Sunday, August 24, 2008

Bean & Walnut Macaroni

Yup!! We have all tried mac & cheese. Undoubtedly a delight for any kid, I have known many adults to succumb to this wholesome and hearty dish. But hey, macaroni is not just for kids. And melted cheese is key to the comfort food that I believe is best set aside for a cold winter day!!

Pasta and innovation just go hand in hand. So here's another original for you from my kitchen. The story behind this is that this year I have created for myself a lovely kitchen garden!! I decided to do this a bit late in the season, so I am enjoying the lovely vegetables a bit later that they would normally have appeared. At present, I have beautiful yellow, almost golden plum tomatoes, yellow wax beans, basil, and cilantro.

I have eaten yellow wax beans in the past, in restaurants, and friend's homes but never cooked them. Now normally, these beans are blanched and served in a salad. But I knew that I just did not have the ingredients to complement them in a salad. So after picking a great big bunch of them I decided to use them in a pasta. I also used my very own home-grown basil for this dish - the taste was simple spectacular.

Ingredients:
2 cups macaroni, dry
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 cup yellow wax beans, chopped
1 small capsicum, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste

Method:
  1. Boil the macaroni in plenty of water and salt. Drain and set aside.
  2. Pour the oil in a non-stick wok. When it is warm, add the garlic, and fry for 1 minute. Next add the basil and onion, and fry until the onion is transparent.
  3. Add the yellow beans and cover and cook for 6 minutes. Now add the black beans and walnuts. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes.
  4. Add the macaroni to this mix with the seasonings. Stir to blend well.
  5. Serve hot or enjoy cold as a salad to accompany your main course.

    The Bean & Walnut Pasta is my very first entry to Grow Your Own hosted by Andrea at Andrea's Recipes. Interestingly, it is also the one year anniversary of this food event! Make sure to drop in and wish Andrea. One food event I really enjoy participating in and contributing to is Presto Pasta Nights! The dish also goes out to Ruth of Once Upon a Feast who is hosting Presto Pasta Nights #78 this week.

    Find this recipe @ The Back Burner - The Key Ingredient Blog.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007-2013. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

14 comments:

  1. Anything cooked from your own garden always tastes good :) Pasta looks gr8!

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  2. I think I like your version of pasta. Pasta in any form is a favourite in our home, especially mac 'n chhese.:)

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  3. wow,..nice combo,.how wasur weekend,..ceeya soon,..

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  4. What a healthy macaroni version..

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  5. I usually make macaroni in white sauce with heaps of onion and tomato :)
    But this looks like another interesting possibilty !
    Best Rgds,
    Sam !

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  6. Congrats for owning a kitchen garden.Yum love pasta and i think basil leaves will add a new taste as well as more healthy for our health.

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  7. This bean and walnut pasta looks pretty interesting and your sprout bean bhaji below is yummy and healthy too :)

    BTW this is my first visit to your blog and you have a very nice one with some great recipes

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  8. Umm this looks gud...and from your own garden makes it more tasty...

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  9. I wish I had a place to grow my own anything. But fortunately the grocery shops and market here in Halifax have lovely local produce so I can try out this lovely dish of your.

    Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta NIghts.

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  10. I just clicked over from Dhanggit's blog -I thought you should have won! Those Potato Samosa's looked melt-in-your-mouth tasty! My mouth is watering just thinking of them! Yum!

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  11. Welcome to Grow Your Own! We really like the yellow wax beans, too, and plan to add them to our garden next year. Your dish looks great!

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  12. What an interesting combination of ingredients. Judging from the picture, it works quite well!

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  13. We would like to feature your Bean and Walnut on our blog. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)

    You can view our blog here:
    blog.keyingredient.com/

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Apu @ Annarasa