Joni Sare, cooking instructor

Salad and Pasta Dinner w/student

One of my culinary students is 30-something and wants to learn how to cook the basics.

We’ve covered an egg breakfast and a quinoa and artichoke one-dish meal.

This time we’ll do:

A basic salad and pasta dinner:

• Ramped up Marinara over Angel Hair Pasta

• Tossed salad w/feta cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds

We’ll cover:

  • types of salads: tossed, chopped, composed
  • types of greens: tender, bitter, crispy
  • matching dressings with greens: creamy dressings vs vinaigrettes
  • fundamentals of making dressings
  • types of pasta sauces: butter, cream, tomato
  • marinara basics: homemade vs enhanced sauce in a jar
  • pasta basics: size, shape, texture

Our agenda:
  • Unpack the bags, separate/arrange the goods.
  • Make the sauce
  • Make the dressing
  • Make the pasta
  • Set up the salad

Here’r the choices I gave him….

Choice #1. Ramped up Marinara over Angel Hair Pasta

We can boost the marinara sauce with sauteed veggies, red onion and red wine.

Pasta

Marinara Sauce

Carrots

Zucchini

Red onion

Red wine

Choice #2. Three-Green Pesto over Angel Hair Pasta

(Pesto has: Spinach, Basil and Cilantro w/cashews and miso)

Spinach

Basil

Cilantro

Lemon

Cashews

Miso

Garlic

=====================================================

Salad dish:   two options….

Choice #1. Composed Salad of Butter Lettuce, Fennel and Orange and toasted walnuts and coriander

Butter lettuce

Fennel bulb

Mandarins

Red onion

Walnuts

Coriander

Choice #2. Tossed salad w/feta cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds

Spinach

Arugula

Radicchio or mixed salad greens

Carrot

Pumpkin Seeds

Feta cheese

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Black beans

===========================

Salad dressings:   two options….

Choice #1. Pesto Dressing (same as above)

Spinach

Basil

Cilantro

Lemon

Cashews

Miso

Olive oil

Choice #2. Olive oil and fig vinaigrette

Olive oil

Figs

Balsamic Vinegar

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