You can tell what I’m getting sick of looking at in my closet by what I cook.  As joked a couple weeks ago, I peer in the closet/fridge, grumble about what needs to be used, and try to make something of it.  This week, I was grumping about how much pasta I had in my shelves, and I really should stop buying the stuff whenever it’s on sale because I rarely use it.

Also, there have been several calls for me to get away from the soups and currys, so pasta is a good way to do it.

The downside is I still have tons of pasta, even after today’s cooking.

Anyway, the upside:  I’ve been meaning to make orzo and spinach salad for a long time!  This is a tasty salad that comes out of deli bars frequently but always seems too oily and expensive for what’s in it.  So I tried to make my own.  I did a google search, read several recipes, and blended them into my own creation.

  • About a pound of orzo (I bought it bulk, but you could say “one box of orzo”)
  • The remains of a red onion (remember that ancient onion from last week?)
  • One clove of garlic
  • Half a bunch of spinach
  • One tub of feta cheese (about 8 oz)
  • A spoon full of coriander, before I ground it
  • One black peppercorn
  • A quarter spoon full of cumin, before I ground it
  • A small bowl full of precooked ham chopped into small pieces
  • Olive oil and balsamic vinegar

I had no intention of putting ham into this salad; traditionally, if you add meat, it would be chicken or lamb.  However, my roommate bought one of those post-Christmas-dramatically-on-sale large-enough-to-feed-an-army hams, and probably has enough ham to last until next Christmas, so I put a few chunks in.  I actually made two versions of the salad; one without the ham.

I cooked the orzo as though it were pasta and put it in a bowl with olive oil, and stirred it up.  I chopped up the onion into very small pieces, I chopped the garlic very finely, and stirred it into the pasta.  I took the feta, and just broke it up (I used a knife to “pry” apart chunks) and tossed it in.  For the spinach, I took the stems off, and chopped it into small pieces, then mixed it in.  Then I ground the spices, carefully sprinkled them on top, added some more olive oil to get the spices “moving”, and stirred all over again.  Added the balsamic vinegar last, stirring even more.  As I said, I made two bowls of the salad, and to one, I added little cubes of precooked ham (it came from the store precooked).

orzospinach

In addition to the salad, I made stir-fried vegetables with pasta.  I had two huge bags of egg noodles, and I am sorry to say I only used one of them.  The ingredient list is:

  • A bag of egg noodles (one pound)
  • Sesame seed oil
  • A yellow summer squash, chopped small
  • A bunch of string beans, chopped into bite sized pieces
  • Garlic and onions (the onion I bought but didn’t use last week)
  • A pasilla pepper
  • A spoon full of black bean paste
  • Salt

I cooked the noodles in water; and then after draining I mixed them with a lot of sesame seed oil.  I actually did that last, though it was because they took forever to cook, and I can’t really figure out why but I blame the pot I used.

I sauteed the garlic, onions, and pepper in olive oil, and after I deemed them done I tossed in the squash and string beans.  I added a spoonful of black bean paste, stirred it up, and let it cook for a little while, thinking I should have made it much spicier but didn’t because tonight was the audience of mild palates.

I stirred the pasta and vegetables together, and when I went to try it, I realized something important–add salt!  Without the salt it just tastes like the sesame seed oil and bland vegetables.  With just a touch of salt, it was much tastier.  I also recommend pepper.

Reviews?  The orzo-spinach salad was loved.  I loved it.  It was generally agreed that the ham was superfluous and just added a little texture.  Oddly, despite me thinking ham has a strong flavor, it seemed bland in the salad.

The pasta was much better reviewed after the salt, but I don’t think anyone thought it was the tastiest thing ever.  I thought it was pretty good, and was pleased enough with myself, but really thought it could use a slew of spicy peppers.  However, great debate ensued about what the ham would do to the pasta, some people threw chunks of ham into the pasta, and the biggest debate was if you cooked the ham in the vegetables, how would you balance it against the sesame seed oil?

In further stories of that ham, my roommate gave me the bones from it.  I’ve never made soup broth before, so this is an experiment.  I rarely let out the secret of what will be for dinner next week, but now you have the hint that it will involve some sort of ham broth.  I threw some bay leaves in, which were also ancient closet victims.  If any thing can soak some flavor out of those bay leaves, being boiled in a pot with bones for a week is about the only chance they have.  What will this soup become?  Next week we’ll find out.