This summer and fall, though I was on an accidental-on-purpose hiatus from posting, I was not on hiatus from cooking. I was, however, dialing back my habit of dramatically over-estimating how many evenings a week I could cook, how long exotic ingredients would keep their freshness or my interest, or how committed I would be to cooking after working a 12-hour day. I started using a lot of ingredients on repeat, mixing and matching them in different variations depending on how whacked out my schedule ended up looking like on any given day. A few of the ingredients I came to rely heavily on were mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash that were exploding out of my garden at a tremendous clip, chicken breast, and of course, pasta.

If I published every variation of vegetable-y pastas with light cream sauces that I played with last fall, I’m pretty sure you’d think that’s all I ate. (At some point I’ll share some more of them with you, when I actually have more vegetables growing in their prime.) This is one of my favorites that came out of those months, my quick-I-need-dinner-and-what-do-I-have-in-the-fridge-to-piece-it-together season.

What I like most about this meal is the noticeable lack of sauce. There are no swimming noodles here. Really, the liquids that are tossed onto the mushrooms and simmered for a bit are mostly just a vehicle for carrying the earthy, punchy flavor of the mushrooms onto the noodles.

You can also totally make this without chicken if you don’t want it or don’t have any thawed – I consider it a huge success if I’ve actually thawed something in advance. If you need even more time savers or are short on ingredients, you can easily swap the garlic cloves for garlic powder, or the fresh thyme for dried. That’s what dried herbs are there for!

This dish is easy enough that it can be tossed together and modified based on what you have on hand, but it’s also fancy-tasting enough to make for a dinner party. Win-win.

Pasta with Chicken and Mushroom Sauce
Serves 3-4 as a main course

8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 T olive oil
salt & pepper
8 oz cavatappi pasta (or other twirly shape)
1 T unsalted butter
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
1 tsp course salt
a few cranks of freshly ground pepper
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 c heavy cream
1 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
pasta water as needed

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once you’ve started cooking the mushrooms, add pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente. Reserve at last half a cup of pasta water before draining and set pasta aside, covered, while other ingredients finish cooking.

While the water is heating, heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Salt & pepper chicken breast and sear on each side until cooked through. Once the chicken is done, remove it to a cutting board and slice into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, heat butter in a medium frying pan. Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, course salt, and freshly ground pepper to the melted butter and toss. Mushrooms should release their juices and cook down quite a bit. Once mushrooms have darkened and look soft, increase heat to medium high to sear the mushrooms a bit, tossing frequently. Reduce heat back to medium and add white wine. Cook for 3-4 minutes until reduced by half, then add the cream. Stirring frequently, allow cream to thicken slightly. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.

Combine pasta, chicken, and mushroom cream sauce in a large pot. Add a bit of the pasta water if it seems too dry. Serve immediately and often!

The Fourth of July is upon us, and while many people will be prepping grills and wood piles for their festivities, can I interest you in an alternative One that doesn’t require standing over a flaming rack of meat in the peak of American summer and does most of the cooking work on its own over the course of a day?

If so, this pulled pork is for you!

It’s taken me a long time to come around to pulled pork. I’m not generally a fan of shredded meat… it often makes me feel like I’m eating like, I don’t know, hair or something But lately I’ve been unable to resist the ease of dumping a pork roast in the slow cooker, going to work, and coming home to a ready-made dinner that will last us for DAYS.

The key to this recipe is using smoked paprika. I keep both smoked paprika and regular paprika at home, and I can tell you: they really do taste different. Since I can’t make real barbecue at myself by roasting a pig over coals for hours on end, the smokiness in the paprika really helps it taste more like the real deal.

Once the roast has cooked for 9 hours or so, you’ll be amazed at how easily it shreds. I just use a couple of serving forks and it falls apart easily and quickly.

This pork tastes utterly delightful straight out of the pot. I, however, also like to boost it up at the end with just a bit of barbecue sauce. But, you can also just serve extra sauce on the side. Either way, you’re in for a delightfully satisfying meal that will be welcome at any of your holiday festivities, or as a week’s worth of dinners just for your household.

