Worldly Wednesday: Lo Mein and Coconut Shrimp

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Here we are. End of the month. End of the daily recipes for another year. I really hope you found this month an interesting journey. Making life easier—for myself and others--is a goal of mine. And systematizing meal planning is one way I made my life easier. I make calendars for meals so I know what to buy and what I’ll be cooking. I hope you will have an easier, less stressed cooking life, too.

Being Worldly Wednesday is a great way to end the month since I have readers from around the world. I hope you enjoy this last offering. This year. Next year will be a whole new category for February recipes.

I hope you will stop in again, even if it’s not February, to see what’s going on here. The normal posts are about mysteries, recipes, or recipes in mysteries. You just never know!

And if you come back regularly, you’ll find out when Pastabilties is released from Red Adept Publishing this fall as well as the other books in the series. On to the last recipe for February’s Month-of-Recipes.

Half of our current household loves foods of the Pacific Rim. Half does not. The “does not” half will eat Asian foods if served, but the “does not” half never requests them. Too bad! I served this lo mein with shrimp since I knew “does not” wanted more to eat than the noodles. You could make this a Meatless Monday meal without the shrimp.

 

You’ll also note in the picture below that I roasted EVO coated Brussel sprouts that baked alongside the shrimp. Same time! Easy way to cut down on the pans needed for dinner.

Did you ever wonder about the difference between chow mein and lo mein? In chow mein, the noodles are fried first and the sauce added. In lo mein the boiled noodles are tossed with a sauce and done. Lo mein is the easier, quicker dish, right? Also, a more healthful option.

One thing about cooking with rice noodles for this dish is how easy it is compared to cooking wheat-based pasta. After the water comes to a boil, you add the noodles, and take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 8 minutes or so. Drain and use immediately or they get too soft and gushy.

Lo Mein (serves 6-8)

1 pound rice noodles

¾ cup soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 teaspoons fresh ginger (raw or Gourmet Garden in produce aisle)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, rough chopped

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

½ head cabbage, rough chopped

In a small dish, mix soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.

Cut up onion, celery, and cabbage as the water comes to a boil for the rice noodles.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add celery and cook for three minutes, stirring so it doesn’t brown.

Add onion and cabbage to the skillet and stir to mix up vegetables.

Put rice noodles into boiling water. Cook according to package directions by removing boiling pot from the heat.

Stir veggies in skillet and cook for another five minutes until onion is tender and cabbage is wilted.

Drain noodles and dump into skillet on top of veggies. Pour sauce over the top and toss to coat veggies and noodles. Serve immediately.

Coconut Shrimp (serves 6) 

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/c cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flaked sweet coconut

3 egg whites, whipped to foamy

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Rinse and dry shrimp.

Mix cornstarch and salt in a shallow dish for coating the shrimp. Put coconut in a separate shallow dish.

Beat egg whites until foamy and put in a shallow dish between the cornstarch and the coconut.

Dredge shrimp in the cornstarch and shake off excess. Dip into the egg white and roll in the coconut. Place shrimp on baking pan. Repeat with all the shrimp.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check for doneness and toasting of coconut. Serve alone or with your favorite dipping sauce. One good sauce is orange marmalade, horseradish, and Dijon mustard combined to your taste. More marmalade if you want it sweeter; more horseradish for more bite.

NOTE: I cheated this time. I always keep frozen appetizer-style foods in the freezer in case someone drops by, and I need to serve something with drinks. One of those is breaded shrimp. I used a box of the breaded shrimp and dipped them into whipped egg whites and coconut before baking. Not as good as my recipe above, but very fast to do.

DH’s Rating: 4 Tongues Up

DH: “You know I don’t particularly like Asian food. This is tasty, it’s just not my favorite. And it was too salty.” Me: “So should I make it again? Use low-sodium soy sauce?” DH: “Mmmm. Maybe.” Me: “What did you like best about it?” DH: “The shrimp.”  Sigh.

Taco Tuesday: Mojito Carnitas Fajitas + Two-Bite Pie

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Remember earlier this month when I said that I have a loose definition of taco? Yeah, well, this is an example of that. We love fajitas since they are quick and tasty and different from having traditional tacos on Tuesdays. So if you’re a purist, you can move this recipe, on your planner, to Worldly Wednesday or Thrifty Thursday.

This is also one of my very quick-to-make meals. You could even do all the prep in the morning (another good recipe benefiting from mise en place) and let it sit waiting for you. The meat will be even better sitting with its spice blend all day.

I make this two ways. Sometimes I use a raw, boneless pork chop cut into strips before seasoning. Other times, I use a leftover already-grilled pork chop cut into strips. I add a bit of olive oil to the spice blend and rub it into the meat to add flavor. Either way is good, but the already-cooked pork chop is an even faster meal.

