quick and easy | The Spamwise Chronicles

Penne Arrabbiata

January 12, 2012 by Stan Santos

Penne arrabbiata I often talk about the advantages of keeping a mostly Mediterranean-style pantry. One of them is being able to make dinner in about 15 to 20 minutes, including prep. A fine example is tonight’s dinner, which was originally going to be penne con aglio e olio (pasta with garlic and olive oil), until I remembered that I had some Pomi chopped tomatoes that needed using lest they spoil. Voilà. Dinner in 20 minutes, and for about $4 food […]

Categories: food, food photography, Italian food, Presto Pasta Nights, vegetarian • Tags: dinner, food photography, pasta, quick and easy, vegetarian

Garlic Shrimp

August 9, 2010 by Stan Santos

In Spain, gambas al ajillo is a popular tapas offering, one that you almost never hear about Stateside. After all, it’s just garlic, shrimp, parsley and olive oil. It’s so easy to make, you can with just the slightest embellishment, transform it into a pasta sauce. Just make sure that your ingredients are at the peak of freshness and you can’t go wrong. Did I mention that this is totally doable in 15 minutes? Fettucine with garlic shrimp and heirloom […]

Categories: food, general, Presto Pasta Nights, summer • Tags: dinner, fettucine, foodblogging, heirloom tomatoes, pasta, quick and easy, recipe, seasonal and local, shrimp, tapas, tomatoes

“Cacio e Pepe”

July 19, 2010 by Stan Santos

Pasta con cacio e pepe is one of the easiest of Italian pasta dishes to make. It’s just pecorino Romano cheese and freshly milled black pepper — a triumph of simplicity and sophistication. That being said, when you make this dish, you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you try to obtain ingredients that are better than average. Simple, minimalist dishes are, in my opinion, the most difficult to carry off well because the provenance of the ingredients can’t hide […]

Categories: food, general, Italian food, summer, vegetarian • Tags: dinner, garlic, manouri cheese, pasta, penne, quick and easy, vegetarian

Cherry Tomatoes

July 18, 2010 by Stan Santos

No longer relegated to salad bars, cherry tomatoes are now available in countless varieties. In New York City and throughout the Northeast, their primary season arrives towards the end of summer, bordering on autumn. Sungold cherry tomatoes have just begun appearing at local farmers’ markets and offer an early preview of the season to come. Sungold cherry tomatoes are indeterminate hybrid cherry tomatoes. Its golden-colored fruits weigh about a half-ounce each. Their flavor is very sweet, with just enough acidity […]

Categories: food, general, Italian food, summer, vegetarian, Weekend Herb Blogging • Tags: dinner, pasta, quick and easy, seasonal and local, Sungold cherry tomatoes, vegetarian

Aloo Gobi

July 12, 2010 by Stan Santos

Aloo translates to “potato” and gobi means “cauliflower”, therefore “aloo gobi” means “potato and cauliflower curry”. Most restaurant versions of the dish come out to carbohydrate-laden sludge. Homemade is better with a cleaner taste and lighter flavors. Aloo gobi, with mint raita and chopped cilantro, over steamed jasmine rice Click here to view a high-resolution version of this picture.

Categories: food, general, Indian food, summer, vegetarian • Tags: aloo gobi, cauliflower, curry, dinner, potatoes, quick and easy, raita, vegetarian

Black Cabbage

July 8, 2010 by Stan Santos

Cavolo nero or black cabbage, is a leafy cabbage that doesn’t form heads but rather resembles palm fronds, with deep greenish black leaves that can be up to a yard long. It has pronounced ribs whose surfaces have a distinctive bubbly appearance. Substitute regular kale or Swiss chard if unavailable. There are innumerable uses for this vegetable, the most common of which is ribollita (literally, “reboiled soup”). Most versions include cavolo nero, Tuscan salt-free bread and cannellini beans, as well […]

Categories: food, general, Italian food, summer, Weekend Herb Blogging • Tags: black cabbage, dinner, pasta, quick and easy, seasonal and local, shrimp, tomatoes

Sunday Snapshot

July 5, 2010 by Stan Santos

Hiyayakko tofu is a popular Japanese dish made with chilled tofu and toppings. It is usually eaten in the summer. There are two kinds of tofu used in hiyayakko: kinugoshi (silken), which is more frequently used, and the less common momen (cotton). Toppings vary amongst households and restaurants but the usual combination involves chopped scallions, dried bonito flakes and grated ginger. The version pictured below is decidedly nontraditional. There are a few differences, chief among them is that it’s vegan. […]

Categories: food, general, summer, vegan, vegetarian • Tags: dinner, heirloom tomatoes, Japanese food, lettuce, lunch, quick and easy, sucrine, tofu, vegetarian

Sugar Snap Peas

July 3, 2010 by Stan Santos

Fresh green peas are one of the hallmarks of spring. The season is quite short, confined to the cool, moist conditions of spring and very early summer. However, some pod varieties tolerate more heat and can be found in the market until around the first week of July. If possible, peas should be kept cool on the way home and refrigerated immediately. To prepare edible-pod peas, snap off each end, pulling down the side of the pod to remove the […]

Categories: food, general, spring, summer, vegetarian, Weekend Herb Blogging • Tags: carrots, dinner, Indian cooking, quick and easy, seasonal and local, snack, sugar snap peas, vegetarian

Cucina Povera

July 2, 2010 by Stan Santos

Cucina povera has its roots in Italian history shortly after the end of World War I and extending all throughout most of the 20th century until the last thirty years or so. It is a style of cooking meant to use all of the ingredients in any given recipe in such a way that it maximizes flavor so that nothing is wasted. Water that is used to simmer vegetables is re-used later for stock, soups, sauce bases or to cook […]

Categories: food, general, Italian food, summer • Tags: anchovy, dinner, fennel, pasta, quick and easy, raisins, Sicily, slow food

The Spamwise Chronicles

A blog devoted to the beauty of food.

Tag: quick and easy