Happy Fourth!

Slow Cooker Barbecue Pulled Pork
Adapted from Slow Cooker Gourmet

Note: This feeds… a lot of people. It makes enough pork for 14-16 sandwiches using regular-sized buns. If you’re making this for just a couple of people, feel free to halve it so you don’t have to commit to eating all-pork-all-the-time for several days.

5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
2 T smoked paprika
2 T dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 pound pork roast, trimmed of excess
3 T apple cider vinegar
2 T water
2 yellow onions (small to medium) thinly sliced
1/3 – 1/2 c of your favorite barbecue sauce (optional)

Mince the garlic and mix it together with the salt on a cutting board. The mixture should form a gooey paste. Mix the paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, and cayenne in a separate bowl and set aside.

Rub the garlic paste onto both sides of the pork. Then rub the spice mixture into the pork on all sides.

Add the apple cider vinegar and water to the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the rubbed pork into the slow cooker and include any bits of spice that have fallen off onto the cutting board. Thinly slice the onion and mound it around the pork.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours. When you are ready to serve, remove the pork to a cutting board and shred it using large forks. Return it to the slow cooker and mix in the liquid and the onions. Adjust seasoning to taste. If desired, add 1/3 – 1/2 c of your favorite barbecue sauce. Heat on high for 10-15 more minutes to allow the sauce to heat up. Alternately, you can add barbecue to the meat separately when serving.

Serve on buns, or just with forks, or however you like your pork.

Hi there.

Do you need some comfort food Something that invites your soul to snuggle up against some memories of simpler times, of peaceful days when the world made sense Something that fills your belly with a perfect medley of carbs, fat, protein, and flavor?

Me too.

This fall has been crazy. In mid-August I dove headfirst into some projects at work that required every ounce of creativity, planning, and time that I possessed. I took on a leadership role in my choir. I volunteered for an election that, well, let’s just say it didn’t go the way I’d hoped, and since then have still had trouble finding my bearings in this strange, post-election world. Sharing new recipes with you just hasn’t been at the top of the list.

But now it is! As the flood recedes, I’m finally finding myself looking through cookbooks again, browsing the wild and wonderful internet for tasty new things to cook. Which is how I found this one.

In truth, I’ve been making this for months. The fella in my house has always been a die-hard fan of Hamburger Helper, but in my continuing efforts to remove mysterious ingredients from our diet, I wanted to try a homemade version. There had to be one, right?

RIGHT.

The key is a big ol’ bowl of spices. Chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and garlic transform this otherwise bland mac-and-cheese-with-beef into a spicy, flavorful meal.

This meal is as easy as it is delicious. One pan. 30 minutes MAX. Fairly common ingredients. You don’t even need to cook your pasta separately, it cooks right with the ground beef, milk, and water.

Perhaps this greatest part though This is one of those magical meals that makes even better leftovers than first-night servings. Find the biggest pan your can and double this up if you want a week of packed lunches that will make your colleagues jealous. No need for comfort food to stay at home, right?

Homemade Hamburger Helper
Adapted from Farm Girl Gourmet

1 lb ground beef
1 T corn starch
1 T chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8 oz elbow macaroni or cavatappi (any twirly noodle will do)
2 c hot water
2 c milk
10 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Heat a large sauté pan (or skillet with a lid) over medium heat. Add ground beef to the pan and brown. Tip: add a few tablespoons of water to help break up the beef. 

While the beef cooks, measure corn starch, sugar, salt, and spices into a small dish and set aside. Grate cheese and measure out milk, water, and pasta.

Once the beef has browned, increase the heat to medium-high and add the water, milk, pasta, and spices to the pan and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is al dente.

Add cheese and mix well. Continue cooking over low for another 3-4 minutes if needed to thicken the sauce.

This meal is really, really good fresh. But it makes simply transcendent leftovers. Plan accordingly.

