Once in a while it's nice to make a recipe that's not too challenging, that doesn't have a lot of bold flavors and extroverted layers, something that's just simple and unexciting, but comforting and filling. This week that recipe was Stuffed Shells with Broccoli, a close approximation of which can be found here: http://www.ilovepasta.org/recipes/Stuffed_Shells_Broccoli.html. The recipe that I used called for diced tomatoes, rather than crushed. All of the seasoning is in the cheese stuffing, but the tomatoes themselves were more flavorful than expected so it turned out pretty well. The original recipe also called for 32 jumbo shells, specifically, but the link I provided calls for 24. Quite frankly, I find it irritating to make only part of a box of pasta so I just cooked the whole thing and stuffed them until I ran out of cheese, then froze the rest of the shells in individual 4-oz servings for some future day when I have sauce but no pasta!

There *was* takeout this week, as well, from the Bayside Jackson Hole http://www.jacksonholeburgers.com/default.htm. I always loved going to Jackson Hole but didn't go often enough to do what I really wanted to do, which was to make my way through their menu one sandwich at a time. Takeout food provides a nice solution - once in a while I go and order two or three items from their menu and bring them home. The disadvantage is that the sandwiches heat up unevenly - the bread gets too hot and the fillings don't get hot enough. But the big advantage is that I really can't eat a whole serving of anything from the restaurant at once, so at least at home we can split the sandwiches and platters into two or three servings and enjoy them over a few days.

This week we got the West Coast Vegetarian sandwich, which is a concoction of broccoli, onions, and mushrooms with cheddar, and an English bronco, basically a chicken sandwich on an English muffin. The West Coast was very satisfying and delicious. I've noticed that the Bayside restaurant tends to cook their chicken just a bit past the point of doneness that I like, so it's a little dry for my taste, but the seasoning is very good. All in all it was a nice treat.

So, until the next recipe . . .

Read my previous post:

http://open.salon.com/blog/ciocio/2010/01/30/living_life_one_recipe_at_a_time_29