Green noodles and yellow squash

Our green and yellow supper

As I mentioned in last night’s blog, my son Jamie is here for a couple of days. When I asked what he wanted for supper, he surprised me with a request for green noodles, long a family favorite dish. Mushrooms are a major ingredient, and Jamie doesn’t eat mushrooms. When I asked, he said he likes them, sliced very thin, because they soak up the lemon juice.

I’ve been making green noodles ever since I’ve had a kitchen of my own. It’s not really a recipe but more of an idea that developed and grew over time. Years ago I knew a young single mother who struggled with her budget. One night she was expecting a gentleman caller for dinner, but she had no money for groceries. She used what she had on hand, melting butter in the skillet, adding cooked spaghetti and lots of lemon juice.

Over the years I have “improved” on the idea by using spinach noodles and adding scallions and mushrooms. Now I also add chopped artichoke hearts and a frozen “ice cube” of homemade pasta. Here’s what I do:

 

Green noodles

1 16-0z. pkg. spinach egg noodles

1 stick butter

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (I always buy whole and slice them myself)

4 scallions, chopped

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped

1 ice-cube size piece of pesto, thawed

Juice of one lemon

Grated fresh Parmesan

Cook and drain noodles. Melt butter in the skillet. (Megan, weight-conscious in high school, used to insist that was too much butter, and it may be, but it’s so good.) Sauté the mushrooms and scallions in the butter. Add chopped artichokes and the pesto, stirring to blend in the pesto. Add lemon juice to taste—I like lots; the mushrooms soak up the lemon and are delicious. Add noodles and toss to coat. Top with Parmesan. (A Jamie note: he’s a purist and wanted only butter, scallions, lemon juice and mushrooms in the sauce and no Parm on top).

If you serve green noodles with crusty bread, you’ve got a meal. But last night because Jamie loves yellow summer squash, I made a casserole. The combination proved perfect, especially with the contrasting colors. I know everyone can make squash casserole off the top of the head, but this was so simple and so good, I’m sharing. I think the key is the half teaspoon of sugar I added.

Summer Squash side dish

(serves fpir)

1 lb. squash, chopped

¼ cup water

¼ cup sweet onion, chopped

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. sugar

¼ cup dry breadcrumbs (I used Ritz crackers)

2 tbsp. butter melted

Pepper to taste

½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

 Cook squash, onion, and salt in ¼ cup water until squash and onion are soft.

Separately, mix sugar, crumbs, melted butter, and pepper.

Drain squash if necessary (I thought it was dry, added water during cooking, and then had too much liquid, so I drained it.) Stir crumb mixture into squash mixture and turn into baking pan. Top with grated cheese and bake 20 minutes at 350 or until cheese is melted and squash is warm.

A note on my gourmet kitchen: since I can use either the hot plate or the toaster oven, but not both at once (if used simultaneously, the circuit breaker trips), I baked the casserole in the toaster oven and let it sit, probably twenty minutes, while I boiled noodles and Jamie made the butter dressing. The casserole was perfectly warm when we ate. (Helen Corbitt says we should all dine, not eat—so when we dined.)

Another note: for Texas shoppers, you can find spinach fettucine at Central Market stores and probably at HEB Superstores.