Deconstructed Puttanesca with Grape Tomatoes by S&J

This idea had several inspirations:
1. Lately I have been really into roasting grape tomatoes. It's so easy and I've been adding it to a lot of pasta and quinoa dishes.
2. Have you ever noticed that the Top Chef contestants' favorite thing to do is "decontruct" dishes? Like deconstructed lasagna becomes a couple pieces of flat pasta tossed on plate with some other stuff?
3. The other night I was at Joey's and we were deciding what to make for dinner. We were in the mood for pasta and thought of puttanesca, but worried it would be too heavy a meal to eat in 90 degree city heat.

Thus, the genesis of:
DECONSTRUCTED PUTTANESCA WITH ROASTED GRAPE TOMATOES!!!
a sarah and joey orig

Ingredients
a lot of grape tomatoes. We used about two and a half packages. It will look like a lot, but they cook down when you roast them.
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 or 2 tablespoons capers (Joey thinks I am caper crazy, but I think you can never have enough...)
6 or 8 anchovy filets
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
red pepper
pecorino romano cheese
1 bunch basil, chopped

Roast grape tomatoes at 450 tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until they begin to burst and shrivel and brown a little. About 20 minutes. While that's happening, heat a generous amount of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, red pepper, anchovies, capers and olives. Cook for a couple minutes and then add the basil. Cook and for a couple minutes more. It will look like this:


When the tomatoes are ready, they will look like this:


Now just combine all of it with your pasta. We used cappelini--it goes well with a thin, twirlable pasta, but it's up to you.

Sprinkle with cheese and you're DONE. Won't take you more than half an hour for an impressive, delicious result.

I made quinoa, tuna and white bean salad

The other day, I came home from a long day of work and class starving. I wanted to make something delicious and comforting and protein packed. I thought to myself, do people ever make quinoa salads with tuna? Is that crazy? I googled "quinoa tuna salad" and found that no, it's not crazy. Lots of recipes exist. But I ended up making one up myself. It's basically your standard tuna white bean salad, but with quinoa.

Salad:
A few handfuls chopped arugula
1 can white/cannolini beans
2 cans good quality tuna packed in olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons capers
handful chopped fresh parsley
1/2 large red onion, or 1 small, chopped finely
whole wheat bread crumbs
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Dressing:
few tablespoons olive oil
few tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of two lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook the quinoa. (Combine with water, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15.) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir it up.

When the quinoa's cooked and cooled a little, just combine it with all the other ingredients in a big bowl. Except the bread crumbs. Then add the dressing. Stir it up. THEN sprinkle the bread crumbs on top for garnish!

In the future, I might try this with chickpeas or some other kind of firmer bean instead. White beans are soft, and it and it needed something to counter the mushiness of the quinoa. But besides that, it was really delicious! I couldn't stop eating the leftovers cold from the fridge.

I learned: it is NOT crazy to put tuna in your quinoa salad!