As a single parent raising teens, I love quick and easy dinner recipes.
My kids and I like fresh asparagus, and we eat a ton of pasta to fuel our sports (cycling and running for me, soccer and track for my daughter, lacrosse and wrestling for my son.)
So when I discovered an asparagus pasta recipe in Mark Bittman’s cookbook: The Minimalist Cooks Dinner
, I was thrilled. His cookbook is based on a popular New York Times column which gives recipes for fast weeknight meals. He also gives you shortcuts if you’re missing ingredients, and must-do tips to make sure your dishes come out good. Plus, he pairs wine with every meal. What’s not to like?
Back to asparagus. This asparagus pasta recipe is cooked risotto style, meaning the pasta is sautéed rather than boiled. It’s super easy to make. Here’s my take on it.
Asparagus Pasta Recipe, Risotto Style
Put 6 to 8 cups of chicken or beef stock into a saucepan and heat. You’ll use it later in the recipe.
Chop a medium white onion and sauté it in a big frying pan with 3 Tablespoons butter for a few minutes.
Add 1 pound of penne or other cut pasta. I use the smallest tube pasta I can find.
Sautee the pasta in the butter and onion for 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of the warm broth to the pasta. Let it sauté another 5 minutes. While it’s sautéing, the pasta will soak up the broth. Ladle more broth into the pan every now and then so it doesn’t dry out. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile – rinse the asparagus, snap off the flat ends, and cut the asparagus stalks into 1 inch pieces.
Separate the asparagus tips from the stalks – the tips are more tender and will cook quicker.
At this point, the pasta has been sautéing 10 minutes. Add the asparagus stalks, and more broth. Let this cook 5 minutes. Then add the asparagus tips and more broth, and cook until the tips are crisp tender. By my clock, this is about 5 minutes more.
The pasta will have cooked about 20 minutes total. Serve the asparagus pasta with grated parmesan cheese. Sourdough bread is a great way to soak up the broth/sauce.
Mark Bittman suggests pairing this asparagus pasta with a sturdy red wine like Bordeaux, Chianti, or Cotes du Rhone. I usually just shake up a classic gin martini or a manhattan cocktail – while I’m cooking, of course.
He also says if you’re using canned stock, heat it with a garlic clove or some carrot. Gotta love the tips he gives in his recipe book!
This asparagus pasta recipe is simple, healthy, and tastey. Enjoy!
If you liked this asparagus pasta risotto style recipe, you might also enjoy:
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March 2nd, 2010
Posted in
recipes |
16 comments
Ah, the Little League parent. You know the type. They yell for their kid to win at all costs. They scream at the coach when things aren’t going right. And they pepper the referee or umpire at every bad call.
In short, they are assholes.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing an entire stadium of soccer parents turn into Little League parents. (Okay, I’m generalizing. Not everyone in the stadium got out of control. In fact, we weren’t all that bad. But for a bunch of parents who usually keep our mouths shut, we had our moments.)
My teen daughter’s soccer team was in a playoff match. The other team had a few players who could keep pace with our athletes (we’re quick, and we were nationally ranked for a time, and we kicked butt in league play. Yeah, I just said “we” even though it’s a girls team and I’m a lowly parent. Woo-hoo!)
But several of the other team’s players were too slow. In order to compete, they threw elbows.
At first, we didn’t say a thing. But when one girl threw an elbow a third time, this one at my daughter’s neck, I spoke up. “Hey, watch the elbows!”
There were chuckles in the stands. As the game progressed, though, more and more elbows were thrown. Other players were getting hurt. One girl went down on the turf, and another left with a bloody nose.
“Hey ref,” one mom said. “A bloody nose comes from elbows being thrown.”
The ref ignored us. As more and more dirty plays went down on the pitch, we became more and more vocal. We simply wanted the ref to stop any dangerous play.
In the second half, the ref called things more fairly, and started calling penalties on the dangerous play. The other team’s parents started complaining.
“Booooooooooo,” one whole section said.
After the game, my daughter gave me the skinny. “The players on the other team kept saying, ‘can’t you get your parents to shut up? They’re so annoying!’” To which my daughter said, “can’t you get your teammates to stop throwing elbows? They’re so annoying!”
I asked her about the ref. Didn’t he hear us? At some point, the ref needs to call infractions in order to protect the players on the pitch.
“He probably heard you guys,” my daughter said. “But he didn’t speak English.”
Doh!
Or should I say, Ay Carumba!
If you liked this little league parents post, you might also enjoy:
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March 1st, 2010
Posted in
parenting |
31 comments
Dad’s House has a Facebook fan page. Become a fan!
