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
- 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
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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
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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