The other night I made a typical dish for us and something I do pretty frequently: pasta and veggies. The experimental part of this was something I heard on the radio over the weekend and was almost afraid to try because I was sure it would not work. Well, I was wrong. I heard Kate Heyhoe on The Splendid Table discussing cooking green, basically discussing how you can reduce the amount of energy you use when you cook. Well, she suggested a way of cooking pasta that reduces the amount of time your burner is on by half or more and I wanted to give it a try. I was almost convinced that the pasta would turn out gummy, mushy, or all stuck together even if it was cooked. Surprisingly, that was not the case.
Bring the water to boil and add pasta and salt as usual. Then boil uncovered for two minutes, the cover and turn off the burner. Let rest in the hot water for the remainder of the cooking time according to package directions. Drain and serve as usual.
I can't believe it worked!
We ate this with a mix of veggies and a little sauce from a jar. I cook whatever I want in one pan and it usually works out pretty well. I used onion, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper, and broccoli. Once everything is cleaned and cut, I just cook it for about 5 minutes with a little olive oil and margarine mixed together and salt lightly. As long as I get the mushrooms and onion on the bottom of the pan, they cook through and I like the other veggies to be firm. Yum!
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