Asparagus Arugula Scramble

This long weekend, due to my need to study stats i did not go away to any cottages. I was a little down about this, but thought i could still make some tasty food while i was in the city. I started with a pretty sweet brunch on saturday morning - i actually didn't have much of a plan, at first i was going to make an omlette, then i thought i'd prefer a fritatta, but i finally settled on a scramble.

As for the ingredients i used green onions, asparagus, arugual/spinach mix and some left-over oka cheese i had around. I served it with some buttered dark rye and an arugua salad.

Maybe staying at home wasn't a bad decision.

Sort of Caprese Lunch Salad

This is going to be a lazy post - i have a very busy day, and just realized i hadn't used these pictures that i had of a really good lunch i made while up in Mono. This was a take to work lunch which i didn't end up eating the day i had intended and it sat for another day which i think made it even better.

I found some pearl bococcini in my mom's fridge - which are so addictive. They are quite firm, so letting them sit in the dressing for an extra day only made them better. I like cheese in salads sometimes - and as you've probably guessed i'm a big fan of the Caprese style salad - this on was my rip off.

I simply cut some tomatoes in half added the pearl bococcini and some shredded basil. I dressed it in a bit of olive oil and a generous amount of balsamic. I added some finely sliced red onions and served the salad over a mix of arugula and spinach.

Nice lunch!

Above:

Close up of the salad

Packed lunch

Ingredients

Leftover Pasta Frittata

I had actually been meaning to make this recipe forever, but since i don't often keep leftover pasta around i hadn't gotten around to it, but after my Pasta for Joanna i actually had some leftovers. Of course when i went to make the recipe i dindn't have half the stuff, and the tomato paste in my fridge was moldy, so i just made it as i could. I also cut the recipe down sort of arbitrarily.

So instead of telling you how i made it, i will just copy the original recipe i had intended to make, and you can try that. Mine was good, but i think that one would be better!

Spaghetti and Arugula Frittata
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped,
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 red chile seeded and chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2/3 cup white wine (or water)
2 1/2 cups of cool cooked spaghetti
6 large eggs
2 tbsp Parmesan
handful of arugula
2 tbsp of balsamic

Heat one tbsp of oil, saute the onion for 5 mins until softened. Add the garlic, tomatoes, and chile and cook for 4 minutes, stirring. Add the tomato paste, and wine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the spaghetti, toss gently.

Break the eggs into a large bowl, and beat to mix. Add the spaghetti and sauce - mix gently.

Heat the remaining oil, add the spaghetti and egg mixture, and cook over low heat for 10 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown on the underside and almost set on the top. Meanwhile preheat the broiler.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and slide under the broiler for 30-60 seconds to melt the cheese and set the top. Let cool for five minutes, transfer to a plate. Top with arugula and sprinkle with balsamic.

A tasty and unique fritatta.

Above:

Pasta Fritatta

Ingredients

Mixing the pasta with egg

My version of tomato sauce

Tuna and White Bean Lunch

Tuna and white bean is actually a pretty common combination, there is a certain richness to white beans that makes this dish seem decadent, when its really quite simple yet elegant. I often mix my tuna with chickpeas, but i was in the grocery store and spotted some white kidney beans, which i think area also called butter beans, and thought i would add them as they have a creamier texture.

Usually things that are all white sort of turn me off - i know that sounds weird, but something about hippie parents and always eating whole grains/brown bread makes me mildly suspicious of white meals. To offset this strange idea, i made sure to add some more colourful items to the meal to help its visual appearance, along with taste! This was sort of a whatever i had in the fridge kinda lunch, so i used some oil cured black olives, sundried tomatoes (also in oil), carrots and green onions.

To make the dressing i combined some mayo (just a little), mustard, lemon juice, a little oil from the sundried tomatoes, pepper and red chili flakes. Once that was mixed i added a 1/3 of a cup of the beans and mashed them in to make the dressing creamier without more mayo. I ended up adding a little extra oil and lemon juice to make the dressing thinner. Then i mixed in the tuna, making sure to break it up well, and finally adding the rest of the beans, and mixing it until it was well combined.

For lunch i put this on top of some mixed spinach and arugula. The nuttiness of the arugula worked really well with this. I didn't need to add any more dressing, and i got two hearty and healthy lunches out of it. The greens also helped offset the white factor.

Above:

The ingredients (all on hand)

Packed lunch

Mixed beans

Additional ingredients