Ever since I developed my recipe for fajita seasoning, I’ve been pretty lazy on the taco recipe front. The fajita seasoning is sooo versatile: virtually any taco, fajita, quesadilla, etc. can be fully-flavored with it. Plus, it’s quick to make with spices that I always have on hand. I go through batches of it at a fairly rapid clip.

But in the throes of my recent love affair with sweet cherries, I stumbled across this recipe. Pork, rubbed with a paste of garlic, lime, and ground chipotle and topped with charred onions, peppers, queso fresco, and a bright, cherry salsa studded with cilantro and lime Um, YES.

These tacos are delightfully flavorful. The smoky chipotle plays nicely with the bright, sweet, fruity cherries and limes. And while I typically look to chicken or steak for my tacos, the pork is really the best canvas here. The rub and the salsa can be made well in advance, but they certainly don’t have to. This is definitely a weeknight-worthy operation.

This batch makes enough filling for about 8 tacos, but it can easily be changed to feed a crowd. Plus, if you store the different toppings separately, this makes INCREDIBLE leftovers.

So if you, like me, have not yet released your grip on summer cherries, put these tacos on your to do list for the week.

Pork Tacos with Cherry-Lime Salsa
Adapted from Eating Well

Makes about 8 tacos

For the Pork
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
zest of two limes
4 tsp fresh lime juice
1 lb pork tenderloin (I used strips for mine, but that’s just what I had on hand)

Mince garlic. Combine garlic and salt in a bowl and press with a spoon (or use a mortar and pestle) until it forms a paste. Add chipotle, lime zest, and lime juice and mix well. Rub paste all over pork. Refrigerate until other ingredients are prepared.

For the Salsa
1 c pitted & chopped fresh sweet cherries (use dark red if you can for the drama!)
1/4 c finely chopped cilantro
4 tsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small dish and set aside. You’ll add some onion once you’ve charred it, so keep the salsa close by.

Assembly
3 T canola oil, divided
1 medium white or yellow onion, sliced in half-moons
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2-3 cranks freshly ground black pepper
pinch of course salt
3/4 c crumbled queso fresco
8 taco-sized flour or white-corn tortillas

Heat two medium-sized skillets over medium and add 1 1/2 T of oil to each one. In one pan, add the onions, peppers, pepper, and salt. Toss frequently until onions and peppers are slightly charred and have softened slightly, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add the seasoned pork to the other pan. Cook until pork reaches a 145°F internal temperature and all sides are golden-brown.

Remove 6-7 slices of onion and chop finely. Add these to the cherry salsa.

To warm tortillas, place in the oven at 170°F on a cookie sheet that has another cookie sheet as a lid for 5-10 minutes. The lid will prevent the tortillas from becoming crispy. Or, place them in a stack on a plate with another plate as a lid and microwave for 30 seconds.

Add a bit of pork, peppers and onions, salsa, and queso fresco to each tortilla.

Do you like Italian food Do you like food that is kind of like lasagne but not exactly like lasagne?

Do you like making a multi-step meal that involves scratch-made sauce and hand-filled pasta?

Do you like leftovers that last for days and only get better with time Do you like perfectly delightful combinations of pasta, cheese, spinach, and meat sauce  Do you like noodle tubes filled with magic and topped with awesome?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then this is a recipe for you!

I started making manicotti a couple years ago when I was home for Christmas. My mom, a long-time lasagne maker, decided to mix it up and buy manicotti shells instead for a family dinner. I volunteered to help, and though it was a lengthy process, I genuinely enjoyed stuffing a cheesy, spinach-y goo into the shells. Since then I’ve tinkered with different recipes, and I finally landed on the right balance. Like, a year ago. But it takes a long time to make already, so I hadn’t yet talked myself into taking the time to photograph the process. Not to mention, I keep making it in the winter when I have little evening light for shooting photos, soooooo.

Sorry for the delay!

A warning: if you’re looking for a quick week-night dinner, this is not the right choice. It could be if you decide to use frozen spinach instead of fresh or pre-made pasta sauce. But where’s the fun in that?

