Broccoli or Brocolli?

I can never remember how to spell the stupid thing, but regardless, broccoli (that is the correct spelling) is actually great with pasta. I quite like broccoli and eat it a fair bit, but I'm always looking for a new way to serve it. This pasta is great as I usually have all the ingredients lying about and it is also Lenten, which is handy when Easter is almost here.

Broccoli Pasta (Printable Recipe)
adapted from Stephanie's Broccoli as a Sauce for Pasta, pg 201
Serves 2

1 large head of broccoli, cut into small florets
olive oil (or anchovy oil)
200g pasta spirals
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I use ones lurking in the freezer)
2 cloves garlic
6 anchovy fillets, chopped
ground black pepper
handful of pitted olives (optional)
chilli flakes (optional)

Middle-Eastern Baked Fish With Garlic & Coriander, Carrot Salad and Lentil & Coriander Salad.

On the menu at the MacPerri house tonight was a Middle-Eastern feast. Fortunately, none of it took terribly long to cook, as the in-laws were coming over for a coffee after dinner. I raced to the shops after work, brought home some fish and other fresh ingredients for dinner, and whipped up dinner within the hour. Considering that until about lunchtime today, I had no idea what I was going to cook, but I was happy with my choices today. We had to reset the server at work today, so in the downtime I quickly flipped through Stephanie and found the fish dish I wanted to cook. Once that was sorted, I thought it would be nice to have salad with it, considering the hot, sticky, humid Melbourne weather we've endured this week. I didn't feel like anything too heavy, so I settled on the warm carrot salad and a lentil salad. Fortunately, hubby has grown to love legumes, so there are no complaints from him when it comes to eating these days.

The Middle-Eastern Carrot salad (side margin of p224) was easy to prepare, and I got to use one of my favourite kitchen gadgets - the mortar and pestle. All I did was roast a handful of cumin seeds, and then crushed them with some garlic and a good quality salt. I then added some extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice. In the meantime, I sliced the carrots and cooked them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Then I drained the carrots, tossed them into the dressing, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and threw in a handful of chopped coriander. The recipe also called for roasted pepitas on top, but I just used raw ones. I enjoy the flavour of those anyway, so I thought I didn't want to burn them and run the risk of them turning rancid!