it's fish season!

Here in northern British Columbia, August is smack in the middle of salmon season, and let me tell you - I'm going to take advantage!  This recipe uses jarred fish (which tastes about a million times better than canned fish, but if you don't jar your own fish you'll have to make do with the canned stuff), as well as yogurt, a lemon, and a few fresh herbs.  It's summer, so hopefully even the boonies cook can grow a couple of herbs in a pot at this time of year! 

The bonus for this recipe is that it literally takes 8 minutes to make.  In the time that it takes to boil pasta, you can be feeding your entire family.  Because who wants to spend hours in the kitchen when it's so nice out??  not me.

I don't want to say I invented this recipe, but I saw a recipe in a magazine at the doctor's office, then tried to reproduce it at home.  I have no idea if it's the same...

Pasta with Salmon, Yogurt, and Dill

Ingredients

• 4 servings pasta (spaghetti works well)
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 1-2 jars (or cans) of salmon (preferably sockeye), drained
• 1 c. plain yogurt (not Greek)
• 1 tbsp grated lemon rind
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. fresh dill, chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Boil water and add pasta.  During the last 3 minutes of the pasta cooking, add the frozen peas.

While the water is boiling, mix the yogurt, lemon rind, garlic and herbs together in a bowl.

Drain the pasta and peas.  Add the yogurt mixture and the salmon and mix.

Serve and OMNOMNOM.

Pasta with Tuna and Broccoli

It would appear that posting about my former carb-obsession may have opened the floodgates to more pasta recipes.  Certainly, they've been a go-to thing over the past couple of weeks.  I mean, who has time to cook when there's playoff hockey to be watched? 

So in that vein, I'll present you with another easy and fast pasta recipe that puts most of your favorite food groups in a single bowl. My dad found this recipe several years ago - possibly in Canadian Living Magazine.  You may think it to be a weird combination of flavours, but it works - it really does. And for the boonies cook, it's pretty achievable.  The broccoli can be fresh or frozen, and everything else is canned or dried.

Start by breaking apart a head or two of broccoli and putting the florets in a steamer. Put the water on to boil for the pasta, and put the broccoli on to steam (about 5 minutes once it starts to boil - you want it to retain a bit of crispness).

Mince 3 cloves of garlic and saute them in 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan until fragrant but not brown. 

Add 2 cans of flaked tuna (drained) to the garlic and stir around. Then add 1 tbsp dried basil (or about 1/4 c. chopped fresh if you have it), and a few shakes of crushed red chili pepper (to taste).

Put about 3/4 c of raisins in a coffee mug.  At this point, your broccoli should be done, so drain the broccoli water directly into the coffee mug to blanch the raisins.  Then add the drained broccoli to the tuna mix and stir. After about a minute, drain the raisins and add those to the broccoli and tuna. 

Toss with the cooked pasta of your choice (I like rotini - it holds on to the tuna better than other pastas), and serve garnished with parmesan cheese. 


Tuna and Broccoli Pasta

2-3 servings of pasta (rotini works well)
1-2 heads broccoli, split into florets
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cans flaked tuna, drained
1 tbsp dried basil
crushed red chili pepper (to taste)
3/4 c. raisins
parmesan cheese