Tomato, Ricotta & Spinach Fusilli - Home Cooked

I'm sure I am not the only one out there who enjoys grocery shopping. It's fun to go into a supermarket with no idea of what you want but just letting whatever you might discover dictate what you'll have for your next meal.

One of my favorite lanes in a supermarket is their pasta lane. I especially enjoy it more now with all kinds of pastas being offered. From my perennial favorite the fusilli to spinach flavored pasta to pre-stuffed raviolis. The section for bottled pasta sauces is also a haven for quick and easy meals. I've discovered many a yummy pasta sauces there. One such discovery is Leggo's Tomato, Ricotta & Spinach sauce from their Pasta Bake range. Traditionally, it's supposed to be baked in an oven but since I didn't have one in the apartment, I had to make do.

Ingredients:

- pasta, any kind you want

- Leggo's Tomato, Ricotta & Spinach pasta sauce

- shredded mozzarella cheese

- Tabasco sauce

How:

1. Boil and cook pasta as instructed in the package

2. Once cooked, stir in the pasta sauce. Stir in as much as is needed based on the amount of pasta cooked.

3. Once pasta is covered with the sauce and sufficiently hot, place in your serving plate and top with shredded mozzarella cheese (which melts beautifully into the hot pasta).

Optional: Put in a few drops of Tabasco sauce for a kick of flavor. I find that pasta sauces with cheese tend to be too sweet for my taste.

This really works for any bottled pasta sauce you have on hand so go and try it.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad - Home Cooked

Whenever I didn't like anything served on the table, this dish has always been a life saver for me (and the cook, and my mom... I think I may be a tad spoiled).

It's very simple. Traditionally -- at least in our home, it's just cucumber sliced with vinegar. But for this time, I had some fresh tomatoes too good to pass up. So, you slice up the cucumber into thin slices or thick, it depends on you. I personally love them paper thin. Put them in a bowl. Slice or in this case, I cubed the tomatoes and put them together with the sliced cucumbers in a bowl. Put the mixed ingredients into the refrigerator to cool. Just before you serve the dish, pour vinegar over it and sprinkle a dash of salt to taste or not, up to you. And that's it. Like I said, simple.

This is what I served with the salad. A nice cup of steaming white rice and sweet corn on the cob. The corn was also fresh so I couldn't resist adding it to the meal. Is it a weird combination? :-)

Rice Cooker Poached Salmon - Home Cooked

We were out of gas, I was working from home and I was not in the mood for pizza or fish burgers. I decided to try and see if there was anything I can fix with just the rice cooker on hand. I also only had salmon in the fridge. Thanks to Sir Google (yes, I knighted the search engine), I came up with this recipe:

Ingredients

• Salmon
• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Garlic
• Butter
• Salt & Pepper
• Rosemary leaves

Preparations
Season the salmon with salt and pepper. In the rice cooker, mix the rice, water, soy sauce and garlic together. Place the salmon on top of the rice mixture, place slices of butter on top and sprinkle with rosemary leaves.

Turn on the rice cooker. Once the rice cooker beeps, everything should be cooked and done.

And viola! You're done. Quick, simple and easy.

Poached Salmon with Mushroom Alfredo Fusilli - Home Cooked

Something home cooked this time. Poached is probably one of the healthier of cooking something because there's no oil or grease used. You basically cook it in its own steam. I had picked up a different kind of fish earlier to poach but decided against it in the last minute since I wasn't sure if all kinds of fish would poach well.
I usually cook poached salmon with a tomato base but decided to try my luck on something creamy. I chose alfredo sauce. It's really simple to do, what you'll need:

• Salmon with skin on
• Fusilli pasta
• Bertolli Mushroom Alfredo Sauce
• Salt and pepper

For the salmon, rub salt on the fish. You can rub black pepper as well if you want a bit of spiciness to the fish. For the pasta, boil as much water needed to cook your pasta as per instructions on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, pour the Alfredo sauce in the saucepan and place the salmon skin side down at the center. Cover the pan. Let it cook for about 8-10 minutes or until salmon is thoroughly cooked to your preference. Try to check on it and stir the sauce occasionally to make sure the sauce doesn't stick to the pan. 

Once cooked, remove the salmon and place it on the dish. Stir the Alfredo sauce and fold the fusilli pasta until coated. Remove and place along salmon on plate. And that's it! Simple and quick to prepare.

Note: Forgive me for the poor plating, I was hungry.