My Cozy Cottage
At first, I had no idea what to do with cottage cheese, so I turned it into a sandwich. But unfortunately, the cottage that I bought was too tangy to eat by the spoonful (which was its intended purpose). So then I did what any respectable human being would do when they have no idea how to make something edible: I fried cottage cheese.
80 was so pleased with my frying—and wanting to eat it by the spoonful, like in his youth—that he bought another tub of it. This cottage cheese was eat-it-out-of-the-container worthy, but I still wanted to figure out new uses.
Like every night, I rummaged through my kitchen. And there were frozen peas. I totally hate peas. They do absolutely nothing for me. Yes, I know, they’re great fresh from the garden. But those aren’t available in the District in February. I’m not even sure why I bought them, in fact, I was fairly pisted when I saw them in there. But I went with it anyway. Peas and cottage cheese, please?
Now I can’t say this was the most amazing dish. But it was quick and easy and simple. And as I was complaining to 80 that dinner wasn’t that great, he reassured me: not every dish has to be amazing. As someone that logs their kitchen adventures on a daily basis, it made me feel better. Even if it was a lie.
Orzo and Peas with Cottage Cheese
While boiling the water for the orzo, I put the peas in a colander and rested it over the water to defrost the peas. I was nervous I was going to overcook them, so I didn’t leave them over the water for too long. When the orzo was almost finished, I dumped the peas back in, and then drained along with the pasta. I tasted a pea. It didn’t taste great. Not sure if it was because peas suck or because it wasn’t cooked enough.
Anyway, while that was going on I cubed the 2 end slices from a loaf of pumpernickel bread. I toasted them in a pan with oil, salt and pepper for just a bit, then set it aside.
I combined the orzo and peas with cottage cheese, parm cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. In an oiled, oven-safe dish, actually, this one my mom bought me, I spread the orzo and topped with more cottage cheese and then with the bread cubes. I baked it at 375, covered, for, hmm, 30ish minutes.
I have to say, the bread cubes were the best part. Maybe I needed garlic?
It sounds great actually, and love the addition of a crunch. We were just researching skin foods for a medical spa recently and found that cottage cheese is amazing for the skin, not due to calcium but from the high selenium content. Cheers!
Heidi