SPICY PANTRY PUTTANESCA

Good morning! It is that time again when you realise it is indeed monday and you really don't want to get out of bed. Yikes! I am still dreaming of the weekend as you can tell, where the weather was amazingly warm. When I am having a hard time getting the week started, I turn to comfort food. There is something about a good plate of comfort food that makes you feel good and happy. So for me, that's pasta among other things. I am sure I am not the only one, right?
Since spring is here and in no time I will be trying fit in my shorts, I figured I might as well  use some quinoa pasta. Have you had that before? It is  very good and the cooking time is quite fast  but make sure to use the timer because it can turn mushy very fast. I called this dish spicy pantry puttanesca, well you guessed it! I was cleaning my pantry and wanted to make something out of what I had in hand. This is so easy and good, you can also skip the spicy part but you know we love a little spicy around here. Let's get started, shall we?



Ingredients:
1 big tomato ( 1 cup diced)
1 can of tomato sauce (8 oz )
1 tablespoon of capers
1 tablespoons of hot pepper spread
6 kalamata olives (halves)
2 gloves of garlic (diced)
1 small onion ( about 1/4 cup diced)
1 box of Quinoa pasta
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Put everything in a pan except for the salt and pepper and cheese. Let it simmer with the lid on for 15 mins.

With the lid off now, taste the sauce before adding any salt because of the capers and olives. Add the pepper. Toss the pasta in and serve.

Top it with some parmesan cheese and Voila!

I hope that you enjoy this quick recipe!

                                                                         XOXOXO

BROWN RICE BOWL

Twice a year we go vegetarian for 2 weeks, so right after the new year seemed to be the perfect timing to do so. Let's just be honest we have been indulging a lot over here. I will try to document as much as possible as to what I'm making. This brown rice bowl is one of the easiest thing ever and if you have leftover veggies, it's even better. It's just a matter of throwing things together and it is so full of flavour!

Ingredients:

Quick cooking brown rice.

3 cups of gourmet mushroom blend

2 cups of baby asparagus

2 cups of green bean

1 sprig of green onion

2 cloves of garlic

Vegetable broth

4 dried Shitake mushrooms

Direction:

1. Cook the rice according to the instruction on the box but instead of using water, use the vegetable broth. Hand crush the dry Shitake mushrooms and add it to the broth.  Let the rice cook.
2. I sautéed each vegetable separately with salt and pepper except for the mushrooms in which I added the garlic.
3. Build your bowl and top it with some sliced green onions.