish: Full and fair disclosure: I pretty much suck at science. I limped through my college science requirement by taking the extraordinary chemistry of ordinary things, which while remarkably interesting (we made polyester- it doesn't get cooler than that), was about as technical as reading the back of a cereal box. The course basically existed as a way to shuffle through finance majors who would never again think of science save studying the trading range of the pharmaceutical sector. I say this because if I tend to sound like I know something about the natural world, as I may have with the last bean salad I posted, it's only because I recently read all about legumes and how they react with our body. I typed out the recipe hoping that constant consumption of beans really helped with their side effects, but was not certain of that fact at time of posting. Kim and I both ate that salad as a part of our lunch last week, and lo and behold, the advice was true. Any discomfort or side effects that were there on Monday were all but a memory by Wednesday. If it seems like I'm going a little heavy on bean recipes recently, it's only because I'm giddy of this new found knowledge and feel the need to perpetuate this cycle as long as I am able. Fear not, I'm sure this is only a phase and as with all things when eating a diet rich in beans, this too shall pass.

chicken salad

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large apple, cored and diced
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
• unseasoned sliced almonds
• adobo
• cumin
• mayonnaise
• Dijon mustard

Season chicken with adobo, cook until done, then chop into small pieces. In large bowl combine cooled chicken, apple, and celery with about two tablespoons each of mayonnaise and mustard. Season with a couple of shakes of cumin and 1 or 2 shakes of adobo. If salad appears too dry, add equal amounts of mayo and mustard until desired consistency is reached. Serve on your favorite bread with fresh greens or on top of a fresh salad.

The dish: Although they're stories for a different time, there were two separate weeks of my life where I lived on nothing but store bought chicken salad. Eat one thing for a week straight and you'll be amazed at how much of an expert you become on that dish. While tasty, I always found the bought stuff to be a little lacking in flavor and usually dripping with too much mayonnaise. I'm pretty sure I'm past the point of eating any one thing straight for a week, but I don't mind making a big batch of this as the unique flavors can be enjoyed for a while. Like tuna the longer this sits the better it becomes.

chili mac

• leftover chili
• 1lb macaroni or other short pasta
• 1 can diced tomatoes

Heat diced tomatoes over medium high flame for 5-10 minutes. Add left over chili and simmer for another 10-20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of slightly salted water. Drain cooked pasta and stir into chili mixture.

The dish: Long before fusion restaurants began dotting the suburban landscape, offering unique amalgamations of different ethnic fare, creative home cooks have been fusing together the best of tex-mex and Italian in this classic dish. Chili over pasta makes for a hearty meat sauce with a stand out flavor. The extra tomatoes were added to stretch the batch a little as well as to make the mix seem more like a traditional sauce. Using "planed-overs" is a great way to save some time in the kitchen without making it seem like you're eating the same thing night after night.

chili

• 2 yellow peppers, diced
• 2 orange peppers, diced
• 1 lb ground turkey meat
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can small red beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can diced tomatoes with chopped chilies
• assortment of hot peppers, finely chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 cans Coors Light (or other light domestic beer)
• chili powder
• unsweetened cocoa powder

In large skillet cook onion in a little olive oil for 3 minutes, add to crock pot when done. In same pan brown meat (I add a pinch of Chinese 5 spice, but if you don't have some don't buy it just for this recipe) over medium flame for 5 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks (if anyone knows a technical term for this action, please feel free to let me know), add to crock pot when done. Add beans, peppers (for the hot ones I used 2 habernaros, 2 red chili peppers, and 2 green chili peppers) and tomatoes to the onions and peppers in the crock pot. At this point the whole mixture should be pretty dry. Add a couple of generous shakes of chili powder and a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder. Use as much of two of the beers needed to get chili to desired consistency while enjoying the Rocky Mountain goodness of the third. Cover and cook for 8+ hours.

