Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

We might have lost an hour today, but we had plenty of time to make this super quick and flavorful dinner.

It might look like pasta with a cheese sauce but there is actually only a half cup of Parmesan in there.  It’s pumpkin!  And sure, today might have finally felt like spring but this sweet and savory dinner hit the spot.

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce (ours is with rotini) is quick because it has only a few ingredients and minimal chopping and it makes a lot so there are plenty of leftovers. I highly recommend trying it.

Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice

We were able to cook dinner again tonight and we tried a recipe that I took out of Cooking Light last year.

Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice was really easy for us to make together and the results were amazing for a weeknight stir fry. We used brown rice instead of white and asparagus instead of broccoli but otherwise followed the recipe.

What makes this dish is the sauce which is a combination of rice vinegar, honey, soy sauce and Sriracha. It’s got a bit of heat to it but mixed with the sweetness it’s subtle and delicious.

Mike suggested we make this regularly because it was just that fabulous.

Chicken Breasts with Raspberry-Balsamic Sauce

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve last blogged. Admittedly, it’s been a few weeks since we actually cooked a dinner that required a recipe. April has been full of travel, running and other fun evening plans.

Tonight we had plenty of time to cook dinner although this recipe really doesn’t take much time at all. I got it from my mom and she found it in Good Housekeeping. Chicken Breasts with Raspberry-Balsamic Sauce is healthy, quick and full of flavor.

We followed the recipe exactly except for substituting half an onion for the shallots. We served it with couscous and roasted asparagus.

Orzo Pasta Salad

Last night we went to our friend Lisa and Andrew’s house so I brought my favorite pasta salad.  This is the first time I’ve made this salad this year and I love the way the kitchen smells while I’m putting it together.

I started making this loosely based on an orzo pasta salad my friend Celeste told me she makes.

Ingredients:

• cooked orzo
• chopped up asparagus (I throw it in the pasta water a few minutes before the orzo is done to cook it)
• halved grape tomatoes
• feta (I used reduced fat)
• one lemon zest and juice
• shredded or ribbons of basil
• olive oil

I just mix all the ingredients together after the orzo has cooled and refrigerate until it’s served.

If it’s not lemony enough, you can add the juice of another lemon. This salad tastes like spring and summer. It’s refreshing, flagrant and wonderful. It can be a side or it’s own meal.

We cooked on a Friday

We typically do not cook dinner on Fridays.  A lot of times we are out with friends and get something, eat leftovers, or order pizza.  So when we do cook on a Friday, it feels so weird and special.

We sort of screwed up Wednesday’s dinner plan by forgetting to defrost the pork tenderloin so we decided to make it tonight. We made Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Mustard with Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Roasted Asparagus as a side.

I don’t really love pork. But this recipe is perfect.  It gets a crispy sweet glaze on the outside that is perfect. We’ve found that going heavier on the apricot preserves and lighter on the mustard makes it the perfect amount of sweetness.  Also, we don’t roast the apricots or leave the glaze for dipping. We just put more on the tenderloin when we flip it halfway through the broiling time.

The pasta (we didn’t have cavatappi but farfalle worked just fine) alone could be dinner but this way we have plenty of leftovers, especially since Sunday night is my knitting night with friends and a quick dinner works out well.