main dish – Page 6 – Strong Roots Nutrition

November 11, 2013

Baked whole wheat gnocchi in creamy marinara

One of the most memorable days I spent in Italy was one where I visited Parma Rotta, a gorgeous restaurant in Italy's famous pasta-producing city, Parma. The employees demonstrated pasta making to my study abroad group, and we tasted their swiss chard and ricotta-stuffed ravioli, strozapretti in marinara, and gnocchi with butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Hand-made gnocchi is seriously incredible. Gnocchi is really nothing special: just potatoes, flour, egg, and salt. But roll it out fresh and boil it ever so slightly, and you get the most wonderfully s[...]

condiment, fall, favorites, main dish, pasta

November 4, 2013

My favorite tomato sauce

Most of the time, I love to cook. I love creating food, either new recipes or tried-and-true classics. I love anything that gets my hands (and counters) messy - kneading bread dough, hand-rolling sheets of pasta, cutting biscuits. I love the repetitive tasks like slicing cabbage into thin slivers for raw slaws, dicing onions, and shelling beans. To me, the best smell in the world is onions sautéing in butter and the pungent punch of garlic when it hits a hot pan. Put some Sinatra on in the background and the process is just a[...]

fall, main dish, soup, vegetable, vegetarian

October 28, 2013

Tuscan bean soup

Sometimes winter food can get a little monotonous because of a lack of fresh flavor and limited produce variety, but one great way to combat the winter food blues is an indoor herb garden. Little pots of thyme, rosemary, sage, and basil sitting by a sunny window can be a great kitchen asset, ready to give even the most bland root vegetables a kick of flavor. There really is no comparison between fresh and dried herbs, and I think that one of the easiest ways to take your cooking from a 4 to an 8 is to utilize fresh herbs whenever possible. Fresh-cut herbs[...]

fall, main dish, meat, pasta, soup

October 25, 2013

Using a whole chicken: Chicken noodle soup with homemade egg noodles

Tastes of winter are creeping in left and right these days. This week, Denver got its first snow. This was no wimpy little dusting, but at least two inches of wet powder that coated the lawns outside our apartment. Mike discovered it first. I discovered it second when Mike threw a snowball at me as I sleepily emerged from our cozy bedroom. Fall weather has been in full swing for several weeks now, but the first snow takes it to another level. So soup season commences. Humans have been cooking food for many, many years - probably since the first campfire. C[...]

fall, main dish, meat, vegetable

October 21, 2013

Using a whole chicken: Roasted chicken and root vegetables

When I spent a few weeks studying in Italy in college, I had the privilege of meeting Carlo Petrini, founder of the international Slow Food movement. Slow Food is a non-profit organization created cultivate interest in local traditions, where food comes from, and how it tastes by inspiring people to return to their kitchens. It emphasizes bringing people together in the home through meals that utilize local, in-season ingredients from sustainable sources. These meals are intended to help create better relationships within families and help people connec[...]