something delicious

My friend, Corrinne, used to say "New year, new beginnings." Hearing that always made me smile. To know that a fresh start awaits is heartening. This year, like everybody else, my hope is to live a little healthier. And for this household, it means making better choices and making conscious decisions to eat better. We are on the road a lot, traveling back and forth two ends of the state. In the past, all the traveling meant choosing between one fast food place and another. We've had enough of that. We're resolving to cook more and buy the best food our weekly budget allows. And if we find something simple, delicious, healthy, and worthy of sharing, you can be sure to find the recipe on this blog.

To start, here's a recipe I've adapted from Food.com.

pasta with tuna, spinach, and hot pepper

Wholesome Ingredients: 

1 box of whole wheat linguine

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic bulb, minced (because we love garlic. you could use less, of course)
2 shallots, chopped

lots of hot red pepper flakes

2 cans (5oz) of tuna in olive oil, drained

salt to taste

1 bag of spinach or arugula

1/2 lemon, juiced

sprinkling of parmesan cheese 

Directions:

Cook pasta until al dente.

While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat. Add garlic, hot pepper flakes, and shallots, and cook until garlic is fragrant and sizzling. 

Add tuna. Season with salt and lemon juice, if desired.

Just before the pasta is ready, set aside 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta and return it to the warm pot set over moderate heat.

Add spinach to either the linguine or the tuna mixture and toss all of this together with the cup of pasta water. 

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Try this. You'll love it for the simple preparation and rich taste. And if you want something sweet afterwards, I suggest a helping of grapes!

Have a happy Friday and a great weekend. We're hitting the road and headed to Portland to celebrate Zach's Great-Grandmother's (Grandma Fred) 100th birthday!

Looking forward to celebrating your own centennial birthday? Genetics, eating well and exercising are big parts of the equation. But I've also heard that you stand a better chance if you were born after the year 2000, floss, sleep in, do yoga, and maintain an active mind!