We start with a full pound of fresh spinach and trim all the stems off. Honestly, when I’m being lazy, I don’t trim the stems, but can I urge you to do so The texture is just so much better without them.

Once trimmed, the spinach needs to be cooked down. Lots of people recommend boiling the spinach, but I actually prefer to sauté it. Since the spinach needs to be squeezed of moisture later, why introduce a pot of water to the equation?

So the spinach is washed, trimmed, sautéed, drained, squeezed, and chopped. Alternately, use a 10 oz package of frozen spinach. Your call.

Next up Saucy saucy. I love using my Favorite Quick Spaghetti Sauce for this with the addition of ground beef. If you’re not a carnivore, or even if you are but don’t feel like having meat today, you can also totally make this without and be perfectly happy. I like options!

NEXT! While the sauce is simmering along, mixing up the filling doesn’t take much time at all. A blend of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan is added to the spinach, along with an egg to keep the mixture nice and fluffy in the oven.

Also, cook your noodles. You’ll need those.

Sauce Check. Noodles Check. Filling Check.

Now it’s time for the fun, messy part!

Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to fill your noodles with a spoon. You’ll just end up with cheese everywhere around you with not nearly enough in the noodles.

I use a large pastry bag with an opening about 3/4″ in diameter. If you won’t have one of those, no sweat, just trim the end off of a plastic baggie.

Fill each noodle until it feels firm and the cheese is barely oozing out the ends.

Fast-forward 10 minutes and voila! You’re done! Now just a coat of meat sauce and a generous sprinkle of parmesan before it’s time for the oven.

I won’t lie: this is a lot of work. But the final product is so worth it! Next time you have a Sunday afternoon free and wanna make a splash at dinner, make this! You’ll be glad you did.

Manicotti
Adapted from Food Network Kitchen

For the Filled Manicotti Shells
1 lb fresh spinach (or a 10 oz package of frozen spinach)
1 1/2 lb (3 c) ricotta
6 oz (about 2 c) mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
2 oz (about 1 c) parmesan cheese, freshly grated
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp course salt
a few cranks freshly ground black pepper
1 lb manicotti shells

For the Sauce
2 tsp olive oil
1 c diced yellow onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 pints basic tomato sauce
2 T sugar
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb ground beef

If using fresh spinach, remove stems and wash thoroughly. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add spinach in batches, cooking until spinach is soft, fairly dense, and dark green. Remove to a colander and repeat with remaining spinach. Squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible and chop finely. If using frozen spinach, thaw completely, squeeze the liquid out, and chop finely. Set spinach aside.

In the frying pan you used to cook the spinach, heat over medium and add ground beef. Season with salt and pepper and add a couple tablespoons of water to help break down the beef into small bits. Cook until browned through and set aside.

While the beef is browning, dice onion and mince garlic for the sauce. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and saute onion and garlic until they have a bit of color. Add tomato sauce and all seasonings and stir well. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes or until sauce has begun to thicken. Once the sauce has reached desired consistency, blend with an immersion blender, blender, or food processor. Add the sauce to the ground beef and set aside.

While sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add manicotti noodles and cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are al dente. Drain in a colander.

While the noodles are cooking and the sauce is simmering, grate mozzarella and parmesan cheese. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Combine spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, half of the parmesan, salt, pepper, and the eggs. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread a thin layer of the meat sauce into the bottom of a 13″x 9″ baking dish. Scoop filling into a large pastry bag, or, trim the end off a plastic storage bag. The opening of either should be about 3/4″ in diameter. Fill each manicotti shell by placing one end against the pad of your hand (to prevent filling from squeezing out) and filling to the top. Make sure each shell doesn’t have any empty sections. Place filled shells in the baking dish. You’ll have to press them fairly close together so they will all fit.

Spread the remaining meat sauce across the top of the manicotti. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce and bake for 30 minutes.

I eat rather a lot of pasta. When I started writing this post, I had to go back to see what stories I’ve already told you about my lifelong noodle-y obsession, just to make sure I wasn’t repeating something.

