Food is a Many Splendid Thing....

After getting back from Charlottesville, Virginia, and with my son at Boyscout camp, I decided I would take the rest of the week off from cooking. Not so good for my waistline, as I can eat much more healthy at home, but still, it is one less thing I have to do.

As I mentioned before, my oldest daughter Susan is back home with us and she loves to cook. However, she is not cooking out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook like I do. She likes to look at recipes and most likely, adapt them to her taste, which is what a good cook does.

On Saturday we were talking, and I mentioned I hadn't had lunch yet and she said she would make something for me. I'm thinking a tuna sandwich, but this is what she served me:

On a toasted bagel thins you spread cream cheese, and top with chopped avocado, halved cherry tomatoes, and crabmeat. It made a really pretty presentation, but the brushetta from an earlier posting was really stretching my culinary wings. However, this tasted really good, and I made it to dinner without having any snacks, which was a calorie plus for me.



The next day Susan announces that she will be making Sunday dinner. I love it, of course, since I'm not cooking anyway. She makes this dish, which doesn't have a name, so I'll call it The Really Tasty Pasta Dish I Didn't Have to Make:

First she sauteed chopped garlic and onion in olive oil, then added chopped asparagus and mushrooms.




Next she adds halved cherry tomatoes. They were such a luscious red and so good!




She then lets them all cook on low heat until the asparagus is tender.




Then remove all veggies from the pan and add about a half cup of white wine. On medium heat, she lets this reduce to about a quarter of a cup.




Next, she begins to whisk in about a cup of half and half. If you are not calorie restrictive desperate like me, you can use real cream.




When it's all smooth, then add back all the veggies and cooked Farfalle pasta (or bowtie pasta, which is what I always called it). Toss until well coated.



Then just top with some grated parmesan cheese. What a pretty, colorful dish this makes.




This was a delicious pasta dish. I'm so used to pasta meals being very heavy and filling. This was a great, light summertime dish. It would go great with some crusty french bread and a nice green salad. Thank you Susan for a wonderful pasta dinner!