I have a new rule. Never make two new recipes for dinner. Last night, I baked chicken that had marinated overnight in buttermilk, fresh rosemary, and some seasoning. The recipe promised meltingly tender chicken. Maybe my expectations were too high, but it was just chicken. On the plus side, I have lots of leftover chicken to take off the bones and turn into something good.

Then there was the new spiralized recipe that involved zucchini, canned artichokes, garlic, lemon juice and Parmesan cheese. Sounded good on paper. Canned artichokes are packed in brine. Even though I rinsed them, the taste of the brine combined with the lemon juice was a bit much. It might be better with frozen artichokes, but the Big Guy didn’t like it either, so I’m not planning to revisit it.

Sometimes I think the non-recipe with good ingredients produces the happiest results. The beautifully fresh bunch of broccoli rabe that I brought home from the market the other day was the base for a simple, flavorful dish.

I baked three Italian sausages until they were just about done and cut them into chunks. I removed the broccoli rabe leaves and buds from the thick stems, chopped them into manageable pieces, and sautéed them, along with some chopped onions, in olive oil laced with minced garlic and a bit of red pepper flakes. Then I returned the sausage chunks to the pan.

In the meantime, I boiled a few handfuls of orecchiette in salted water, and added the pasta to the broccoli rabe and sausages. I honestly don’t remember if I added a bit of the salted pasta water to loosen things up, but I often do. Quick stir, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and dinner was ready. I took a picture of the finished dish, thinking that it looked good enough to be on the blog. It really was wonderful.

Cooking is important to me. I love the creative aspect of it. The good thing is that if one night’s dinner isn’t great, there’s always another night and a new opportunity to create something worth eating ( and blogging! )