Lemon-Caper Pasta and...

...A surprise road trip!!!!

My hubby knows I have been missing my family in Florida. Yesterday, he said we could visit them, and we are leaving tomorrow!!! It should be a 'long weekend' trip.

I do love surprises, and this was a major surprise:) To prepare for the trip, I made a checklist of things to bring, and printed out some online recipes, since I will not have internet access there.

The list helped a lot when it came time to pack. Here is a pic of my tiffins and other stainless containers. Some already had some goodies in them:) I will also be making some goodies to enjoy during the 20-something hours we will be driving.


There is a slight chance I will stay for a longer visit, so I also packed some appliances and things like my knife set, nutmilk bag, and of course my favorite gadgets.

Here is one of my favorite recipes I plan on making while I am away.

ETA~I have switched out the original old pic for a heart shaped* pasta for Valentine's Day:) You can still see the original pic on gone raw.

Lemon Caper Pasta

Ingredients:

1 yellow summer squash, organic, or other veggie pasta
1 lemon, organic
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon capers, organic but not raw, drained
1 medium tomato, 1/4 inch dice

gremolata topping:
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley
1 clove garlic
Preparation:

1. Process squash as desired for 'pasta', squeeze dry.

2. Zest lemon(reserve zest) and juice it, should be about 2 tablespoons juice.

3. Combine oil with lemon juice, capers, and only 1/2 of the lemon zest.

4. Pour over squash and mix well.

5. Top with tomato.

* For the heart shape, I used a small heart shaped pan. I placed the tomato in first, topped it with the lemon-caper pasta, put the plate on top and flipped it over. After removing the heart pan, I sprinkled it with the gremolata:)

6. For gremolata, chop remaining zest with parsley and garlic and sprinkle over pasta.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will see you soon!!!

Salsa Finta and Almond Polpetta over Angel Hair Pasta

....or, spaghetti and meatballs!

Last night, I made my family regular spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Usually I am not tempted to eat what I make for everyone else, but I love angel hair pasta:) To ease my craving, I did have a tiny bowl of the pasta, but for lunch today, I made Russell James' Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta. This really satisfied my craving, and it was nice to know I could enjoy as much as I wanted:) Please visit the link for the recipe from his blog:)

What can I say...the man is a genius :)

Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta


First, you make the Salsa Finta, as you need a small amount to put into the Polpetta (meatballs). It blends up in a flash, the perfect mix of dried and fresh tomato, oil, basil, garlic, lemon juice and a touch of sweetener. I omitted the small amount of water, because my tomatoes were very juicy and I usually prefer a thicker sauce.

The Polpetta are prepared in the food processor. Sprouted almonds mixed with 1/4 cup of the Salsa Finta, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, parsley, Italian herbs and onion (I used chives). The moist mixture is formed into small balls and dehydrated to perfection for several hours. The outside was crisp, while the inside remained soft and moist. When ready, you mix the Polpetta with the remaining Salsa Finta.

Russell serves this over greens and zucchini ribbon pasta, but since I wanted the more traditional spaghetti and meatballs, I spiralized a medium sized turnip. I am always amazed when I see the long strands of my "pasta" come out of that little spiralizer:) I mix them with a drizzle of olive oil, and a few grinds of pink salt to soften, like you do with rawvioli:)

Once again, I want to thank The Raw Chef Russell James for the recipe.