What I want to cook

Some kind of pasta & chickpeas dish.

This one by Melissa Clark is labeled 'easy.'
This one looks a little more indulgent.

Pasta with ricotta, although it's something my family doesn't love.
Pleasant pasta

Smitten Kitchen's cacio e pepe, marked as 'foolproof'.
Smitten Kitchen's stove top mac'n cheese.

Mark Bittman's apple crisp recipe

Fettuccine with Asparagus

Another NY Times Cooking recipe. My family isn't keen on ricotta-based sauces, so I picked this recipe, because who doesn't like pasta with butter and cheese? Fresh asparagus and herbs add some green.

Step 4: Drop the fettuccine into salted boiling water. Let cook to desired degree of doneness (cooking time will range from about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes for fresh pasta to 9 minutes or more for dried). Reserve 2 tablespoons cooking water. Drain the pasta

Step 5: Heat the butter in the pot in which the pasta was cooked. Add the asparagus pieces and the fettuccine. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the reserved 2 tablespoons of cooking water and basil. Toss to blend. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese on the side.

I used parsley instead of basil and added some toasted pine nuts (because we had them). It was alright, but will probably not become a standard (too much green for our tween).

One-pot spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and spinach

When I saw this recipe at New York Times Cooking (which I have access to as a subscriber to the paper), I knew it was just right for me. Not many ingredients (I substituted spinach for kale) and ONE POT ONLY. It turned out great. My resident fussy eater (now 11 years old) picked out the spinach, but otherwise it was an overall success. I was even asked to make it again soon!

"In this simple recipe, raw pasta and cherry tomatoes are simmered together in a single pan, cooking the pasta and forming a thick, starchy sauce at the same time. The efficient technique is internet famous, but this is the British cookbook author Anna Jones's simple vegetarian take on the phenomenon, adapted from her book "A Modern Way to Cook." The technique is easy to master and endlessly adaptable: When you add the kale, you could also toss in a couple of anchovies and a generous pinch of red chile flakes. When you season and top with cheese, you could add a pile of fresh chopped herbs, like mint, basil or oregano."

I didn't do any of that, of course. Minimal all the way. This is what you need:

• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1 pound cherry tomatoes, halved (about 2 pints)
• 2 lemons, zested
• ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 bunch kale or spinach, leaves only, washed and chopped
•  Salt and pepper, to taste
•  Parmesan, for serving

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Bring just over a quart of water to a boil. Meanwhile, place spaghetti, tomatoes, lemon zest, oil and salt in a large, dry, shallow pan. (The pan should be large enough that the dry spaghetti can lie flat. )

Add the hot water to the pan with the spaghetti. Cover pan, and bring up to a boil. Remove lid and simmer for about 6 minutes, using tongs to move the spaghetti around now and then so it doesn’t stick.

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4. Add kale or spinach and continue cooking until remaining liquid has reduced to a sauce and the pasta is cooked through. Taste, season and top with cheese. 

 

And that's it, could't be easier, couldn't be more satisfying (at least for vegetarians).  Enough for a hungry family of 3. Easily a 9 out of 10.