I’ve already mentioned that as a kid, I loved spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese above all other things, and in fact I rarely tolerated the annoying hindrance of spaghetti sauce. It was sloppy, acidic, and mostly just not my thing. I still remember the first time I actually enjoyed a smear of red sauce atop a mound of pasta. Bizarrely, it was on a camping trip. In our open-air kitchen of two camp stoves and a picnic table, Dad carefully cooked a pot of pasta in one pot and in another, he combined a can of basic tomato sauce with a seasoning mix.  I don’t know why I opted to try the sauce that time, but I suddenly realized this red sauce thing wasn’t necessarily so bad after all. To this day, however, I’m still pretty picky about my red sauces and rarely order them at a restaurant as a result.

There are a few brands and varieties I’ve discovered at the grocery over the years that I like rather well, but once I began canning my own basic tomato sauce, I felt it was time to finally find the homemade version I was seeking.

Since there are approximately one gazillion recipes for spaghetti sauce out there, each one claiming to be better than the last, it was a bit intimidating to know where to begin. Some swore by the addition of carrots and peppers, others piled on the sugar, and still others demanded the tomatoes be practically raw to achieve pure spaghetti sauce bliss. Fresh herbs, dried herbs, lots of spice, none at all – there really are so many ways to do this. How was I to know what I liked the most?

So I began experimenting. And after quite a few acceptable batches, I finally found the combination of herbs, seasoning, garlic, and onions that makes my soul sing.

For those of you who are fresh-herb-purists out there, you’ll probably decry my little piles of dried leaves and insist that their flavor is lacking. And perhaps you’re right. But I’ve loved the way this sauce turns out every time, and I like that it’s always something I can throw together without a trip to the grocery for delicate green leaves. If you do want to try fresh herbs, you’ll probably need more than the quantities listed below to achieve the same density of flavor.

And for you fresh-tomato-purists out there: do you know how many months of the year I can buy high-quality, delicious tomatoes in Colorado About four. One third of the year. Great spaghetti sauce does not need to start from fresh tomatoes the night it is served, in my opinion. In fact that would take FOREVER to cook. Since I can my own tomatoes, I am lucky that I know where they came from and what’s in the sauce. I love that I can pull a bottle of that summer sunshine from the pantry and have a deep, vibrant spaghetti sauce ready in half an hour. There’s no way I’m starting from fresh tomatoes, especially at this time of year when the only tomatoes I can buy are, erm, horrible.

So here you have it: a delicious, flavorful spaghetti sauce that you can make year-round, without the need for anything that is out of season. I love this sauce on every pasta I’ve thrown it over – spaghetti, spaghetti with meatballs, manicotti, lasagne… the list goes on. When doubled, it takes a pound of ground beef perfectly for the creation of manicotti and lasagne.

Give it a shot!

Favorite Quick Spaghetti Sauce

1-2 tsp olive oil
1/2 c diced yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint basic tomato sauce
1 T sugar
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
pinch black pepper

Heat olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent and garlic has just a bit of color. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reached desired consistency.

Use an immersion blender, blender, or food processor to puree the sauce until smooth.

Serve over literally any pasta, or use as the sauce in manicotti or lasagne.

For the better part of middle and high school, I was usually up in time to make breakfast for my mom and sister while they continued bustling about, getting ready for school. Most days, this breakfast consisted of “tortillas with cheese”, which is just exactly what it sounds like: three flour tortillas, each with a layer of rough slices of cheddar or colby cheese, heated in the microwave for 30 seconds or so before being rolled up in paper towels for a to-go breakfast of champions.

At some point later, upon partaking the joys of quesadillas that popped up on restaurant menus all over the place, I made the connection that I’d been making quesadillas all along (freakishly simple though they were). As with most of my cooking projects, though, I’ve stepped up my game and now make quesadillas not for hurried breakfasts on the go, but for sit-down dinners at home.

And you should too.

