spaghetti with lemon-arugula•pesto

Oliver loves to sit on the potty lately.  This is generally a really good thing-- especially considering he's not even two.  I really only have two issues with this:

1. The fact that it's often hard to get him off of the potty.  This is especially an issue when, say, it's time to go pick up Owen from school and he won't budge.  I end up having to pluck him off the potty, pin him down to get a diaper and pants on him, then carry him kicking and screaming to the car.

2. The fact that he sits there almost constantly screaming, "POOP THE POTTY!" at the top of his lungs until I come check if he did, indeed, poop the potty.  It turns out that most of the time, he did not.

Another big plus, though: it gives me a few minutes to do something uninterrupted while he's in there mindlessly playing with himself and paging through a book about animals.  That is, if I can do it while listening to him scream "POOP THE POTTY!...  POOP THE POTTY!... POOP THE POTTY!..."  If I hurry, it's just enough time, for example, to throw together some pesto for tonight's dinner.  

Having the pesto ready ahead of time makes dinner super-easy to put together later.  Sometimes we keep it simple and just eat a big bowl of this stuff solo, which means simply boiling pasta and tossing everything together at dinner time.  If I have the time, though (say, if Ollie wants to sit on the potty again right before dinner) I'll also steam a green veggie for on the side and slice up some whole-grain french bread.  

Surprisingly, despite the fact that it contains arugula (a green I honestly didn't like until about five years ago), my kids love it.  Owen once said, while slurping a lemon-arugula noodle, "I could eat this all day!"  

Ollie really likes it, too.  But not as much as he likes sitting on the potty.

the veggies:

• about 2/3 box (or roughly 10 ounces) of Barilla Plus spaghetti (or other pasta)*
• zest and juice from one lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2  cup shredded parmesan, plus more for garnish (optional)
• leaves from one large basil stem (about 1/2 cup loosely packed leaves or roughly half a .66 ounce package)
• 3 cups baby arugula, loosely packed
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

the love:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente, then drain.
2. In a small food processor, blend the lemon zest and juice, salt, parmesan, basil and arugula until well processed.
3. With the processor running, add the oil in a stream and process until evenly incorporated.
4. While the pasta is still hot, toss it with the pesto sauce in a large bowl.  Add salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste.
5. Serve garnished with extra shredded parmesan, if that sounds good.

tip:

*This is also good on cheese tortellini, but you'll need to play with the pasta-to-pesto ratio to get it right.

creamy•"pad thai"

To my chagrin, our (only) local Thai restaurant recently shut down.  After mourning the loss, I came up with this recipe partially to compensate for the lack of ethnic restaurant options around here.  Not that this is real Thai food (hence the quotes around "Pad Thai")-- I'm guessing the authentic version doesn't contain spaghetti or ketchup.  And this is a lot creamier and saucier than most Pad Thais I've seen (due to the peanut butter).

Part of my reasoning for using the ingredients I do is to make it accessible.  After all, it's easy to find a Thai recipe that looks fantastic, but often it will contain at least one ingredient I've never heard of that's only available at specialty stores.  However, everything on the list below can easily be found at any regular grocery store.  In fact, most of the ingredients are things I usually keep around the house.  

And don't let my strange combination of ingredients deter you-- this peanut butter-ketchup-spaghetti concoction is actually really scrumptious, despite how weird it sounds.  It's so good, in fact, that maybe I didn't need the Thai restaurant after all...

the veggies:

• about 2/3 box (or about 10 ounces) Barilla Plus spaghetti
• 8 ounces fresh mung bean sprouts, rinsed
• 1 block (14 to 16 ounces) of extra-firm tofu
• 1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 3 TBS lime juice
• 3 TBS ketchup
• 3 TBS canola or peanut oil
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• a pinch of cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• 6 to 8 scallions, chopped (about a cup)
• chopped peanuts, fresh cilantro leaves and lime wedges, for garnish (optional)

the love:

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions, adding the sprouts to the pot for the last three minutes of cooking.  When the pasta and sprouts are done, rinse in cold water, drain, and set aside.
2. Squeeze the excess water out of the block of tofu, pat dry with a clean tea towel, then slice the tofu into cubes.  Pat dry again and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, veggie broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and ketchup, and set aside.
4. Heat the oil in your largest skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the tofu and let it fry for several minutes on each side before carefully turning over.  Continue cooking and turning like this until almost every side is golden and crispy on the edges.  Then, turn once more and scoot all the tofu over to one side of the pan.
5. On the open side of the pan, add the carrots, garlic and cayenne and cook, stirring just the carrot mixture, for a couple minutes, or until carrots are softened.
6. Add the scallions, spaghetti and sauce and toss everything together until it's heated through.
7. Serve garnished with peanuts, cilantro leaves and lime wedges if you want to get fancy. 

baked•spaghetti

This is probably my family's favorite meal, not counting takeout pizza.  This actually has a lot in common with pizza, but is, I'm thinking, quite a bit healthier than the greasy takeout option.  This is also pretty quick to put together-- in about the time it takes to order pizza and run and pick it up.  If, unlike us, you have pizza delivery in your area, you may need to do your own cost-benefit analysis...

The veggies:

• 4 oz Barilla Plus spaghetti or whole-grain spaghetti*
• 1 cup bottled (or, by all means, home-made!) tomato sauce
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 1/4 cups carrot puree**
• salt, to taste (about 1/2 tsp)
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2 to 4 large veggie sausages, browned and sliced, or about 9 ounces meatless meatballs***
• mozzarella cheese, shredded (about a cup, depending on how cheesy you like it)

The love:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and oil a baking dish (I've used both a pie plate and an 9x9 square ceramic casserole for this).
2. Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente and drain.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the tomato sauce, cottage cheese, carrots, salt and pepper.  Add the cooked spaghetti and toss until well-incorporated.
4. Spread about 3/4 of the pasta mixture in the baking dish, top with veggie meat balls or sausage slices, then layer on the remaining pasta and sauce.
5. Sprinkle with mozzarella and bake uncovered until the cheese is golden, about a half hour.
6. Cool slightly, slice and serve.

Tips:

*We love Barilla Plus pasta for its outstanding protein content and smooth texture.  But, whole grain pasta is a great option, too.  And, kids and husbands seem to notice the grainy texture less in baked dishes like this.

**Truthfully, my preferred method for making carrot puree was in my BabyCook baby food maker.  But, now that I've graduated from that, I just coarsely chop the carrots (3 or 4 large ones for this recipe, but you could always make extra for next time...), steam on the stovetop until just tender, then puree with a little steaming water until smooth but not runny.  Freeze any leftovers in pre-measured amounts for next time.

***My family's favorite "fake meat" addition to baked spaghetti is the apple sage variety of Field Roast sausage.  It has a great texture, is not too spicy for the kids (as opposed to the chipotle and Italian varieties), and is soy-free.  Unfortunately, the nearest store to us that carries Field Roast stuff is 65 miles and an 11,000-foot mountain pass away.  So, in a pinch I use something from my local grocery store, like Veggie Patch Meatless Meatballs (I'm not crazy about all that processed soy, though...).

Where credit is due:

This recipe is an veggie-fied adaptation of a recipe from Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld (as in Jerry's wife).  The book is not entirely vegetarian, but a lot of her recipes are either meat-free or easily adapted.  If you have a kid-- like my little Oliver-- in a phase where he won't knowingly consume vegetables, she has lots of good tips for sneaking them in.