When Cameron was younger he used to go to bed much earlier, which left me with lots of time in the evening to do some work and make a nice dinner before my husband got home from work. But now adays Cameron is going to bed around 7:30 which doesn’t leave me much time to get anything done in the evenings. Although I like ordering out, I get pretty sick of the options, and I also miss cooking. So I’ve been trying to come up with fast and easy dinners – and I thought maybe some of you out there could use a little inspiration! Below you can see a meal I made with a pre breaded chicken cutlet from Fresh Direct, and a fast pasta sauce that you can make in less time than it takes to boil water and cook pasta.
Yummy and easy!
Fast and Tasty Pasta:
Boil some water for whatever kind of pasta you like. Be sure to salt the water.
Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil in a small sauce pan. Throw in a few red pepper flakes. Once the oil is hot and rippling, throw in a handful of halved cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle in a little salt. FYI, Trader Joe’s has a little package of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes that I personally like. Put the lid on the pan, turn the heat to medium-low and forget about it for 5 minutes. The tomatoes will sweat a little and sort of release their juicyness.
Put your pasta in the water and cook it according to package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.
When your pasta is almost done, throw some greens in the tomato sauce. I use any salad greens I have… Spinach, arugula, whatever. Put in about as much as you would in a salad. Trust me, it will wilt down. Put the lid back on.
Drain your pasta, then dump it in the tomato sauce. Throw in a handful of crumbled cheese – I used goat cheese (again from Trader Joe’s). I bet mozzarella or Parmesan would also work nicely, but the goat cheese made it tangy and creamy. If the sauce seems too stiff then add some of the reserved pasta water. Salt and pepper to taste. This is enough for 2 side portions – but none of it is exact. Play with the recipe to make it how you like it!