In 2008, Microsoft researchers looked at a huge instant messenger database (180 billion messages), and proved we are all within six degrees of instant messaging separation from each other.
This is great news for the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, where you try make movie associations between actors to the Hollywood star. It was a rage back in the 90’s. For instance:
Elvis was in Change of Habit with Ed Asner
Asner was in JFK with Kevin Bacon
So Ed Asner is one degree from Kevin Bacon, and Elvis is two.
How does this tie-in to Dad’s House blog? A college roommate of mine was a computer effects supervisor for the Kevin Bacon movie Hollow Man.
Which makes me two degrees from Kevin Bacon (i.e. the same as Elvis.)
I figure if IM counts as a degree of separation, so does blogging. Which means if you’re a friend of mine, you’re three degress of Kevin Bacon. That’s pretty damn awesome, don’t you think?
Wouldn’t you know, I finally set up a Facebook page for people who read Dad’s House. Go there and become a fan of David Mott writer, and make the Kevin Bacon association official:
David Mott, Dad’s House blog, Facebook Page – One Degree Closer to Kevin Bacon
(Or just do it because you like Dad’s House blog, or want to follow my writing projects.)
As QTMama might say, bacon goes good with everything. And now Kevin Bacon is less than six degrees away.
Here’s a starter list of Single Parents on Facebook:
QTMama
Kat Wilder
Big Little Wolf’s Daily Plate of Crazy
Ts Quest
Single Mom Says
Dad’s House
Single Parents Connection Group on Facebook
Single parents, feel free to add your Facebook page url in a comment below.
Hollow Man trailer, starring Kevin Bacon, youtube video
If you liked this single parents on Facebook post, you might also enjoy:
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February 26th, 2010
Posted in
single parents |
21 comments
I have a great relationship with my teen daughter. When she was eleven and entering sixth grade, I sat her down and talked to her about the ins and outs of sex. We’ve talked about her relationships, and my relationships, and relationships on Grey’s Anatomy. I feel like we can talk about anything.
Except soccer.
She’s been playing soccer since she was five. I played one asthma-filled season as a youth, and never really learned the game’s strategies until I was an Italian Serie-A loving adult. (Tivo rocks.)
So if I ever said “Italy should play great in this year’s World Cup,” she’d roll her eyes.
And if I dared to criticize her, “I was surprised you lost that ball to the girl in front of your own goal. You had her beat.” She’d make an angry face and tell me to shut up.
But something has changed of late. My daughter is playing her varsity high school season, and she’s suddenly fine with me chatting with her about the beautiful game. More than that, she lets me analyze her play in father-daughter post-game recaps. She seems to even value my opinion. WTF?
“You seemed a little slow for the first fifteen minutes of the game,” I’d say. “But then you picked it up with that quick run up the middle, when you stopped number eleven.”
“She was a pain,” my daughter would say.
“You beat her good.”
She’d nod her head, remembering the game with me.
I don’t know if she likes the extra set of eyes helping her improve her game tactics. Or if she’s now comfortable and confident enough with her own play, she can stand to hear it described by someone else.
Or maybe she just likes that her dad is there watching.
If you liked this father daughter soccer post, you might also enjoy:
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February 25th, 2010
Posted in
parenting |
16 comments
I recently shared about a bar experience where some guy tried to join a table of women by using one of the best funny pickup lines I’d ever heard.
But the better part of that night was being at that table. The women I drank with that night truly rocked. Feminine energy is a very good thing.
I’m pretty sure the local moms would never drink martinis with me in a bar on a Friday night.
So how come some moms I’d just met were fine drinking with me? And why did it mean so much?
Head over to the Silicon Valley Moms Blog for my take on:
Feminine Energy from Moms In a Bar
(If that pre-programmed link doesn’t work, go straight to Dad’s House posts at SV Moms)
Leave a comment, then come on back and have an espresso coffee martini. Better than last time’s prune juice martini, for sure!
If you liked this feminine energy post, you might also enjoy:
Subscribe to Dad's House | © 2008-2010 David Mott, DadsHouseBlog.com. All rights reserved.
February 24th, 2010
Posted in
single dads |
15 comments
A single mom named Stephanie recently left a comment on my post about divorced parents with one parent moving away.
Seems one day her 39-year-old husband admitted he was in an older man younger woman relationship, and left his wife and 18-month-old son to live in another country with his 21-year-old mistress. Sad and tragic, to say the least. And while I don’t mean to judge – I haven’t walked in his or anyone else’s shoes – in my book, dads who desert their families pretty much suck.
