carbonara with vegies

One of my fast go to recipes is carbonara based. I have the habit of always having eggs and soy cream on the fridge, so any day I am running against the clock or find myself without fresh food for an elaborate meal this is what I do:

Ingredients:

• 1ltr water to boil
•  500gr tagliatelle
• 1 package of soy cream
• 3 eggs 
• all the veggies you have left in the fridge/pantry (good examples that work perfectly: broccoli, bell peppers, peas, corn, frozen mushrooms
• salted or left over meats
• garlic, onions, leek,... anything of sorts to braise.

The key to a fast meal is to always start by the longest process and try to have it running while you do everything else in parallel. In this case the longest thing is the pasta, so just get your slightly salted water boiling and submerge the tagliatelle on it.
On a frying pan braise all that needs it with the meats and a little olive oil, otherwise just heat up the olive oil. To avoid getting the olive oil to high temperature and frying just add a bit of the boiling water from the pasta to the pan from time to time. Season the meats if you are not adding salted meats -like ham or bacon.
Start adding vegetables by order of how slow they cook (or if they are frozen) and how well done you like them (ex: broccoli and carrots take very long to cook, but I enjoy the carrots a bit tougher so I will add the broccoli early but the carrots not that much).
Then add all vegetables that don't take long but need time to absorb the flavors of others like mushrooms or tofu.
When the pasta is ready save some of its water but remove it all from the pan, adding the soy cream to keep it moist.
Finally add all canned food and the whole eggs. Let the eggs break as you stir the vegetables on the pan and add a bit of the water from the pasta to avoid them cooking to fast ang getting too dry.
Get the pasta in the frying pan for one last stir and to let it absorb the carbonara mix.
Serve it then and enjoy the veggies smuggled in this very tasty dish. 

Oreo like cake

I don't know about you, but to me what makes oreo irresistible is the contrast of the bitter dark chocolate with a tough texture and the smooth sweet sugar based filling. The problem is that it is, as all cookies we buy maybe even more than most, not the most healthy thing to eat on the huge quantity that is required to satisfy our appetite. For that reason I went looking for an oreo-like cake but most of what I found use actual oreos and mix them with more grease and more sugar. I finally found what I was looking for, a dark chocolate cake and figured the filling could be replaced by marzipan instead, also very sweet but a lot healthier.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1+1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter (or soy margarine to make lactose-free version)
• 1/2 cup sugar (for adults, 1 cup for children since they don't appreciate bitterness as much)
• 2 eggs
• 250g marzipan or gazing fondant (for children the fondant will be closer to oreo in taste but it is much less healthy)

Set the oven to 180C.
Dissolve the cacao powder and pinch of salt on the boiling water.
In a different bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and when they are lighter in color join the soft butter. Once homogeneous add the cup of flower and mix.
After mixed add the chocolate and the last of the flour continuing to mix.
Fill two small equal forms with the dough so it reaches about two to three fingers high.
Put both forms in the oven for 45min.
Check that the dough is baked using a toothpick and assuring that no dough comes stuck to it.
Knead the marzipan to soften and then spread/roll it on a surface.
Take a cake out of the form, add the layer of marzipan on the top and the add the second cake on top.
It will look yummy and taste like a fight of tastes and textures just like your favorite cookies.