Saturday, July 10, 2021

Penne al Ragù & Cucumber Salad


When 7pm rolled around and we finally could remove ourselves from our computer screens, I took the dog out for a quick pee, and the man prepped dinner. We knew it would be a heavy day, and we didn’t feel like getting takeout, so an easy dinner at home it was.

We always keep a box of pasta sauce frozen in the freezer for easy-meal days. Had a batch of ragù; thawed it out overnight since we planned to eat in for dinner. A one-dish suffice, but sides would make it nicer. Like greens. I had stopped by the supermarket after krav maga in the morning to grab a pack of baby spinach leaves and Japanese cucumbers.

Didn't feel like having roasted veggies. The tastebuds thought that a random sort of cucumber salad would go with the pasta. The man made an easy gravy with soy, sesame oil, peanut butter, white vinegar and a bit of sugar. The cucumbers could soak in that for a bit before serving. Boiled up penne. Heated up the ragù, threw in wilted spinach, then the cooked penne and tossed everything together for a bit. That was rather delicious. The random cucumber salad complemented the hearty ragù that also had chorizo and mushrooms in it. There, another healthy-enough fuss-free meal at home. I kept a small bit of cucumber. That would go nicely into the man's otah sandwich for breakfast the next day.

We could soon dine out in groups of five. It's a nice option, but I think the past 1.5 years have given me a wonderful chance to retreat into quieter and smaller meets, so much so that I'm not inclined to get out 'more'. Hahahaha. Does this mean that we have been cooking more at home too? Not really lah. We just cook on the days we can, and get a takeout on the others. Nothing will drive me to bake any sort of bread or cake since those aren't my favored items. I'm not even inclined to get a pasta machine or a Thermomix, unless the apocalypse descends upon us. 

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