Dissertation Dinner

Though the title of this post might have already scared some people off, I really look back fondly at this pasta dish that I sort of developed during the past semester.  Although I love to cook every night, during the last phase of writing the Beast I wasn't able to really spend time making food when I got home from campus, since I had to turn right around to start working again.  So this was a one pot wonder that I ended up making in bulk at the beginning of the week to last me the next 6 days.

My favorite part about it is that it has everything you need--plenty of greens, whole grain pasta, and a little lean ground beef for the protein--but it isn't laden with a heavy sauce.  It's just tossed in some extra virgin olive oil.  I missed the dish so much I made it the other night for the two of us.  So here is a modified two-person recipe for the yummy dish that saved my life this past spring :)

Ingredients (serves 2, plus a little extra):
-1/2 onion, chopped
-a handful of asparagus, cut into 2" sticks
-1/2 zucchini
-2-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1 bay leaf
-1/4 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-2 servings of pasta, cooked and drained (reserve a little pasta water)
-salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

So, first you wanna spend some time chopping all your vegetables.  It's very stressful to chop while things are cooking in a hot skillet.  I don't like to be rushed.

Here's my thin asparagus spears.  Drew loves the thin asparagus :)

Choppity chop.  Two-inch spears are good.

I would normally use more onion than this, but I ran out.  Oh well.

In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil on medium low and caramelize your chopped onions until translucent and golden brown.  Make sure the pan is gonna be big enough for EVERYTHING in the end, including the pasta.

Mmm, here we go with the onions.  I love when they get like this.  This is when I add in the bay leaf too.  I don't know, it just gives it a little something.

Now, here's the important part.  You have to remove the onions from skillet before cooking the ground beef.  I know it seems silly, but you'll end up overcooking your onions.  But you can't do beef first or else you'll never achieve that pretty golden color on the onions.  So use a slotted spoon and get the onions out of that pan for a minute to let the beef do its thang.  Oh, and you use a slotted spoon so the oil remains in the skillet.

Now, you want to add your ground beef or ground turkey.  I crank up the heat a little bit so i can get a nice sear on the meat.  Here's the beef I used (I usually go for 93-7, but this was all they had other than the 70-30, which scares me greatly...I decided 10% fat was okay for this dish).

I like getting these tubes so I can pinch off the amount I need and leave the rest in the fridge :)

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up the meat into smaller pieces so you don't have one giant burger in the middle of your dish.  By the way, note my bright yellow tea kettle in the background.  How happy does that make you feel?

Break break break.

When the meat is most of the way cooked through, that's when you wanna add back your onion, and throw in the asparagus and zucchini.  Toss them all together, adding a little extra olive oil if it looks too dry.

Let cook on medium.  Stir every so often so all the asparagus and zucchini get cooked.

Once the veggies look kinda done-ish, like they've lost their crispness, that's when you add your garlic.  You do this because garlic burns easily.  I like burned garlic, but most people frown upon that.

To finish off those veggies and make them surrender to your will, add a little of the reserved pasta water to help steam the vegetables.  Cover and let sit on low for a few minutes.

Now, here's my cooked pasta.

I'm gonna uncover the beef and veggies...

Then dump in the pasta.  Yay!

Seasons of love time.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (and throw in any fresh herbs you might have, such as parsley, basil, or oregano) and stir.  I kinda usually go crazy at this point and start tossing in whatever herbs I feel like from my spice rack.  But that's up to the cook.

When you toss it all together, it looks like this.

Yum!  This is really one of my favorite dinners, and it is SO low budget and low maintenance.  It tastes good after sitting in the fridge for days...just zap it in the microwave.

It's really quite hearty, but it's also pretty good for you as long as you're using lean beef and a little bit of olive oil.  The best part is, you're filling most of that volume with vegetables.  You can add more veggies too, like mushrooms, green peppers, broccoli, etc.

Whether you're busy because you're writing a dissertation, or life is just hectic and you want dinner to be comforting and filling, this is a great choice for you.  Enjoy!

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For a printable version of this recipe, please click here.