I understand divorce can happen for a variety of reasons. Tiger Woods had a zillion mistresses and his wife Erin is contemplating divorce. Jon and Kate Gosselin had marital problems of their own.
But when a parent walks completely away from their child, I just don’t get it. Parenting is awesome. I didn’t know what love is until I became a parent. Being a dad is my greatest joy. (Like I said, though, I haven’t walked in the deserting dad’s shoes.)
Single mom Stephanie raised her son by herself, with some help from her mom. The dad saw the boy on weekends every two months until the boy was three, and then only saw him once. He contributes financially every month, so technically he’s not a deadbeat dad. Money aside, he’s out of the picture.
Now the boy is five, and dad wants back in. At the very least, he wants his extended family to meet his son.
Stephanie wants to know what Dad’s House readers think. Should she give her ex the proverbial finger? Or take the higher road and let him see his son?
As a single father who encourages dads to stay involved with their kids, you might think I’d say let him back in. But given the circumstances of this situation – with dad leaving his family for a much younger woman in a different country, and barely making an effort to see his child – makes me cringe.
Granted, maybe the dad was going through stuff and has changed. Surely he deserves to see his own flesh and blood. But single mom Stephanie shouldn’t do a thing to make that happen. He can come to them.
As for the dad getting more involved… I really don’t see how Stephanie can trust him again. Will he stick around for a few weeks, then split again? Granted, he sent money every month. But she took care of the boy every day! Physical presence counts for a lot in my book.
Dad’s House readers, the floor is yours.
If you liked this divorced parent moved away post, you might also enjoy:
Subscribe to Dad's House | © 2008-2010 David Mott, DadsHouseBlog.com. All rights reserved.
February 23rd, 2010
Posted in
divorce |
38 comments
I’ve heard some funny pick up lines in my day, but this past Friday night I heard the funniest pick up line yet. It was only one word, but it had us laughing our asses off all weekend.
I was at a writers conference finding my muse, and we spent the day Friday critiquing each other’s novel pitches and story arcs, as well as discussing prose written by famous authors.
It was intense, and after a long day, we all needed a drink.
By the time I hit the bar, Happy Hour was in full force. At first, I was chatting with folks at the bar, but there was a table full of women who were having way too much fun. I wanted to party with them. As soon as I got my martini, I went over.
I didn’t use any funny pick up lines, though I did say something funny when I joined them. (They laughed.) They were conference attendees, most of them married moms. In no time, we were laughing and drinking and partying our asses off. We were definitely putting the Happy in Happy Hour.
Other guys in the bar weren’t dumb, and came over too. Pretty soon, one guy was standing right next to me, cradling a beer, looking at the women. He was tall, wearing a track suit, looking a little out of place. I didn’t recognize him from the writing day.
“Are you part of the conference?” I asked.
He responded with one word: “Absolutely.”
Oh my god, if ever there was a smooth operator trying to worm his way into a table full of women having fun (like I had already wormed my way in), this guy was it! I didn’t believe for one minute that he was part of the conference. I joked with one of the moms that as funny pick up lines go, his was the best. We almost asked him what his novel was about, but we figured he’d just start making stuff up, and we’d heard enough pitches for one day. We wanted to drink. He hung around for a while, then left.
The next morning, we saw him again! He was walking around the hotel lobby with a piece of paper that had a novel pitch on it. This guy was too much! We wondered if he stayed up late writing it. We joked that he would do anything to keep the party going with us.
“Watch, he’s not a writer, and he’s the one person who will get a book deal,” my friend joked.
“He’s like Forrest Gump,” I said.
Wouldn’t you know, the guy followed us into the conference room!
At this point, we sort of figured he actually was with the conference, and we simply hadn’t realized it before. More fun for us, though – we kept joking that he was just some guy using funny pick up lines to meet women.
“Are you part of the coaches conference? Accountants conference? Dairy producers conference?”
“Absolutely!”
Finally, he got up to give his pitch. His novel was complex, with foreign-sounding names, a bit hard to follow. It sounded interesting, but the workshop leader suggested it might be hard to sell.
The guy wasn’t about to take ‘no’ so easily. He launched into an impassioned speech about why this was such an important work for him to create, and for the world to read. And wouldn’t you know, we were truly moved. The room exploded in applause. Bravo! I hope he gets that book deal.
The inspiration didn’t stop there. Next time I need any funny pick up lines, I’m going to try his one word approach that had us laughing all weekend.
Absolutely.
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Subscribe to Dad's House | © 2008-2010 David Mott, DadsHouseBlog.com. All rights reserved.
February 22nd, 2010
Posted in
bar scene |
25 comments
