Thursday, May 31, 2007

bringin' summer back

It's been a rainy few days and the beautiful summer weather seems to have disappeared. I thought it would be nice to make Mony some pasta tonight since he has been asking for some for a while now. And with the weather gone downhill, a light pasta dish would be a great summer inspired meal.

This pasta is an easy one, not requiring too many ingredients...fresh asparagus (of course!), sun dried tomatoes, shallots, and fresh herbs like parsley and summer savoury. All this was sauteed with some extra virgin olive oil and a few cloves of garlic. Penne was tossed in towards the end and then finished off with a handful of freshly grated grana padano.

Once plated some fresh basil added the final touch to this simple dish.

Mony seemed to really enjoy this meal - so much so that he went for seconds (and thirds). I, on the other hand, had to admire this dish from afar, as I dutifully ate my lean chicken breast and salad. That's the cruel life of a girl who needs to wear a bathing suit in 3 weeks...

4 comments:

Annie Ruok said...

Proud of u Dina - to make a meal as delicious looking as this, then not eat it...wow - a lot of people probably don't realize the willpower that that takes! When I diet or detox, Shawn has to do the same, unless he feels like making his own meals (hah - like that ever happens!) Then he ends up losing double what I lose...Keep it up & keep your chin up!

Anonymous said...

How could you not eat this ???????
what is grana padano..is this something like parmezan cheese where did you get it from?

dina (Lucas' mom) said...

Mony ate enough for both of us!
It was hard not to eat this but you do what you have to do. I don't want to force M to restrict what he eats because I do - so I take care of him. Plus I think 80% of the food experience for me is cooking it rather than eating it. So selfishly, I get to satisfy my hobby while still eating healthy. It's a win-win situation.

Grana padano is very similar to parmesan cheese -- it's a hard cheese that is slightly salty.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the prompt response, you have to teach me how to use my will power to be able to cook delicious things like that and not to eat it .......