Pioneer Woman’s Baked Lemon Pasta…and the BSI

I think I’m going to start writing Public Service Announcements.

You know, really impose my set of ethos on the populace at large.

Don’t smoke. Don’t drink and drive. Get prostate exams and colonoscopies regularly after the age of 50. Exercise. Eat dessert first (see post on cinnamon butterscotch bars for the science behind this one – it’s proven to be life-altering). Wear sunscreen. Eat orange vegetables (hourly). Spread peanut butter on everything. Including the aforementioned orange vegetables.

Yeah. I really feel like I have a lot of life lessons that I should impart to the world.

My favorite. Being this.

This is your brain:

This is your brain on medical school:
Does that look at all functional in any way to you? No. It looks like a bird’s nest. A really delicious bird’s nest. But not the kind of thing you’d want to be regulating your bodily functions. Especially not the really critical stuff. Like digestion.

Really. I know the parsley looks pretty. But would you trust it to perform a triple bypass? I didn’t think so.

And while we’re at it. Don’t take candy from strangers either. It’s not a good idea.
But Joanne.

You might say.

Isn’t medical school supposed to make you smarter?

Maybe. I certainly know a lot more. Like, for example, that achalasia is a condition in which your esophageal sphincter can’t open and so food remains stuck in your esophagus and can’t move into your stomach. Bad situation. Really bad.

Then again. I also persisted in thinking all weekend that the first of my two exams this week is on Tuesday. When really. It’s today.

No wonder Sophie and Adam looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I was going into anatomy lab last night rather than staying in and studying physiology.

Sigh. Very. Very. Sigh.

So. Conclusion?

If someone offers you admission to medical school?

Just. Say. No.

Go to cooking school instead.

Any questions?
Baked Lemon Pasta
Serves 4, adapted from the Pioneer Woman

1 lb spaghetti
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon, zest and juice
2 cups cottage cheese (PW uses sour cream. I had cottage cheese in my fridge. It ended up tasting kind of like paneer. So I was happy.)
1/2 tsp salt
parmesan cheese
parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.

In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.

Add sour cream (cottage cheese) and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.

Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)

When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

This is my submission to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted this week by Kirsten of From Kirsten’s Kitchen To Yours. It is also my submission to Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman!
Now. From medical school we go to Kitchen Stadium where the contestants in this weeks BSI are anxiously awaiting the proclamation of this week’s secret ingredient. So without further ado.

CARROTS.

You know. Those orange vegetables that we all have sitting in the crisper of our fridge. We’re not sure how they got there. But this week. We are going to learn how to use them so that they are not discovered, covered in mold, a month from now.

So please submit your recipes that feature carrots to me by Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at [email protected]. Here are the guidelines:

• Participants create a unique recipe using the BSI. You can also do a dish from someone else’s recipe, but you’ll have to give credit to the source.
• You do not need to have a food blog to participate. Just email me the recipe, preferably with a picture.
• I will review the recipe and pick a favorite (no random integer, I promise, Biz!).

And you can also browse through previous contests hosted by these fabulous bloggers below :

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