Pumpkin and Sage Pasta

I was at the Singapore National Museum last week and I saw these watches on display. They are designed by Hanson Ho and Matteo Colella. The placard said that the watches explore "the relationship between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of time." The hour, minute, and second hands are all the same length. This "allows for both the absolute and arbitrary reading of time, catering to the needs of the various contexts and situations."

I love them and wish I could buy one. I think it's an interesting idea to have the hands all the same length and would indeed make you think about what time it is and how you use your time. I can imagine myself at work, thinking about how much time I have left to complete a certain task. I know that setting myself a deadline helps my productivity, so these hands could be used creatively to do that. "I will work until all the hands are close together again," for example. Hours, minutes, and seconds are kind of interchangeable on these watches.

Meanwhile, I think that we can view parts of meals as interchangeable as well. We have been so conditioned to think of certain foods in certain ways: Beef is a main dish item. Every meal needs a side of vegetables. Carbs are an essential part of every plate.

I am sure that we don't need to rely on these ideas to make good meals. We can interchange these food ideas for new ones. For example, when I served this pasta dish, beef was the "condiment", sprinkled on top. No starchy carbs were necessary--and I don't think we missed them. Instead of relying on the heuristics, I have been trying to branch out based on health evidence. And based on what feels good for my body. Hence I now have vegetables as the majority of every meal.

This "pasta" is based on a Donna Hay recipe. My version is made with courgette (zucchini) noodles; no cooking is required for them. I used Hay's method for cooking the pumpkin and sage with browned butter. Then I added some ground beef and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

This dish is part of our Wednesdays with Donna Hay blogging group. If you want to join us, next week we are making easy blueberry muffins. (I plan to make an adaption of that, too!) You are welcome to join us; no long term commitment is required. Visit the others in my blogging group to see if they liked the recipe.

Do you have a set of eating heuristics?

Connect with Simply Cooked on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/SimplyCooked