Fun loving pasta eaters, rejoice! The fennel, garlic and broccoli go very well with sliced sauteed sausage and freshly grated parmesan cheese along with the crumbled goat cheese – ciao bella! Quick and easy meal to help sneak in some veggies to unsuspecting teenagers and hubbys everywhere!

Ingredients:

2 or 3 each hot and sweet sausage links, semi-frozen

• 2 small crowns of fresh broccoli
• 3-6 cloves of fresh garlic
• 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1 or 2 bulbs fennel with their fawns
• Olive Oil
• Large pot of boiling water for pasta – try rotitini or penne
• One large deep skillet, enough that when after cooking sausages and veggies, you can also throw pasta in.
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
• A couple shakes of dried red pepper flakes
• Freshly cracked pepper
• Salt

Directions:

1. Put pot on to boil for pasta
2. Take out sausage from freezer, and slice links into 1/3 inch slices
3. Put skillet onto stove, add small drizzle of olive oil and put sliced sausages in.
4. Add red chili flakes and fresh cracked pepper – the heat from the skillet opens up their flavors.
5. While the sausage cooks, mince up garlic and set aside.
6. Rinse and break apart broccoli into small bite size pieces and set aside.
7. Cut off frawns from fennel, and with the remaining bulb, slice thin and break apart to resemble onion slices. Set aside frawns for now.
8. Once water has started to boil, add good amount of salt to water and a bit of olive oil.
9. To cooking sausage slices, add sliced fennel and broccoli to skillet.
10. Continue cooking broccoli, sausages and fennel allowing the fennel to caramelize along with sliced sausages.
11. Mince up two tablespoons fawns from the fennel and grate up your cheese.
12. Drain pasta when just al dente, but try and reserve up to 1 cup of pasta water.
13. Add drained cooked pasta to deep skillet and add freshly minced garlic to the mix.
14. Add 1/2 of the cheese and up to 1/2 cup pasta water and stir till all are combined. Continue cooking for one to 4 minutes. Add crumbled goat cheese.
15. Serve up on plates, sprinkle a little of the minced fennel frawns and extra grated cheese. Ciao Bella! Mangia Mangia pronto!

This is one of those great tasting easy dishes, and the goat cheese once is melts creates a similar feel in your mouth to alfredo sauce but without a lot of the naughty added fat.

Leah Quinn, a multi-media artist and writer whose work specializes on food, health, feng shui, and self-improvement. http://leahquinn.com

Cheese Frittata

This recipe is so quick and easy you can have it on the table very fast but it is still versatile enough to add extras and change it completely by different herbs or cheeses, adding a chutney to serve or as a main with veggies or green salad.

If you have more people then add more to your frittata and serve with vegetable dishes  and salads to extend it.

To serve 2

• Beat or whisk 4  large eggs or 6 small bantam eggs (organic or free range best)
• Heat olive oil (about 2 tablespoons, more or less according to size your your pan, heavy based pan best so it will not burn.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Pour into hot pan
• When Frittata is set on the base add sliced cheese, sprinkle herbs
• Set under the grill to puff up and brown

We like this served with a peach chutney, or  tangy Tamarillo  or  Tomato salsa, crisp French Baguette  and a green salad

I use a Magic Bullet to quickly whisk it up and have it cooking in minutes

Extras to add to expand the recipe or make it a more satisfying meal

Cooked potato, pumpkin, beans, peas, celery, mushrooms, egg plant, zucchini and practically anything else you may have on hand or in the garden.

Serve with baked potato crisps and a glass of your favourite wine

In a mortar, pound coriander, lemon grass, ginger and garlic to a paste.
Heat the oil, stir in paste and add coconut milk.
Stir briefly then add potatoes, soy sauce, sugar, salt and curry.
Bring to the boil and add vegetable stock. Add onions and simmer until cooked.
This is a really scrummy curry and can be adjusted to your personal taste.
The recipe looks longer than it takes to prepare and is a dish you can fling on and sit back relaxing while it cooks and will be sure to be a favorite in your household.

A fast and refreshing quick and easy watermelon and goats cheese salad

Vegan Ebook Recipes, Kale Chips, Cookie Recipes and More !

• Cubed watermelon chunks (de-seeded)
• Soak chopped red onion in lime juice
• Goats cheese  cut into chunks
• Cubed cucumber (optional addition)
• Small amount of olive oil – enough to moisten
• Add the onion and lime juice
• Stir through
• Add chopped mint as a tasty extra
• Enjoy
• Vegan Ebook Recipes, Kale Chips, Cookie Recipes and More !

Quantities are not exact and can be varied according to how many people and what you have in the pantry and feel free to make your own additions.