Mojito Carnitas Fajitas (serves 2-3)

1 large pork chop

Motjito Lime spice blend (McCormick Grill Mates)

one large bell pepper (I use a third of three different colors for eye appeal)

large onion cut into strips

Olive oil

Flour tortillas

Toss the veggies with olive oil and a generous sprinkling of Mojito Lime spice blend. Put into a zipper bag and let sit for at least a half hour.

In a separate zipper bag, coat the strips of pork chop the same way.

Heat a grill pan to medium high heat and brush with olive oil. Put veggies on and turn once. Grill until al dente. Remove to a bowl while you cook the meat.

Before serving, return veggies to the grill and toss with the meat to cook all together.

Serve on flour tortillas immediately.

I’ve mentioned before how much DH likes sweet stuff. These two-bite pies (I call them pie-lettes) are a family favorite. If you just want a bit of pie, not a whole slice, these are perfect. There’s no real recipe, just ingredients you assemble.

Two-Bite Pie-lettes (makes about 30)

2 pie crusts

1 can cherry pie filling (or apple or other flavor).

There will be leftover fruit in the can to put on ice cream.

NOTE: I use my Pampered Chef “Cut and Seal” cutter which cuts the circles of dough and then  crimps the edges when I fold over the dough. If you don’t have this tool, fold over the dough and seal the dough with a fork.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put a Silpat sheet on a large baking pan.

Cut about 30 circles of dough from pie crusts, re-rolling to use up all the dough.

Put 2 cherries and little dab of the cherry filling on a pie circle. Fold over, crimp, and put on baking sheet. I like to put a little of the cherry filling on top to identify the flavor. For apple, I dust the pie-lettes with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool down on a cookie rack to allow air to circulate.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

He loves his Mexican food. This dish, with the low meat and high veggie ratio appeal to his health consciousness. Plus it tastes yummy.

Meatless Monday: One-Pot Spaghetti

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Today’s recipe doesn’t have the flavors of marinara sauce cooked for hours, but the fact that you can put it together and sit down to eat in minutes has a lot to recommend it. It’s very tasty, just not Grandma’s “gravy”.

This is by far the quickest and easiest of any of my pasta dishes. When things are too busy to think, I can put this one together and sit for a few minutes to gather myself. With a prep time of five minutes and about 15 minutes on the stove, this is a fast dinner.

There are versions of this all over the Internet, so you may already be familiar with it, but here’s how I cook it. I enjoy a dish of this for lunch later in the week. I could eat pasta anytime! And, this recipe is a good one to use up a lot of that basil in my herb garden.

One-Pot Spaghetti (serves 6-8)

1 pound spaghetti (or penne or other pasta)

1 large onion, rough diced

2 cans diced tomatoes with herbs

3 cups basil leaves

5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

4½ cups water

1 cup shredded Asiago cheese (you can use Parmesan) + more for the table

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, combine all ingredients except cheese.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until pasta is al dente. Stir occasionally to push down spaghetti and distribute ingredients.

Stir in cheese and let sit for a few minutes. The sauce will thicken up as it sits, so serve when it is the right consistency for you. Serve as is or with extra cheese

NOTE: If it’s not Meatless Monday, say it’s Italian-inspired Worldly Wednesday, I cut up a kielbasa into bite-sized chunks and throw it in the pot with the other ingredients.

DH’s Rating: 4 Tongues Up

“I like your regular spaghetti sauce better. This is good, but I like the other one. Is that okay to say?” Yes, it is. When I have time, I do make a realllly good marinara sauce!

Special Sunday: Rosemary Orange Game Hens

  Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Who doesn’t love the little chicks we call game hens? These cuties are fun to work with and look great on a plate. I prepare mine just like I do my turkey for Thanksgiving, except I add sage and thyme to the rosemary for the holiday bird.

Despite my opening line, game hens are not little chickens. I wouldn’t want you to leave here thinking that we kill baby chickens for this meal. They are also not game birds. Nope. The 2½ pound game hens are a hybrid of Rock Cornish and White Plymouth Rock hens. They go by many names: Cornish hen, poussin, Rock Cornish hen, or Rock Cornish.

Because the birds have more meat than is recommended for a serving size, we cut them in half. But, of course, you don’t need to and that’s why this recipe serves 4-8 people.

Rosemary Orange Game Hens (serves 4-8)

4 Rock Cornish game hens, thawed and rinsed out

1 orange, cut into 8 segments

4 tablespoons fresh orange juice

large handful of fresh rosemary, divided

1 stick of butter, melted

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Divide the rosemary into four equal piles. From each pile set aside a few leaves.

