main dish Archives - hello kelinda

July 30, 2018

Quick Tuna Pasta (or Friendship Tuna Pasta, if you ask Katie)

Summers are hot. Summers in a house with no air conditioning are even hotter. To keep temperatures inside from rising past Real Sweaty and straight into Living on the Sun, I try to keep my stove time as short as possible when cooking anything. So when my friend Katie found a recipe for a quick pasta dinner that incorporated two of my favorite things — (1) tinned fish and (2) not being on fire — I immediately knew this was something I’d have to break out every summer.

All the things that go into the pasta are thrown into one bowl, and get this: it is “cooked” by placing that bowl on top of the pot of water while the pasta boils. The heat from the boiling water is enough to warm everything through so that you only need to use one stove burner and the stove only needs to be on as long as it takes to cook your spaghetti.

AmyK

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February 2, 2016

Turkey Lettuce Cups

Like most of the American population, one of my goals for the new year is to make healthier eating decisions. You know, like maybe not eating a dozen cookies a night, as tragic as that sounds. But I also don’t want to hate being alive, so perhaps my new eating guidelines won’t be as strict as someone with more willpower, or who lost their tastebuds in a fire.

I don’t agree with extreme dieting, where you cut out all that is good and delicious from your life and replace it an endless parade of tedious salads and boiled chicken. I mean, what if I get hit by a bus? I don’t want to die at a moment when my most salacious fantasy is of eating a cheeseburger, you guys.

With that said, here is a healthier lunch option that doesn’t skimp on the flavor: tangy turkey lettuce cups. It’s white meat (lean protein!) and there’s plenty of vegetables involved to keep things colorful and crunchy. Also, it reheats nicely so you can pack it away for a not-so-boring desk lunch the next day.

AmyK

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February 19, 2015

Zongzi (aka Chinese Tamales)

Happy Chinese New Year! Though I won’t be with my family in Houston to trade hong bao or to eat a bunch of dumplings this weekend, I’ll be keeping the festivities alive here in the Great Northwest by devouring some homemade zongzi (pronounced “joong-juh”). I’ve always had trouble describing these things to people until it hit me: these are basically the Chinese versions of tamales!

Instead of masa, we use a sticky rice, and instead of being wrapped in a corn husk, these are wrapped in bamboo leaves, which keeps everything together and also imparts a subtle tea-like taste to the rice. The filling can be anything, though traditionally it always involves a fatty piece of pork belly to keep it luscious. My favorite fillings are shiitake mushrooms, the aforementioned piece of pork belly, cured pork sausage, and a salted duck egg yolk, so that is exactly what I’ve made here.

AmyK

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September 24, 2014

Chinese Chicken and Shiitake Dumplings

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that this past weekend, I made an entire armada of dumplings. A flotilla of delicious morsels. A squadron of alright, I’ll stop with the naval analogies. The point is, whenever you decide to make something like dumplings, you have to commit to it. You can’t just make a dumpling or five, just like how you can’t just eat a potato chip or a family-sized pizza.

The good news is, making these things is kind of therapeutic. I usually just set up my station: bowl of dumpling filling to my right, a baking sheet to my left, dumpling wrappers and a bowl of water somewhat in the middle, and a damp kitchen towel in front of me. Then I turn on some Mythbusters reruns or maybe Adventures in Babysitting and get to work. Once you get the hang of things, it’s almost zen.

Another plus: dumplings freeze beautifully. Just line them up on a baking sheet covered in parchment or foil (making sure the dumplings aren’t touching one another), pop them in the freezer for an hour or two, and then transfer them all into a freezer bag until you want to eat them. Your future hungry self will thank you for the foresight.

AmyK

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September 10, 2014

Broccoli and Pecorino Pasta

This past weekend was blazingly hot, like the departing summer sun was leaning in to give Seattle a big ol’ hug before it inevitably ignores us for the fall and winter. As a result, the ambient temperature of my apartment reached levels that were previously only recorded inside of active volcanoes.

And that’s where I ran into this little dilemma — the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my stove, but the only thing in the world I wanted to eat was pasta. That’s how my mind works, folks, like the time I decided to walk in a blizzard because I wanted ice cream. Sigh. Simmering a nice red sauce on the stove was out of the question, but what can be done instead? This can be done instead.

I found this recipe on Epicurious years ago, and it’s something I find myself making over and over again. It’s so simple and easy, and best of all, requires minimal stove time. Just long enough to boil whatever pasta suits your fancy plus a minute more for the broccoli to get all nice and soft, et voilà — dinner is served.

AmyK

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July 21, 2014

Picnic-Ready Pole Beans & Chicken Salad

Ah, summertime. The sun is out and we’re all lying around the beach indulging in glamorous champagne picnics. Or, maybe we don’t live in The Great Gatsby and/or Narnia, so maybe our summer outdoor dining experiences don’t involve butlers and buckets of perfectly chilled bubbly. Booo.

But hey, we don’t need all that. What we do need is excellent company, a venue relatively free of mosquitoes, and delicious, portable food. I’m sure you’ve got the first part covered, so I’ll help out with the third. (And uh, throw me a line when you’ve got the second part figured out because that one I’m still struggling with. *slaps mosquito*)

This luscious bean and chicken salad makes use of the in-season pole beans springing up in gardens and markets everywhere, and it has the added bonus of being more refined than hastily assembled sandwiches. The beans are barely cooked through so they stay nice and crisp, and the garlicky aioli adds a nice kick and binds everything together. The bits of roasted chicken tucked inside… well, who doesn’t love roast chicken? (If you have someone in mind, don’t trust that person.)
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AmyK

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July 18, 2014

Salt & Pepper Tofu

I know plenty of people who find tofu terrifying. It’s this weird, beige, jiggly block of something that smells vaguely like stale water — what are you supposed to do with it? I’ll tell you what you’re not supposed to do: eat it plain, straight from the packaging. I know a few traumatized folks who have done just that, the fools. They’re now convinced that tofu is a culinary abomination, but dear reader, this does not have to be your fate.

So what are you supposed to do? I propose that you fry it. And then dust it in a delectable concoction of salt, peppers, and ginger powder so you end up with a tasty, fluffy nugget of goodness. It will make a tofu believer out of you and it will take less than 30 minutes to put together.

But why tofu at all, instead of chicken or pork, or anything else? Because tofu is an excellent vehicle for showcasing rather subtle flavors instead of overpowering them with its own tofu-ness, is super fast to cook, is vegetarian-friendly in case you’re ever going meatless, and the texture just sings with this particular dish — slightly crisp on the outside, and pillowy on the inside. Oh yes.

AmyK

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