Delicious Italian Primo Lentil Dish

Very simple, quick and easy to make and yet it  tastes delicious

• Take chopped onion, celery, garlic and fry until translucent, (or “blonde” as our friend calls it ) something like Wolfgang Pucks skillet would be ideal to cook it in.
• Add sausages, or spare ribs if you prefer.   Brown and cook
• Add half a glass of wine and let cook for a few minutes
• Add one tin of tomatoes ( or half a large tin)
• When all the water has evaporated and 10 minutes before you wish to serve it add  one tin of lentils including the liquid, stir through and let simmer
• Serve garnished with your favorite herbs
• We have cooked this four times since getting the recipe, once with pork and fennel sausages. Our Italian friend said it didn’t go and we thought it was extra scrummy  !
• Enjoy

Serve with your own delicious home made spaghetti, pasta or fettucini to make a quick healthy and delicious meal.

1. Saute breadcrumbs with olive oil, garlic, chilli ( small amount of chilli – always easy to add a bit more later !) saute until crisp then add parsley when cooled as well as fresh tomato, add seasonings, salt and pepper and serve with pasta. Some great fresh herbs to use are oregan0, basil and sage – not all at once of course !
2. Bacon, mushroom, tomato and onion sauteed in olive oil with garlic and chilli
3. Saute onion, chilli, garlic in olive oil, add one tin of tomatoes or fresh if you prefer and a tin of tuna ( in oil)

Our Italian friends came to visit today.

We live in the country and they are from the city and we talked about missing fresh pasta here in the country.

“How many eggs do they lay ?” he asked as he watched our free range hens scratching in the garden. Suddenly he sat up straight.

” You gotta pasta machine ?”

I disappeared into the pantry and emerged dusting off a long forgotten box with an Italian made Imperia pasta maker.

“It’s an excellent machine” he stared at me in amazement.

“Its almost new, you’ve barely used it” he said in disbelief, “pasta making is so easy !” …..and ……

“You have a goldmine here” . Barely able to contain his excitement, he talked non-stop of how to make home made fresh pasta and how simple it was to make and how we could have a never ending supply of freshly made, economical pasta. Then followed an animated discussion of the different ways to serve pasta and what you could do with it.

I was almost sorry I’d hauled out the box but my mouth was watering at the descriptions

But what is the recipe I asked. “Recipe, recipe ? You don’t need a recipe” he scoffed, ” just make one small pile of flour with a “dent” in the middle and put in two eggs and then, slowly, slowly, bring the flour into the egg” and leaning back thinking he added “you might need some water”

When I pressed him for the amount, he said it depended…… then seeing the look on my face added “about two fingers worth !!! Bearing in mind that my friend has been a chef, restauranteur and previously a baker, I think maybe he made pasta on autopilot !

“Anyone can make it – you have eggs, you have flour and you have the machine. You have a goldmine” he said again, looking puzzled as to why we hadn’t thought of it before and shrugged.

We all sat down to eat lunch and discuss food (of course, what else) followed by him making a beeline for the armchair “to take a short rest” and promptly went to sleep ! His job was done it seems.

By Suzanne De Cornelia

Eat green and stay healthy and lean, that’s my motto. I’ve always loved healthy salads. Ever since my late father’s medical condition precluded his enjoying the greens he also loved, I’ve never taken them for granted and enjoy them even more. My favorite salad mainstays come from Earthbound Farm that began 25-years ago as an organic backyard garden in Carmel Valley, California. Now I live just a few miles away in Carmel, long committed to organic for me and the planet. You can find their produce in Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and many other locations, and can even buy it farm direct: ebfarm.com/

In 2009 alone, Earthbound’s 33,000 acres avoided the use of over 305,000 pounds of toxic pesticides, 10.3 million pounds of synthetic fertilizers, and conserved 1.6 million gallons of petroleum by avoiding the use of petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers. With sustainability the goal they use 100% post-consumer recycled PET for plastic salad containers and 99% post-consumer recycled corrugate for shipping cartons.

With the local deer sporting their new autumn and fall antlers, and beautiful red Pyracantha berries reminding me how they centered our Thanksgiving dinner tables growing up, this is a beautiful looking and healthy salad is perfect for fall and winter, alone or try it paired with artisan bread and soup.

Carmel-by-the-Sea Roasted Pear, Goat Cheese and Candied Pecan Salad

1 package of spring mix salad greens
2 unpeeled pears
1/2 c of dried cranberries
1/2 c of candied pecan pieces
4-6 oz goat cheese log
1/4 c apple juice
3 T brown sugar
1 T white wine vinegar
1 T extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the pears into fourths length-wise and core. Place in a baking dish. Combine the apple juice and brown sugar and pour over the paces. Bake 20-30 minutes until they are tender, basting occasionally with the juice. Remove to a plate and reserve ¼ cup of the juice mixture.

Whisk the reserved apple juice and white wine vinegar in a small bowl, whisk in the olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste. I use sea salt and no pepper. Toss this dressing together with the greens in a salad bowl. Crumble in the goat cheese and mix throughout with a couple of light tosses. Divide onto four plates. Sprinkle each with the dried cranberries and candied pecans. Cut the pears into slices and arrange. Bon appetit.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzanne_De_Cornelia