Healthy, Fresh Vodka Sauce Recipe

I have always been a fan of Penne a la Vodka, mostly for the sauce, but had never really attempted to make this dish for myself.

Time to broaden my horizons. I searched for a basic recipe and found one on Cooks.com.
My healthier, fresh-ingredient interpretation of the recipe is this:


1. In a sauce pan, turn heat to medium-high and combine the following:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup minced onions (I say red, white, shallots are all acceptable depending on what you have and prefer, I used red)

2. Saute until the onions are clear. Then add:

• 1/3 cup vodka (Skyy worked well yet is probably the minimum quality vodka you'd want to use)
• 3 peeled Roma tomatoes, minced. (Substitute for recipe's 1 can peeled tomatoes)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely minced

3. Keep the heat at medium-high and slowly add:

• 1/2 cup half and half (substitute for recipe's pint of heavy cream)
• Salt and pepper to taste

4. Cook until the sauce reduces a bit. Add pre-cooked ingredients to be combined with vodka sauce. Suggestions:

• pasta or quinoa
• broccoli, zucchini, asparagus
• chicken, shrimp
• parmesan, etc.

I made this with broccoli and quinoa, sprinkled with parmesan and thought it was fabulous. 

Take note that while this is healthier than the traditional vodka sauce, it will turn out less creamy than your favorite local Italian restaurant's hearty Penne a la Vodka because of using half and half as opposed to heavy cream. That's your prerogative.

I also thought upon finishing about blending the ingredients/final result in a food processor to make the sauce smoother, although I thought the minced ingredients made for a pretty presentation as well.

Zucchini As Pasta - I finally made it!

This recipe came as part of a Twitter dialogue, demonstrating the good things that can come from this program. Believe me, before taking this class, I was the first person to say how much I couldn't stand the idea of Twitter, how it was like the worst parts of Facebook combined with people just reporting the fact that they went to the grocery store. But I, @imanihamilton, have seen the light. This recipe is one of many reasons why.

First, I Re-tweeted this Food and Wine Recipe (@fandw) recipe using zucchini as pasta, which led to another Twitter user (@foodiesatwork) reply that directed me toward this zucchini pasta recipe from the New York Times. The basic idea of preparing and cooking the zucchini is as follows:

1. Slice 2 zucchinis lengthwise with a vegetable peeler, making wide pasta-like strands. I actually used a cheese grater because I discovered I don't have a vegetable peeler here at college. I was happy with the results.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat, add half of the zucchini. Cook the other half exactly the same way, but breaking into two groups allows each half to cook better.

3. Add salt and ground pepper to the pan and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon, stirring occasionally to let the zucchini cook evenly.

4. While the zucchini cooks,

• grate 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

These are my additions to the recipe:

• mince 1/4 cup parsley
• slice into very thin strips 2 salami slice- I used Genoa Salami

4. When the zucchini becomes slightly transparent, remove from heat.

5. Add 1/2 of the toppings listed above and eat while still warm, allowing the parmesan to melt.

6. Cook the other half of the zucchini the exact same way, and add the other half of the toppings.

Your favorite pasta sauce, of any type, would also be great with this. I leave town for San Francisco  tomorrow (totally just mentioning that because I'm so excited) for a week and didn't want to open a whole jar, so I did without and while I tend to love tomatoes in any form, I was still very happy with this dish sans-tomatoes.

Don't short change yourself on the cheese! You've already done yourself a favor by making pasta from a vegetable so don't hold back. The parmesan is one of the elements that transforms this dish from the flavor of most other zucchini you've tried to tasting like a better version of pasta.

Another Twitter reply from @Chefamom mentioned that she prepares this dish for diabetics, bringing up another point that clearly, this makes a healthy, diabetic-friendly substitute for pasta.
Even if you haven't been diagnosed as a diabetic, there are warning signs we should all be looking out for it: http://www.defeatingdiabetes.com/diabetes-statistics.htm.

Now you can enjoy this dish even more knowing you're doing good things for yourself. And not lacking anything in the flavor category.

Quinoa: It's Better Than Rice

I like rice, but I love quinoa. It is a better grain than rice for every reason except for sushi applications.
Quinoa is faster and easier to cook- 2:1 water to quinoa, combine, bring to a boil until water is absorbed.
1 cup of quinoa will take about 15 minutes for all of the water to evaporate. If seasoning beforehand is desirable, the quinoa can be toasted with a little olive oil and spices before adding water.
Quinoa also keeps longer and fresher in the refrigerator without congealing to an unappealing block. I often make batches for a week and then add fresh ingredients when I want to eat it.

Here's what I've been adding to a single-person serving of quinoa, kind of tabouleh-inspired:
Change the proportions to your taste.

• Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 minced garlic clove
• Equal parts of chopped tomato and minced red onion (approximately a half cup)
• Parsley and Feta (approximately a quarter cup)
• Salt, ground pepper

Delectable.
*Also great with tomato, basil, feta/mozzarella combinations

Still wondering exactly quinoa is? Here's some background from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa. Scroll down to Nutritional Value for a good summary.