Espaguetis con frijoles y mantequilla

Espaguetis con frijoles y mantequilla, for those of you who do not speak Spanish, is a cold "alfredo" pasta salad I made a little while ago with a friend of mine. Her family is from Honduras, and for the time we were roommates, I'd been eating Honduran omelettes on tortillas for breakfast. (I will touch on the omelet making bit in the future.) My friend and her family have opened me up to a new palate of wonderful Central American flavors, with which I was more than willing to experiment. Even though I made this recipe quite a while ago and may not remember everything, I feel that it is worth sharing. If you cannot find mantequilla, or crema Hondureña, you can use a mixture of sour cream and plain yogurt. I won't eat that because I hate sour cream, but if it makes your life easier, go for it!

Ingredientes:

2 cebollas, en cubitos
6 dientes de ajo, picadas
1/4 bolsa de zanahorias pequeñas, picadas
1 pimento verde, en cubitos
1 tomate, en cubitos
1 lata de frijoles negros, agotado
2 boops de cumino
1-2 grande boops de zumo de limón
Mucho, mucho de Adobo
Mucho, mucho de mantequilla, o crema hondureña en los Estados Unidos
Mucho, mucho de parmesano rallado
1 pizca de cúrcuma
1 caja de espaguetis multigrano
Aciete de oliva, para freír


2 valida onions, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 a bag of baby carrots, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 can of black beans
2 boops of cumin
1-2 big boops of lemon juice
Lots and lots of Adobo
Lots and lots of mantequilla, or crema hondureña as seen on American packaging
Lots and lots of grated parmesan
Dash of Tumeric
1 box of multigrain spaghetti
Olive oil, for frying


Instrucciones:

1. Caramelize the onions on low heat until they are beginning to turn golden brown. Make the spaghetti in the meantime.
2. Add peppers and carrots and turn up the heat to medium. Saute for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add garlic and saute until you smell the garlic cooking.
4. Dump all of the veggies, including the uncooked tomato and drained black beans, into the spaghetti and stir.
5. Add enough mantequilla to cover the pasta with, enough Adobo to make a layer of Adobo on top of the pot, and tons of grated parmesan. Also add a touch of tumeric, the lemon juice, and the cumin. Keep mixing.
6. Taste to see what you need to add and enjoy!

Serves 8

Mine came out quite lemony, which was quite refreshing on that disgustingly humid, hot summer night. Make adjustments to the amounts to your taste. I thought this dish was particularly good to have white wine or really cold iced tea with. :)

Pasta with meatless balls

Yes, that does take its name from Rent's "La Vie Boheme." No, it doesn't taste the same if you close your eyes. That's probably because when I did, I stabbed my nostril with my tomatoey fork. If, however, you have better coordination than I do, I'd still recommend you look at what you're eating because it is marvelous! I'm not sure if I was more excited at how amazing it came out or at how I made something with a funny name, but let me tell you, this sentence is as stringy as the experience was exciting. Down to business. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

Meatless balls-

1 pkg. Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style
1_1/2 slices Arnold's multigrain or 12 grain or whatever bread (the purple one)
2 boops of Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning
1 boop of ketchup
1 little boop of lemon juice
5 cloves (or probably more) of garlic, minced
Grated parmesan cheese until your heart's content
Olive oil (to cover pan)

Sauce-

1 green pepper
1 Valida onion
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small pkg presliced mushrooms
1 jar of chunky Ragu tomato sauce with onions and garlic
Olive oil (to cover pan)

Pasta-

1/2 pkg Ronzoni whole grain spaghetti

Directions:

1. Dice onions, green peppers in hearty chunks, mince all garlic
2. Soften the onions on medium heat. When they are clear-ish, throw in the green peppers and add mushrooms after a couple of minutes. When the mushrooms are cooked down, add garlic. Stir regularly, but do other stuff in between. Use olive oil as needed- if there is too little, veggies will burn. When you start to smell the garlic, put the sauce and veggies into a large pot and keep on low heat.
3. Empty contents of Beef style TVP into a mixing bowl with all other ingredients. Just make sure you rip up the bread into bitty pieces first. Mix with hands and form 1" balls. Roll the balls in grated parmesan. Place balls, separated, in a heated frying pan with olive oil, medium heat. Cook until crispy and yummy looking. Make sure all sides are cooked and do not burn. Place individually into pot of sauce with veggies already in. Cover. Let simmer for 15ish minutes.
4. I hope you've made the pasta by now.
5. Put everything together and enjoy!

Serves 4, or 1 with 3 leftover plates.

Please note: Boops are not exact measurements. They are tilting the bottle of whatever for a second into whatever mixture you're mixing it in. If more explanation is needed, I will happily, and narcissistically, post a video of what I mean.