Stuff each bird with one orange segment, the larger pile of rosemary and then the last orange segment. Coat each one with butter, covering the top and bottom of each. Drizzle one tablespoon orange juice over each bird. Sprinkle remaining rosemary of top of each bird.

Bake for an hour to hour and a half or until meat registers 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Let hens rest for 10 minutes.

Beginning on top, cut through each bird’s breast all the way through the backbone. Remove oranges and rosemary and discard. Serve ½ a hen (or whole) to each person, drizzling each with pan juices.

DH’s Rating: 5 tongues Up

“Tasty! I feel so virtuous eating this. It’s good for us, right?” Yep, roasted is better than fried, healthwise. And the rosemary and orange add a bit of brightness to the meal.

Fishy Friday: Pecan-Crusted Tilapia with Brandy Butter Sauce

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

We are trying to eat more fish, like many Americans, and we want to have some variety in how we eat it. This nutty, baked mild white fish recipe is one of the ways we’re doing that.

If you haven’t tried tilapia, this recipe is one way to eat it. Tilapia is a mild white freshwater fish. It is the fourth most consumed fish in the U.S. We sometimes eat it baked with an olive oil and tarragon rub for a simple and easy dinner. This pecan-crusted recipe is a bit more time-consuming but not by much. This recipe is really easy but a bit messy. However, DH thinks the mess is worth it, and he’s the one who does the clean-up.

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia (serves 4)

½ cup all-purpose flour, more as needed

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup crushed pecans

3 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary (see NOTE)

1 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

16 ounces tilapia fillets

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mix pecans, rosemary, salt, and black pepper in a shallow dish.

On separate shallow plates, place flour, beaten eggs, and pecan mixture.

Dip tilapia fillets in flour and shake off excess; dip fish into beaten egg, then into seasoned pecans, lightly pressing pecan coating onto fish.

Arrange fillets on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until fish flakes easily with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with Brandy Butter Sauce.

Brandy Butter Sauce (serves 4)

2 tablespoons butter

2 ounces brandy

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter over medium low heat.

Add Worcestershire sauce and brandy. Whisk to blend thoroughly.

Cook sauce for three minutes then spoon over pecan-crusted tilapia.

NOTE: You can season this dish with herbs or spices other than rosemary. Tarragon, fennel, dill, oregano, basil and others go well with fish. Changing seasonings make the same dish seem like a different one!

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

“I think this is really good. What did you think of it?” Oh, goody! Another way I can serve fish. I’m always on the lookout.

Thrifty Thursday: Bishop's Buffet + Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Want to know a little family secret? When the boys were very young, we lived in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Oldest son’s favorite place to eat was Bishop’s Buffet. You went through the buffet line perusing the foods and then told a server what you wanted.

He loved that there were choices, and he could mix and match to create his unique plate of food. A little light on each table could be switched on so a waiter could bring you other items you’d like to have.

Such a good idea! So I started doing this once a week at home. I’d haul out the various dibs and dabs of leftovers and arrange them into proteins, carbs, veggies, and miscellaneous. The boys would go through the “buffet line” and tell me what they wanted on their plates, nutrition be da. . . rned. Bishop Buffet night was about cheap dinner, easy dinner, and fun dinner. You see how this fits Thrifty Thursday with making sure those leftovers get eaten!

But you came here for a specific recipe, so here’s a simple meal that I could assemble after work and have on the table lickety split. The one version is in the recipe, but see the Note for alternatives. Serve the mushrooms as an entrée on a plate or as a sandwich.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (to make one mushroom per person)

Large Portobello mushroom cup

½ teaspoon olive oil

5 or so baby spinach leaves

2 tablespoons shredded cheese of your choice

1 teaspoon onions, diced

1 teaspoon tomatoes, diced

cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Coat all sides of the mushroom with olive oil and place on a baking pan.

Layer the spinach on the mushroom cup and press down gently, making an indentation for other ingredients.

Mix cheese, onions, and tomatoes. Spoon on top of spinach. Bake in oven for several minutes, watching to make sure it doesn’t get too done. Remove when the mushroom gets soft looking and the cheese melts. Add cilantro, if using.

NOTE: Serve the mushrooms with quinoa or fries on a plate in lieu of meat or put on a hamburger bun for a sandwich. Sometimes I just spread it with a butter and garlic mix and broil them. Or DH will grill them. Before eating as a sandwich, we put on some shredded cheese. This makes a nice alternative to a meatburger.