I will say one thing though, and don’t freak out: these quesadillas don’t have much cheese.

I know. I know. What sort of monster cuts the cheese so significantly in a dish that is literally NAMED after cheese But I tell you, it’s possible to have a delightful quesadilla that doesn’t have puddles of gooey cheese oozing out the sides and sizzling on your frying pan. Trust me on this.

These quesadillas start out very similar to my Easy Chicken Fajitas. A hearty sprinkle of Fajita Seasoning on half of a chicken breast (seven or eight ounces) will give you enough chicken for two very chicken-y entrees. You can also stretch this to four entrees if you’re okay with less chicken in each tortilla.

Chicken cooks in one pan while peppers and onions cook in another. In all honesty, though, I usually make quesadillas 2-3 days after making a batch of fajitas. It’s a great way to use up the leftover peppers and onions from that recipe and it makes this one even easier!

When the chicken and veggies are cooked, it’s construction time. I use two kinds of cheese: sharp cheddar and monterey jack. I like the contrast of colors, as well as the pungent cheddar against the mild jack. But you can really use whatever varieties make your heart happy. As you can see, you don’t need much: I have no more than two ounces of grated cheese on each. Stacked with chicken, veggies, and salsa, I like just enough cheese to form a glue to keep the sides of the tortilla together.

Quesadillas like to be squished when cooked, rather like a panini, to create a thin but full tortilla that is crispy on the outsides. I don’t have a panini press or a quesadilla maker, but trust me: you don’t need one! I use a heavy pan (in this case, my cast iron skillet) to press down upon the tortilla in a skillet heating on the stove. Not the prettiest technique, but it gets the job done without another one-trick-pony taking up precious cabinet space in my kitchen.

And that’s it! After a few minutes in the pan on each side, chop that sucker up in to quarters and serve with your favorite toppings. I adore these with sour cream, and if I happen to have it handy, with guacamole as well.

This recipe works equally well with ground beef or with steak. You can also be totally happy without any meat whatsoever! Though, in that case, I might actually add more cheese.

Not-So-Cheesy Quesadillas

Serves 2 as a meal, 4-8 as an appetizer

Note: I rarely actually cook the peppers and onions for this dish on their own. Often, I’ll make quesadillas a day or two after a batch of Easy Chicken Fajitas and dice up the peppers and onions leftover from that. Cook smart, folks.

Another Note: You can really put ANYTHING you want in a quesadilla. In the summer, I love cutting the kernels off a cob of corn. You can add green chile, beans, a different meat, no meat, different cheeses, whatever.

8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
1-2 tsp Homemade Fajita Seasoning
2-3 tsp vegetable oil, divided
about 1/2 a green bell pepper, diced
about 1/4 red onion, diced
course salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese
2 oz Monterey jack cheese
3-4 T your favorite chunky salsa
2 burrito-size flour tortillas
sour cream, guacamole, and or salsa for serving

Heat half the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breast generously with fajita seasoning and, if desired, a bit of salt. Cook until chicken is cooked through, then set aside and dice.

Heat the other half of the oil in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onions and season lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until peppers have softened and are lightly charred. Remove from heat and set aside.

While you construct the quesadillas, heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Set another heavy pan or pat next to the stove.

To construct the quesadillas, fold each tortilla in half to form a visual crease. Unfold, then sprinkle the Monterey Jack cheese evenly on one half of each tortilla. Evenly layer on the chicken, peppers and onions, chunky salsa (use as little liquid as possible so it doesn’t squeeze out during cooking), and finish with the cheddar cheese. Fold the top of the tortilla over the filling and press slightly.

Working one at a time, gently place each quesadilla into your hot pan and rest the heavy pot or pan on top. Cook for 4-6 minutes, checking periodically to make sure you don’t burn the tortilla. Once the tortilla is golden-brown and crisp, carefully flip the quesadilla and rest the heavy pot on top of it again. When the second side closely matches the first, remove to a cutting board and cut into four wedges.

