FOOD GIRL: What's for Dinner?

I don’t even have kids and yet that is what pops into my head every single day at some point. Some days I’m lucky and I’ve shopped well and I know exactly what’s for dinner. Some days I stand there with the refrigerator or freezer door open mulling options and wondering what it would be like to have a personal chef.

Because what it really comes down to is why do I have to decide what’s for dinner, then be expected to execute in a timely manner and, more often than not, clean up?

Let’s face it – I know a lot of guys who cook. Both my brothers are great cooks. My husband is a pretty good cook. My neighbor Joe and his son Geoff, excellent cooks, both of them (if you don’t mind eating at 10 p.m.). Yet, despite all the roads we’ve traveled toward equality and what-not and while I have no actual proof of this notion I carry, it does seem to me, based purely on anecdotal information, that it is the mom, wife, woman or the one who fills any one of those rolls that is the number one dinner maker in the family. And some days the mere thought of it exhausts me.

Here is one reason why. One day, after a particularly long, tiresome shift at the Colonial Restaurant in Lynnfield where I worked back of the house for four years, the guys were all talking about going home and putting their feet up.

“Sure,” I said. “You guys get to go home to a wife. I get to go home and be a wife!”

My married girlfriends will all get that. The rest of you just scratch your heads for a second.

You know what I mean. While they got to go home and put their feet up – okay, maybe take out the trash or interact with their kid – I still had to figure out dinner while pausing to toss in a load of laundry, fold clothes, straighten up the living room, sweep a floor or whatever.

Now don’t get me wrong – I love to cook! And I love to eat, and typically most nights I don’t mind putting food on the table, but some nights, ugh! Some nights I can’t bear the thought, and other nights I just draw a blank and simply don’t know what to make. Tacos again? Curry, we just had that. It’s too hot for pasta, I don’t need another burger, we eat chicken every other night it seems, fish is too expensive this week. So, what does that leave? Take-out, of course. But how often can I go there? Take out once in a while or even once a week. (Man, I miss Friday nights at the Porthole in Lynn!) but seriously, for the sake of your health, your pocketbook, and the future as a whole, you gotta cook dinner!

I say the future as a whole because I know so many families that don’t cook regularly, that order Uber Eats or lets the local deli or boutique grocer make their meals. That means you’re not teaching your kids to cook and if they don’t cook, they won’t teach their kids. It’s a bad cycle, peeps. Soon no one’s cooking and everyone is relying on those mail-order meal plans or restaurants – don’t let this happen! Pick up a pot and a spoon, peruse your fridge. You can find a meal in there! I’ll help.

My mother always said if I were to have a cooking show the theme would be that I would come to your house and make a meal out of whatever you had in your kitchen. I can make a meal out of almost anything – it’s a gift. All it takes is a decently stocked pantry and a little thought.

The other night my husband bailed on me just before dinner, leaving me to fend for myself. I shelved the fish I was going to cook for both of us, but now what was I going to do? Wait, is that an eggplant I bought over a week ago lodged in the back of my crisper drawer? (For those who might not be on a first-name basis with their fridge, that’s the draw you put veggies in). Under the eggplant were some they’ve-seen-better-days mushrooms and a large handful or so of cherry tomatoes. A plan was forming!

Cut up the eggplant and toss it with the mushrooms, tomatoes, a little olive oil, salt and pepper, oregano, one or two cloves of minced garlic, and one or two tablespoons of tomato paste. Roast in a 400-degree oven until the tomatoes burst and the eggplant is soft. In the meantime, cook up your favorite pasta. I’m partial to angel hair but fettucine or even pappardelle would work nicely with this, as would orecchiette or fusilli if you prefer. When your pasta is done, retain about ½ a cup of pasta water. Pasta water is the best to add to sauces because it’s starchy and will act as a thickener. Stir a half-cup or maybe more, use your judgement, into the roasted veggies, toss with the pasta and serve – to yourself, because, well, there's no one else to serve but mostly – because you deserve a good meal!

Pasta w/Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I think this is from Cook’s Illustrated and it is my favorite go-to pasta dinner.

3 Tbsp. olive oil

5 garlic cloves, sliced paper thin

2 tsp. tomato paste (I actually use closer to 2 tablespoons)

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. sugar

¼ - ½ tsp. red pepper flakes (depending on your preference, add more if you like)

1 ¾ lb. cherry tomatoes (grape tomatoes work, too, or those pretty tri-colored ones)

1 lb. spaghetti

½ cup coarsely chopped basil

½ cup grated Parmesan (fresh is nice, but not essential), plus more for the table.

Put oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or tinfoil. Whisk 2 tablespoons of olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, about ½ teaspoon of salt and a little less of pepper and pepper flakes together in a large bowl. Add tomatoes and toss to combine.

Transfer tomatoes to the baking sheet pushing them toward the center of the pan. Scrape any remaining paste and garlic slices onto the tomatoes and bake until the tomatoes blister and brown. About 20 minutes.

While that is happening, cook pasta in salted water as directed, keeping it slightly al dente. Before you drain the pasta, reserve 1 ½ cups of pasta water. Return pasta to the pot.

Add the tomato mixture, fresh basil, the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and about ¾ cup of pasta water and toss. Add more water if needed, season with salt and pepper to taste, then transfer pasta to a serving dish and top with grated parmesan cheese. Serve with more cheese on the side and some nice crusty bread.

Editor’s Note: You can always fortify this dish by adding leftover cooked chicken or broiled or boiled shrimp, mushrooms, onions, spinach or whatever you like. Make it your own go-to dish!