My son and I had a busy day together today. We spent most of the day running errands and grocery shopping so I was happy when he suggested something simple for dinner tonight. He chose Pesto Pasta!
While I got the pasta on to cook, I brought out the White Bean Salad for an appetizer. Instead of eating it as a salad with grilled chicken like I had planned, I served it as a dip with some Wheat Thins Tuscan Herb Flatbread Crackers that I had in the pantry. What a wonderful combination! It was fresh and flavorful and perfect on top of a cracker. It wasn't the cleanest option to eat it with the crackers....but it was very tasty. I try to make better choices these days; but I guess I'm not completely converted yet. The dip itself was very fresh and healthy. I must say that it was a hit with the family because there were no leftovers!
On to dinner preparations now.....
We usually make our own pesto sauce and I would prefer to do that because it tastes better and is minimally processed; however, I have very little basil this year. It's been so hot and we've been traveling so I haven't cared for my herbs very well this year. I am sorry to report that....but it's the truth.
When we don't have fresh basil, the pesto sauce made by Classico is a good substitute. That is what we used tonight on top of rotini pasta. As a family, we haven't developed a taste for whole wheat pasta yet even though we know it's better for us. So as a compromise, I always use Ronzoni Smart Taste. It tastes like regular pasta but is lower in fat and calories and has added fiber, calcium and Vitamin D. I like to think I'm making a better choice than using regular pasta. To kick the nutrition value up even more, after I mixed the pesto sauce with the hot drained pasta, I threw in several handfuls of baby spinach. The spinach wilts nicely when stirred into the hot pasta and is such a yummy addition. I added some leftover grilled chicken and freshly grated parmesan cheese and we had quite a meal.
Now, I'm from Louisiana so I like a whole lot of flavor. On my portion, I added some crushed red pepper and sundried tomatoes. To me, that just made it even better.
What kind of food did you enjoy this evening?
Mmm, looks like a quick and delicious dinner. What time should we come over for dinner tonight? :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great 4th of July.
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner
www.mawhats4dinner.com
That past looks delicious and I'm definitely going to try that bean salad. Sounds perfect as a dip!
ReplyDeleteHappy FoJ!