Serve immediately with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, or whatever your little heart desires. If you save any for leftovers, I highly recommend re-heating the quesadilla in an oven or toaster oven so avoid the soggy-licious future that awaits it in the microwave.

I’ve found, in my eleven years living outside of Colorado, that many people don’t imagine Colorado as a place where much food can grow. People always sound surprised when I tell them that the hardiness zone for growing fruits and vegetables in Denver is approximately the same as that of Columbus, Ohio. And while it may be impossible to grow prolific gardens in the high mountain towns, there are many areas of the state known specifically for their produce.

In fact, many of the most anticipated foods of the summer are identified by the town in which they are grown. I’ve already mentioned Palisade peaches, and that area is also a significant producer of apples, plums, and cherries. Rocky Ford melons are some of the sweetest I’ve ever tasted. Olathe sweet corn is grown so prolifically that it appears in heaping mounds at even the most basic grocery stores, not just at boutique food shops and farmers markets. And, though it’s a town in New Mexico, we always look forward to the arrival each fall of Hatch green chiles.

Green chile is a bit of a sport in the Southwest. Most natives will argue that there is NOTHING that can’t be improved by these versatile foods, whether you like your chiles mild (like me) or screamin’ hot. The smell of roasting chiles tumbling around in giant metal barrels outside every grocery store still elicits strong memories of back-to-school evening errands with my parents and anticipation for the imminent changing leaves. Interestingly, I did not like green chiles at all as a kid. It’s only now, as an adult and returning Colorado resident, that I finally appreciate the obsession.

And so, I’m on a quest to learn how to cook with green chile beyond simply sprinkling it on my eggs, my pizza, my fajitas… though those are all excellent decisions. And this quest starts with something I’m supremely comfortable with: mac and cheese! For a Colorado-autumn twist on my go-to recipe, I paired my green chile with sweet corn, another fall favorite of mine.

I adapted this recipe from my go-to Classic Stovetop Mac & Cheese. It’s quick, not too fussy, and delightfully creamy. For this version, the cheeses are white cheddar and monterey jack as opposed to sharp orange cheddar. I also have become a major fan of orecchiette pasta (it means little ears!) for my mac.

As I said above, I’m a little cautious with my green chile (even a medium can leave my lips tingling if I eat too much) so I used mild, but if you like your spice, feel free to kick it up with a medium chile or two. The mild cheeses keep the chile in check, and the sweet corn compliments it nicely.

Let’s hear it for green chile!

Green Chile & Sweet Corn Mac

Serves 3-4

3-4 roasted green chiles (choose your temp!)
2 ears sweet corn, cut from the cobs
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 small white onion, about 1 cup diced
2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 c milk
2 1/2 oz white cheddar cheese, grated
2 1/2 oz monterey jack cheese, grated
8 oz pasta

Remove skins and seeds from green chiles. Chop the chiles and the onion and set aside. Heat a large frying pan over fairly high heat. Also, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Once the frying pan is hot, add the corn and toss quickly for 3-4 minutes until the corn is lightly charred. Remove corn from the pan and set aside. If your water is boiling, add the pasta and cook to al denté.

Melt butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Once melted, add onions and sauté 4-5 minutes. Add flour and salt to the onions and mix well, allowing the roux to cook for about 3 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the milk, stirring the entire time, and continue stirring until mixture has thickened to a gravy-like consistency. Turn off heat and add cheeses and mix until cheese is smoothly melted.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in cheese mixture, all but 1/2 c of corn, and green chiles. Once pasta is on plates, sprinkle remaining corn on top as a garnish.

As much as I enjoy the pride that comes from highly crafty cooking projects, from hand-making pasta and pie crust and pizza dough, it’s just too dang much work most days. It’s not that I’m ready to abandon my stove and commit to microwave dinners. But I am constantly on the lookout for meals that can be thrown together in just a few minutes with minimal chopping, mincing, grating, or cooking time.

Sometimes, those recipes are as close as the back of a package of pasta I bought on a whim. And this one quickly became a household favorite.

