i’m back! sorry for the super-long delay in posting (and sorry to myself for the super-long delay in cooking!), but i’ve been really busy with work.
but in any case, back to the linguine. i had some leftover basil and red onion in the fridge so i decided to search epicurious to see if i could find something that would use up those ingredients. and voila, linguine and clams with tomato-fennel salsa!
this was my first time cooking with a fennel bulb, and i was apprehensive because i don’t really like the taste of licorice. however, it really does add a nice background flavor to the pasta, so i had nothing to be afraid of! also, at the store, they had littleneck clams and manila clams. the littleneck ones were ginormous – i don’t remember them being that big (and i was afraid they were indeed too big for the dish) -- so i got the smaller manila ones instead. still tastes great!
i was also very (very) apprehensive because i only skimmed the recipe before deciding i wanted to make it, and there’s no picture of it on the site, so i didn’t know there was practically no sauce! i normally LOVE sauce because i’m afraid there won’t be any flavor with it, but alas, i was very pleasantly surprised. more than enough flavor to go around!
(my changes: whole wheat pasta instead of regular, omission of fennel seeds).
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some background as to a change in the type of recipes i’m going to be trying to make from now on—a couple weeks ago i went to the doctor for a checkup, my first in five years. and, as part of it, of course, they do a cholesterol test. umm, yeah. so i’m at 257 (you shouldn’t be over 200), so i have three months to diet (HA!) and exercise (double HA!) my way to better health before they put me on meds.
i’ve been eating healthy for the past three days now, and i must say, i’m quite proud of myself. i haven’t had anything junk-y and i haven’t even had major cravings for sweets. i’m going to meet with a nutritionist tomorrow to see if she can give me advice on how to curb my snacking pangs, though. wish me luck!
