pasta with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, pine nuts and broccoli - and food oddities

Everyone has food oddities, I think. Things we like that no one else does. My hubby likes chicken gizzards in lemon. I want to regurgitate just typing that. When I was a 13, I used to re-create cookie batter by mixing sugar and butter together and eating it. My son pours ketchup in a bowl and eats it like soup. My father loves gravy made from the neck of the turkey (no other parts, just the neck) and raw steak. He slices filet for the grill and every other cut of pink, lean meat goes into his mouth.

Eww.

My food oddities are simple. When I say I like the liquor left behind in an oyster shell, mixed with the horseradish-y, tomato-y taste and the remnants of Tabasco and tang of lemon juice, I don't think this is odd. But when I say I skip broccoli and cauliflower florets and eat only the stalks of these vegetables, I get strange looks. And when I leave succulent, sweet white meat on my plate and eat only the burned edges of barbequed chicken, no one at the dinner table understands me.

Years ago when Food Network first premiered in my city, every night I watched East Meets West with Ming Tsai. He remains one of my favorite chefs. He's clean, industrious, witty, and always showcased a different wine or beer at the end of each episode with the meal he prepared.

During one episode, he was using broccoli, and segued beautifully into the usefulness of all food parts in the Chinese kitchen. Ming's parents ran a catering business if I remember correctly, and he described cooking with someone from a different culture once who chopped off the stalks of the broccoli and threw them in the trash, intending to use only the pretty flowering parts of the vegetable. This caused Ming and his father distress. He said that the Chinese will use as much of a food source as possible - every useable part of the grain, vegetable, fish, pig, it's all fair game and significant to flavor, texture, and nutrition. Okay, maybe I embellished a little there, but Ming taught me to julienne the broccoli stalk and dice it fine, and this will add some sweetness to whatever it is you're cooking.

He was soooo right, and I guess you could say, I stalk.

I hope I get some comments, people telling me what their food oddities are. All food likes or dislikes are linked to some kind of memory, some joyful imprint made during a meal. I inadvertently collect this type of knowledge and I don't know why. Maybe it feeds some subconscious search for interesting characters and experience. Food oddities are just one giveaway, one tip-off into the uniqueness of all people. I feel more alive and adept noticing these silly things (but I couldn't tell you where the stock market closed today, or even last year). If you've ever been in a restaurant and looked at what other people are eating, listen to what they're ordering, seen what parents pack for their kids to snack on at the park, or served people dinner at your house who you'd never thought would like pureed turnips in place of mashed potatoes but they ask for seconds, you'd see, it's really a diverse, amusing world we live in.

There is so much to take in. Starting at the dinner table.

PASTA WITH CHICKEN, SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, ARTICHOKES, PINE NUTS AND BROCCOLI

I've posted this recipe before, but it has been requested over and over.

1 lb. spaghetti or other pasta, cooked

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chicken broth

meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken, torn, shredded or cubed

1 cup artichoke hearts, in oil (from a jar of artichokes hearts in oil, more hearts than oil)

3/4 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil, found in the produce section)

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 broccoli stalks

flat-leaf parsley to garnish

optional: crumbled goat cheese or feta

Boil water for broccoli. When water is to a rolling boil, add broccoli and cook until done, about 6 minutes. Remove and set aside until cool.

In a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, saute garlic in olive oil until soft, about 4 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to an aggressive simmer/low boil. Add chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts in their oil.

Chop off florets of the broccoli, and the stalks too. Julienne the stalks and then dice into bite size pieces.

Add broccoli to pan. The chicken broth should be reducing by now.

Add pasta to the pan, and toss well. Transfer to a platter and garnish with pine nuts, parsley, and cheese, if desired.

photos from worldcommunitycookbook.org and Google Images.