Your kids have decided this week that they do not like tomatoes or you have to cut them out of your diet, can you still eat spaghetti? Of course! Here is a great recipe I adapted from the KCTS 9 (King County public television) Cooks Family Favorites cookbook (2010). [My Quinoa Butternut Squash Risotto recipe can be found on pg. 323]
Spaghetti with Chinese Sauce (Thank you Lori Lockrey, Scarborough, Ontario!)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb lean ground pork (I used ground turkey)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (I use jarred minced garlic as a timesaver)
1/2 cup cold water
salt
1/2 lb of spaghettini (I used whole grain spaghetti)
2 Tbsp dry sherry or white wine (optional) [I used white balsamic vinegar, which in general is a good substitute for sherry or white wine. You could also use white wine vinegar]
2 Tbsp cornstarch
cooked lobster or shrimp (optional) [I didn’t use, but if you have leftover, go ahead and throw it in]
1/4 cup sliced green onion [I didn’t have any, so I added about 1/4 tsp of onion powder to the ground turkey]
red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup frozen edamame
1 tsp grated ginger
Heat oil in large frying pan. Add meat and brown. Add broth, soy sauce, sugar and garlic (and onion powder if you don’t have green onions). I also added the ginger at this point. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Bring a large pot to boil with water. Once boiling add salt and spaghettini and cook according to package directions. Drain when done.
Blend the cold water, sherry or wine or vinegar with cornstarch, stir into frying pan. Simmer until thickened. At this point if you are using shrimp or lobster or frozen edamame, add in to warm about 2 – 3 minutes.
Either stir drained pasta into frying pan or dump sauce over drained noodles, and mix and serve. to with green onion (if you are using) and sprinkle with red pepper flakes (if using).
My kids all ate this up! and my husband did too 🙂
If you are ok with tomatoes, here is a quick 15 minute meal that I made tonight (with whole wheat rotini). I conquered my fear of the microplane! This is the first time I have used it since I cut myself twice trying to assemble it and use it Christmas Eve. Granted that was after 2 glasses of champagne 🙂 I set it up and julienned 1 zucchini! So proud!
I sauteed the zucchini in some olive oil with salt, lemon pepper and a little garlic powder. Then added about 3/4 of a jar of tomato and basil spaghetti sauce with a splash of white balsamic vinegar and just heated through. Toss this with pasta + a little mozzarella cheese. Very tasty! Very easy!
Now that I have conquered my fear of the microplane, we will be having lots of thinly cut veggies over the next few weeks 🙂
