Three Tastes of Chicago

After spending an amazing week in Chicago, my only regret was that I didn't cook as much as I wanted to. Between Giordano's Pizza and Taste of Chicago, there were plenty of opportunities to indulge. I did make one meal for my hostess, but mostly because I didn't want her to eat popcorn for dinner again!! With two jobs, she hardly ever finds the time to do more than microwave dinner. In order to speed up the process, I cut up all the vegetables in the morning before going to the beach. Around five, I came back and found all the pots and pans I would need, checked my ingredients and made a last minute run to Panera for a french baguette. Here's how it went down:



Shopping List:

-Box of Pasta

-1/2 cup snow peas

-1 carrot, shredded

-1/2 onion, diced

-1 bell pepper, diced

-Newman's Own lite Italian Dressing

-Olive oil

-1 clove garlic

-1 french baguette

-Aluminum foil

-Shredded parmesan cheese



Morning Prep:



Shred carrots (I used an apple peeler), chop onions and peppers, pull off ends of snow peas.



Evening:



1. Buy fresh french bread.

2. Boil pasta water. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Chop garlic and allow to soak in shallow bowl of olive oil.

4. Pour 2 Tbsp olive oil in the skillet and begin to saute chopped garlic and then onions, carrots and peppers.

5. Cut 1" slits in french bread and spoon in garlic-soaked olive oil.

6. Wrap bread in aluminum oil and put in the oven.

7. Throw snow peas into the skillet and cover with a thin layer of dressing, let simmer.

8. Until the pasta cooks, cover the veggies and leave them on a low heat.

9. Strain the pasta. I sandwiched it between two layers of veggies to increase the veggie to carb ratio. Garnish with parmesan cheese.

10. Pull out the bread from the oven and serve with the pasta.



Definitely my favorite version of homemade Pasta Primavera I have made... Although nothing can ever come close to the Pasta Primavera I ate at a restaurant overlooking Niagara Falls with my family, which is my gold standard. I'll keep trying any ways!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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