You’ll notice that ravioli is at the end of the title of this recipe. Why Because with mushrooms, garlic, and parmesan, this sauce would be delightful over any pasta. We’re particularly fond of cheese ravioli, but you can try any kind of pasta you like.

Butter and salt bring out the liquids and the flavor of the mushrooms, while garlic and pepper simmer along for the ride. Then, instead of using all cream as the recipe originally suggested, I split the quantity and used milk for half of the liquid. I didn’t miss a thing.

Parmesan finishes the sauce before it is tossed over your pasta of choice.

Before you know it, this meal is DONE. Not the most fashionable recipe you’ll ever see (mushroom cream sauce slopped over pasta can only go so far in the aesthetic department), but the flavor is outstanding.

Perhaps I’ll get around to making my own cheese ravioli soon, so that I can marvel once again at my own insane will to make things from scratch. But until then, I’ll continue to enjoy this just as it is, pre-made ravioli and all.

Mushroom Cream Sauce with Ravioli
Adapted from the back of a Giovanni Rana ravioli package

12 oz cheese ravioli
8 oz mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T unsalted butter
1/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c whole milk
salt & pepper
3/4 c parmesan plus additional for serving

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Wash mushrooms and pat dry, then slice. Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic, then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cook mushrooms, stirring frequently, until the liquids begin to release. Increase the heat slightly to allow mushrooms to brown slightly.

Add heavy cream and milk to the pan and stir constantly to prevent burning. When liquid has thickened slightly to a creamy texture, reduce heat to low and add parmesan cheese. Continue to simmer on low until desired texture is reached.

When water is boiling, cook ravioli to al denté. Drain ravioli and add it to the pan with the mushroom sauce. Coat all noodles with sauce.

Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Magic Pasta.

Having stumbled across this delightful combination of ingredients by pure accident, I accidentally discovered a meal that Brad and I both find so perfect, so delicious, that I have to work really really hard to make anything else for dinner. Originally hatched as a way to use up the previous year’s supply of home-canned marinara sauce, this dish now holds permanent quarters at the top of our favorites list. I know that “Magic Pasta” doesn’t really indicate the components of the meal particularly well, but it’s all we call it. If you prefer, you can call it Pasta with Amazing Tomato Cream Sauce and Italian Sausage.

But don’t worry, you don’t have to go back in time to can your own pasta sauce to make this dish at home. A store-bought marinara would work just fine, or you can make your own version fairly quickly by spicing up a pint of plain tomato sauce. The sweet Italian sausage, on the other hand, is non-negotiable. We’ve tried it with chicken and with ground beef, and while both are good, neither one achieves the magic of the sausage.

With a little cream, sugar, salt, and pepper, the sauce is simple and cooks quickly while the pasta boils nearby. It takes almost no time at all.

I urge you, nay, I beg you to make this pasta. I’m looking out for you, and I’m telling you, you NEED this in your life this week. I know it’s summer and everyone’s all into salads and smoothies and juice, but please lay those ideas aside and make yourself a big pot of tomato-y, sausage-y pasta.

Then invite me over so I can eat some, too.

Magic Pasta

Serves 3-4

10 oz rigatoni or penne
2 links sweet Italian sausage
1 pint marinara sauce (see note below)
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 T granulated sugar

Note: If you don’t already have a marinara sauce you like, combine 1 pint of plain tomato sauce with 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp dried basil as a substitute.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat while you prepare the sauce below. Cook pasta to al denté.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Slice the end of each sausage and squeeze the sausage out of the casing and into the frying pan. (If you prefer, you can slice the sausage into coins, instead.) Cook sausage until it is cooked through and starting to brown.

Without draining the pan, pour the marinara sauce into a large frying pan with the sausage. Add heavy cream, salt, pepper, and sugar and stir well until sauce is a uniform color. Allow sauce to bubble, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, to allow the sauce to thicken. Stir frequently.

Drain pasta and return to the pot. Add sauce to the pasta and mix thoroughly.

Serve immediately. Good luck keeping leftovers for more than two hours.