DH’s Rating: 4 Tongues Up

DH: “It always surprises me how filling this is.” Me: “Yep. Portobellos are meaty.” DH: “And tasty!” Yep, and tasty.

Worldly Wednesday: Americanized Quiche Lorraine

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

This French-inspired dish has been a family favorite for years, and fresh from the oven, all puffed up, it has impressed brunch and dinner guests alike.

Quiche is a standby in our family’s panoply of foods. I’ll bet I make it at least once a month, sometimes meatless, sometimes with chicken or salmon, and sometimes in the more classic Quiche Lorraine recipe of today.

DH loves it for dinner, brunch, or lunch. And because he is abstemious in his eating habits, one quiche provides us with three meals each.

My quiche is a simple matter--I don’t do hard, remember--so you can whip this up in nothing flat and then forget it in the oven for an hour to an hour and a half depending on the altitude and how your oven cooks.

Americanized Quiche Lorraine (serves 6-8)

1 pie crust

1½ cup Asiago cheese, divided

2 cup packed spinach

½ cup mushroom pieces

8 large eggs, slightly cooler than room temp

2 cups heavy whipping cream

sprinkle of salt and pepper

2 teaspoons nutmeg

3 green onions, sliced

6 slices of crispy-cooked bacon, torn to bits

Preheat oven to 375º. Put pie crust in pie pan. Spread ¾ cup of cheese on the pie crust bottom, going up the sides a bit.

Layer spinach and mushrooms. Press into pan, but it will be full.

Cut onions and bacon into small pieces and set aside.

Whisk eggs until a light, lemony color. Add cream and blend thoroughly. Add spices and whisk again. Fold in onions and bacon.

Pour the eggs slowly over the spinach mixture, making sure the eggs coat all the spinach mixture. Press down on spinach, if necessary, to coat with eggs. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake at 375º for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º. Bake for at least another 45 minutes and check for doneness.

Quiche can take up to 1-1½ hours of baking time depending on the oven. A done quiche has three characteristics: rises to a lovely brown dome, no jiggle in the middle, and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  

It doesn’t matter what quiche I make, DH loves it. It’s so reassuring to know you have an easy, go-to, never-fail dinner on tap!

Celebrate Saturday: Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Sauce

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

This dish will make a splash for your special occasion. The medallions of pork look so elegant and sophisticated—even though my pictures don’t look it! We had this with Herbs de Provence roasted baby potatoes and arugula, blueberry, strawberry, blue cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Very yummy!

I doubled this recipe because I wanted to use the extra pork tenderloin and blackberry sauce in sliders at an appetizer party next week.

As is the case with many of these special weekend recipes, this pork tenderloin recipe takes longer, with more steps, than most recipes in this month's collection. However, it’s worth the time for the drama! This recipe comes from The Washington Post.

Blackberry-Bourbon Pork Tenderloin (serves 4)

One 1 1/4-pound pork tenderloin

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Kentucky bourbon (see headnote)

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Place a large cast-iron skillet in the oven; preheat to 425 degrees.

Trim off and discard the silver skin from the meat. Rub the oil over the tenderloin, then season with salt and pepper.

Combine the blackberries, molasses, ketchup, mustard, red wine vinegar, bourbon, a pinch of salt and the hot sauce in a blender or food processor; puree until smooth. Strain into a small saucepan, pushing the mixture through with a flexible spatula. Discard the seeds.

Cook the mixture over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, transfer the hot skillet to the stove top; place over medium-high heat. Add the pork tenderloin, sear for 2 minutes all around, then return the skillet to the oven. Roast for about 8 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 145 degrees.

Transfer the tenderloin to a cutting board and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then cut it on the diagonal into 1/2-inch slices. Arrange on a platter or plates; spoon the blackberry bourbon sauce over them. Serve warm. 

DH’s Rating: 4 Tongues Up

DH: “This is really good . . .” Me: “I hear hesitation. But . . .?” DH: “Well, I guess I’d have to say I like the orange pork tenderloin I grill more than I like this. This is good, really good. But I like the other one better. Is that okay to say?” 

Roger and wilco! Message received. My other recipe lets the pork marinate in orange marmalade, whiskey, onion, and garlic for a few hours. Then I cook down the marinade (to kill raw meat germs and to thicken) for a sauce. We eat that as lunch time sliders the next week, too.

Fishy Friday: Pasta with White Clam Sauce

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

I dearly love pasta in all its shapes and forms, and so we eat a lot of it. I always cook more pasta than we need for a specific recipe so that I can use the extra as a side dish tossed with Brown Butter Sage sauce on its own, or with leftover marinara for a quick lunch, or sautéed with butter, green onions, and basil as a side with chicken.

