Main Course Monday: Asparagus Spaghetti

Happy Monday! 

Hah, okay, maybe not. Try not to be jealous that I'm currently sitting on my front porch holding a sleeping baby. 

So, today's feast is one of my favorite originals. It combines my favorite carb, veggie, and meat! 

The version I made yields 2 servings. 

Let's get started.  

Two stalks of asparagus, cut into about one inch pieces. 

Chicken. You can cheat like me and get the pre-cut, pre-cooked kind, or get raw chicken breast and cook it and cut it yourself. Both ways are delicious, it just depends on how much time you have. 

Put your asparagus and chicken on a cookie sheet (I cover mine in foil for easy clean up) and coat both in olive oil and 2 seasonings: 

Garlic salt and Italian seasoning. We made our own by mixing spices from a recipe on Google, but you can buy it at the grocery store. 

Place the pan with our chicken and veggies in the oven on High Broil until the asparagus is soft and the chicken is cooked. 

Now, boil some water for your noodles. I used spaghetti noodles this time, though in the past I've used whole wheat penne and it was delicious. 

Next, for the sauce, chop about a quarter of an onion 

And mix it in with a cup of pasta sauce. 

I cooked mine in an iron skillet. A regular pot works just fine as well, just make sure to sauté your onions first. 

I added a tiny bit of garlic for flavor 

When your onions are soft and your sauce is warm, stir in your already cooked asparagus and chicken. 

Pause for Ginger Beer (it doesn't have alcohol in it). 

When your pasta is good and tinder like ya like it, drain it,

Put it back in the pot, stir in the sauce, and dinner is served! 

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as I do! Let me know what you think! 

Side Dish Saturday: Robin Fried Rice

Welcome to the first installment of Side Dish Saturday! I'm kicking off with something that I make A LOT. This can be used as a side dish, or easily made into a main course by adding your choice of meat. I always go for grilled chicken. So, today, I'm taking you on a trip to Asia with my version of fried rice.

We must begin with a selfie, featuring my sock monkey onsie, of course.

You know you're jealous. 

So here's today's lineup: 

(You choose the measurements of things based on how many servings you need. Mine, as a side dish yields 4-5 servings, and 1-2 as a main dish) 

Rice cooked in splashes of soy sauce, sesame oil, and sriracha. Honestly, I don't know how much rice this is. I'll go with 2 cups? 

Veggies: 

2 rings of onion 

2 baby carrot sticks, finely chopped

One celery stick

An egg! 

Sauces (keep in mind that my rice has already been cooked in sauce, so I didn't use as much):

1 tsp soy sauce 

1 tsp sesame oil 

1/2 tsp sriracha (more depending on how spicy you want it. 

LET'S GET COOKIN'! 

In a lightly oiled skillet, start sautéing veggies. When they start getting tender, add your sauces. 

Couldn't miss out on an opportunity to show off my sock monkey feet! 

When the veggies and sauces get a good sizzle going, add rice. Once you see the color become a little darker after mixing in the vegetables and sauces, crack your egg directly on top of everything. 

Now, just keep stirring until the egg is completely cooked into the rice! Everything should be a light tan color and the consistency should be, for lack of a better word, mushy. Like so: 

And there you have it folks! Serve it up as a side to grilled chicken breast, make it give beef tips and rice an Asian kick, or eat it straight out of the skillet like I'm about to! 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my first real post on Robin Cooks. Please tell me what you thought and give me suggestions for Main Course Monday! And don't forget to share this with your friends!!

Welcome!

Hello there!

For those of you that were loyal readers of Thoughts of Beauty, welcome back! That blog is not gone forever, I've just found a new passion that I want to share with you and the rest of the world.

For new readers: Hi! My name is Robin, if you hadn't already figured that out. I like a lot of things, but this blog is going to highlight three of them: cooking, taking pictures, and attempting to be witty in writing. Hopefully it works out.

So I'm sure you've all figured out what this blog is about by now. Recently, I have rediscovered my passion for the kitchen. I also rediscovered that I do not take instructions well. I never follow a recipe. I'll start with clearly written instructions, then something will go wrong and I will do something totally different. And, hey! Most of the time it works! So here's the deal: some blog postings will be my own original recipes. Others will be recipes I've attempted (mostly from Pinterest) and changed to make my own.

The plan is this: every week I will post on two days: Main Course Monday and Side Dish Saturday. Then, on occasion, say, once or twice a month, I will have a Tasty Tuesday (where I cook something completely random), a Fun Friday (where I cook seasonal or special-occasion yummies), and a Sweet Tooth Sunday (desserts, DUH!).

Please let me know your thoughts and what you would like for me to feature!

And for your viewing pleasure, I did a tiny little photo shoot in the kitchen this evening to kick us off!