My husband (AKA "foodiedaddy") and I tease that he is a "supertaster." Whether this is fact or fiction, there is no doubt that he can taste a grain of pepper (or cilantro or ginger or chili pepper) even if it is buried in a dish. Alas, this means that I have to find creative ways to cook for both of us while satisfying my love of strong spices, particularly those that he dislikes. Add to that R.'s desire to eat simple food and it is easy to find myself eating bland noodles or being a bit more creative.
Tonight I came up with a great way to appease all of our appetites, while also keeping things simple on another steamy night: pasta salad with 3 different toppings.
R. and I had just returned from another trip to our CSA in Dover, while I had also taken a side trip to the Newton Farmer's Market. I was thus armed with so many delicious vegetables-apricot colored beets, swiss chard in shades of rose and orange, spicy radishes and arugula, fragrant basil and mint and sage, thin and crisp Armenian cucumber and amazing gold bell tomatoes from Kimball Farm (one of my favorites).
First I cooked a bag of pasta. (I choose fusilli, though any small pasta would work.) I chopped tomatoes and and opened a can of chick peas and mixed that together with the pasta. From there, I simply separated the salad into 3 tupperware containers and then, to
Pasta 1: I added chopped garlic, fresh mint, lemon juice and olive oil.
Pasta 2: I added basil, arugula, carrots, olive oil and lots of salt and pepper
Pasta 3: I added olives, cucumber and olive oil.
I ate all 3. FoodieDaddy ate #3 and R. (Foodietoddler?) ate almost all of our chickpeas and tomatoes (ironically he skipped the noodles tonight!)
3 happy people. With many leftovers.
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