The beginning of the school year and a layered pasta salad

Yesterday marked the first day that I haven't been either in school or teaching since my brief stint of teacherly unemployment in 2007. That's right, since I've been in kindergarten, I can count three Tuesdays after Labour Day when I haven't been part of the education system (2003 - working at Louise's Belgian Chocolates; 2008 - waiting on the supply teaching list to get hired; 2012 - mat leave). Honestly, it leaves me feeling kind of at a loss.

I know there are lots of people who would kill to have a year off, but I'm a little sad not to be in the classroom. Interacting with more than a hundred people a day makes me happy. It keeps me entertained and I laugh a lot.

When I started teaching junior high school, I thought: there's a reason no one wants to teach this age group.

And then I realized that 12-15 year olds, especially when in their own school, are pretty much the perfect combination of children and adults. They're learning sarcasm, but they still believe in magic in the world. It's all kinds of lovely.

So, being at home with a baby... well... this is out of my comfort zone. Teenagers, I get. Babies... not so much.

Of course, when they're adorable as Audrey is, it's hard not to spend time laughing and smiling at her. Especially when she makes faces like this:

The many stretches (or fist pumps or YMCA renditions) of Ms. Audrey

So, the plan is to take some time to focus, not only on the wee one who just passed out in her swing, but also to refocus on healthy eating and exercise. So, on that note, I present a clean eating pasta salad:

  

Not the best picture in the world, but the container isn't perfectly clear, and frankly I don't have time to style my food. =P

The colours are very pretty though:

 

 Balsamic Tuna Pasta Salad

(from Clean Eating, Aug/Sept 2012)

serves 4 - 2 dinners & 2 lunches

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice pasta fusilli/rotini
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp water
¼ cup finely chopped sun dried tomatoes
¼-½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 6oz cans water packed tuna, drained
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
a handful cremini mushrooms, sliced
mixed salad greens
2 oz grated light mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in another small pot, heat vinegars with basil, oregano, red pepper flakes and water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper and set aside. Once slightly cooled, whisk in olive oil.

3. To assemble in layers, put a quarter of the dressing in the bottom of a 2 cup container. Layer in a half can of tuna, followed by pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes. Fill the rest of the container with salad greens and top with cheese. It's important that the salad greens don't touch the dressing; if they do, they'll get soggy. You can make this up to a day in advance.

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

A friend of mine posted this recipe on the now abandoned August Cooks blog, and I've really loved it for ages, though haven't made it since last summer.

Lime, sriracha, jalapeno, shallots, brown sugar, fish sauce... This recipe hits all the right notes, sweet, spicy, salty, sour. Amped up with some pickled carrots (leftover from a batch based on Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe) and cucumber, these wraps are pretty much heaven on a plate for me.

What I love most about it is how messy they are! Be prepared for dripping juices.

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

(adapted from August Cooks)

Ingredients

½ tbsp canola oil
1 lb ground pork
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
juice of one lime
1½ tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp sriracha

pickled carrots
sliced cucumber
washed, separated leaves boston or bibb lettuce (about 12-16)
handfuls of chopped fresh mint, cilantro and basil

Directions

1. Heat canola oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add pork, garlic, shallot and jalapeno. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pork is browned and fat is rendered. Drain fat from pan. Return to heat, reducing temperature to low while preparing the lime mixture.

2. Mix together lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and sriracha. Pour over pork. Return heat to medium and stir until liquid has mostly been absorbed. Remove skillet from element.

3. Using lettuce as a cup, place some carrots and cucumbers inside, then top with a couple tablespoons pork mixture. Sprinkle herbs over top, and repeat with remaining lettuce leaves and pork.

Serves 3-4.

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli with Sesame Tossed Soba

The other night, my husband and I ate dinner at Fresh, a tasty vegetarian restaurant here in Toronto. The one at Spadina and Bloor is always packed, but turnover is fairly quick, and most of us in the waiting area weren't kept longer than 10 minutes. Truthfully, the last time I was there was more than two years ago, when I was in teacher's college.

My favourite things there? The fantastic smoothies (I'm such a sucker for smoothies), and the noodle bowls. I had the Green Goddess last night which consisted of a mountain of steamed bok choi, kale and broccoli on top of tahini dressed soba with barbecued tempeh. It's gorgeous.

Plus, last time, we're pretty sure we ate dinner beside Trish Stratus, of WWE wrestling fame (and a yoga studio).

So for dinner tonight, I decided to riff off of the Fresh dish.

invisible: soba noodles beneath the toppings

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli with Sesame Toasted Soba


Ingredients

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large head broccoli, cut into florets
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1½ tsp sriracha
1 tsp sesame oil
1" piece ginger, peeled and minced
zest of one lemon
6 oz soba noodles
your favourite sesame dressing*
pickled ginger to top


* this is my favourite sesame dressing: Kewpie Deep Roasted Sesame

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425º. In a large pot of boiling water, cook broccoli for 1 minute, or until bright green. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.

2. In a large bowl, mix together dressing ingredients (vinegar through zest). Add two tablespoons sauce to broccoli, stir in shrimp and toss to coat. Dump mixture on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 8 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked and broccoli is slightly browned. Place cooked shrimp and broccoli into the dressing mixture and toss with red pepper.

3. While broccoli and shrimp are cooking, bring another pot of water to boil and cook the soba noodles for 6-8 minutes, or until cooked. Drain and rinse under cold water. Toss with sesame dressing and place soba in bowls. Top with broccoli, shrimp and pepper. Garnish with pickled ginger.