The dish: Chili is a pretty loose term that can mean a number of different things, but this variation is pretty close to what most people think of when they hear the term. You can add or omit things as they suit your tastes, don't like beans- don't add them (but I think you'd be doing a bad thing). The finished product was a little spicy, but not uncomfortable to eat. The real key here is the beer and the chocolate. Don't be scared of either as you won't taste them, but they'll give a rich taste that will make your chili a standout.

lamb and pepper fried brown rice

• quart of cooked brown rice (take out works great)
• 2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 orange bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 pound of leg of lamb, trimmed of fat and bone and cut into bite sized pieces
• fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• wok oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• tablespoons soy sauce (I had some leftover ginger soy so I combined it with regular)
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• pinch of ground chili pepper

In a small bowl wisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and chili pepper, set aside. Heat wok over highest flame you got for about 5 minutes. Add a swirl of wok oil and toss in the peppers stirring frequently, cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add another swirl of wok oil and add lamb, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes or until lamb appears fully cooked. Add another swirl of oil and add rice stirring mixture for additional 3 minutes, or longer if the rice was cold. Remove wok from heat and continue stirring for 2 minutes. Right before serving stir in mint and sauce into mixture.

The dish: My mother is a schoolteacher and as such growing up there was always a healthy emphasis placed upon reading. To this day I have a well worn library card and love to read books I would never want to own, but enjoy going through. The inspiration for this dish came from a book on Japanese pub cuisine (who knew such an animal existed), where it was done as more of a stir fry and without the same sauce and mint. The idea for the sauce came from mostly stuff I had lying around, you could omit a few things or just use a prepared wok sauce and be fine. Inspiration for the mint is also rooted in my upbringing; a few times a year my mom would make lamb chops and always serve them with mint jelly. I only eat lamb about once a year or so but have a hard time enjoying it without something mint, so I threw the fresh stuff in for good measure and it worked great, just be sure to add it at the last minute as the flavor quickly cooks off. In addition to learning, thrift was another virtue present in my childhood home and I'm proud to say that Hannaford has yellow and orange peppers on sale this week and I've already made two things using them, count on at least one more.

turkey with mixed spring greens and apples on rye

• thin sliced turkey breast (I roasted and sliced my own)
• 1 red delicious apple, slice thin
• mixed greens of your liking
• good quality mustard
• good quality rye bread

Assemble sandwich in this order: bread, mustard, turkey, apple, greens, top piece of bread. My many years in deli work have made me nutty with always making sure that condiments go on the bottom and veggies always go on top. Any greens will work, but if you're near a Hannaford pick up the spring mix with herbs. Likewise, use whatever mustard tickles you, I had some spicy brown Grey Poupon which rocked. I roasted and sliced my own turkey breast, but if your kitchen doesn't look like the inside of a deli any good turkey will work, but I avoid Boar's Head like the plague as their meats are nothing but a celebration of funk and salt.

The dish: I really miss the 90s sometimes. It could just be short term nostalgia but things really seemed so much newer and brighter in the decade that introduced us to cell phones and Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Although one part of the 90s I certainly don't long for anymore is what I like to call Seinfelditis, the tendency in almost any conversation for someone to make some analogy using an episode of the fabled TV show: wow, you like junior mints too? this is just like that time on Seinfeld... In the decade since Jerry has gone the way of the beanie baby and the phenomenon has mostly died out. That is of course until someone finds out I own a deli slicer, and then I always get remember the Seinfeld where Kramer feed the cat with the slicer? I'm not much of a TV person to begin with and the show never struck a chord with me, but the slicer episode is one of the two I've actually seen (the junior mints one being the other) and it was pretty funny, but slightly tragic when Elaine leveled her heel with the blade. Truth be told, the occasional bout of Seinfelditis is a small price to pay for the convenience of owning a slicer. Whether it's making my own lunch meats, slicing vegetables, or cutting perfectly even pieces of crostini for fresh bruschetta, the slicer is a must have for the red room. I highly advocate picking one up, just like Seinfeld you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.