Serving pasta, linguine or spaghetti, with white clam sauce goes back to our early days of marriage when I discovered he liked the same fishy taste I liked!

Here’s what I make every other month or so for Fishy Friday.

Pasta with White Clam Sauce (serves 4)

8 ounces linguine or spaghetti (angel hair cooks really fast)

4 garlic cloves, mined

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons flour

8 ounces bottled clam juice

½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

2 cans chopped clams

½ cup white wine

¾ cup chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Parsley and Asiago cheese for topping (optional)

Prepare pasta according to directions to al dente. Drain and keep warm until ready to serve.

Saute garlic in 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook for about one minute. Do not brown the garlic, just soften it. Remove from pan.

In the skillet make a roux with the remaining oil and flour. Whisk constantly, for 3-5 minutes until the flour loses its raw smell and is a thick paste.

Immediately add clam juice, red pepper flakes, and garlic, whisking to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Add clams, wine, basil, and lemon juice. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add in warm pasta and toss to coat. Serve immediately with parsley and Asiago cheese, if desired. We also have a simple Caesar salad and garlic bread to sop up the juice.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

He always says something like, “Oh, good! Clam sauce!” This dinner is a favorite, not just because it’s delicious, but cooking the pasta takes the longest, so dinner is on the table very quickly.

Worldly Wednesday: Cacio e Pepe

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Whew! Thank goodness Valentine’s Day didn’t fall on Thrifty Thursday! Worldly Wednesday offers more romantic options. And being Valentine’s Day, what is more romantic than a dish from Italy? Amore and all that.

Well, okay, maybe France is a contender, but still . . .  If you’re reading this in the morning, I guarantee you can easily pull this off for dinner tonight.

I considered going the Lady and the Tramp route with spaghetti and meatballs. Love the scene where they are eating the same strand, don’t you? But, been there, done that. Know what I mean? If I’m going to go Italian for V-Day, let’s do something a bit less predictable.

Cacio e pepe is an Internet sensation. This cheese and pepper pasta dish is an Italian-inspired dish that has zillions of variations on the web. I like this version because it goes together quickly for an easy weeknight dinner. And it can be elegant enough for a romantic dinner! Anytime your dinner’s name is in another language, it’s elevated, right? I’ve tried lots of recipes for Cacio e Pepe, and this one by Chrissy Teigen is super easy but interesting enough to be a company meal. I did make some slight modifications that I think she would approve because it’s all about taste. We prefer Asiago, for instance. And her recipe was way too peppery for us for us the first time I made it, so I reduced the amounts to fit our preference. You can see Chrissy Teigen’s original recipe here.

Cacio e Pepe ala Sharon (serves 4)

Sea salt for pasta water

12 ounces dried spaghetti

¼ pound (about 3/4 cup) bacon, finely diced

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons (about 4 big cloves) minced garlic

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 ½ cups Asiago cheese, plus more for serving

3 cups baby arugula

In a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti to al dente according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water (it comes in handy), then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisped, 7 to 9 minutes. Add the olive oil, then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the lemon juice to the skillet, then toss in the drained pasta and toss to coat. Add the Asiago and toss, adding the pasta water, a couple of tablespoons at a time, just to help the cheese coat the pasta.

Add the arugula and toss until it wilts, about 1 minute. Season to taste with additional salt, lots of black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Serve with more Asiago.

For today, I also give you a chocolate dessert that takes very little effort to serve your honey/ies. Have a great night!

Chocolate Soufflés (makes four 6-ounce ramekins)

¼ cup sugar, plus more to coat the soufflé dishes
3 ounces semisweet chocolate [I used 70% cacao]

Pinch salt
1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee or espresso granules
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks, beaten
3 large egg whites
Powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Generously butter four 6-ounce ramekins and sprinkle them with sugar. Place the dishes on a baking sheet.

Chop the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water.

When the chocolate is melted, whisk in the salt, instant coffee, vanilla, and egg yolks.

While the chocolate is melting, whip the egg whites with a mixer until foamy.

With the mixer running, slowly stream in the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten. Then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites — a few streaks are okay.

Neatly divide the mixture between the prepared ramekins. If any soufflé batter gets on the rims of the dishes, wipe it away with your finger.

Bake until the tops are set and beginning to brown, but the centers jiggle slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Resist the urge to open the oven!

Dust your soufflés with powdered sugar and serve immediately with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

DH’s Rating: 4 Tongues Up

I can’t go wrong with this one now that I modified it. He loves the pepper-cheese-pasta combo with that little bit of bacon and bite of two different peppers. His only criticism ever is that he wishes there were a bit less cheese. But, he eats it all up!