Last Night's Dinner

Yesterday, I set out to make a quick, easy vegetarian dinner. I often look to Real Simple Magazine for healthy, SIMPLE recipes. I can honestly say that every meal I make from their magazine is a family favorite.

Last night was no different. I simply went to the Real Simple webpage, RealSimple.com, typed in my meal preferences, and I came up with Linguini With Asparagus and Pine Nuts. I already had all of the ingredients on hand, which made it even easier. I decided to add fresh sugar snap peas, and fresh mushrooms to ours. I love any excuse to pull out our wok, so I pulled it out, and cooked the veggies in it, and boiled the linguini in a separate pot. I made a salad to accompany our meal, and everyone was pleased. See pictures, and the recipe below.

Asparagus, Snap Peas, Mushrooms, and Sliced Garlic

This is after adding the Linguini, and shredded Parmesan

Salad

Romulo Yanes

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 25m | Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

12 ounces linguine (3/4 box)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup shaved Parmesan (about 3 ounces)

Directions

Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the asparagus mixture to the pasta along with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the Parmesan before serving.

By Sara Quessenberry, April 2010

See Nutritional Information for this recipe »