I will admit it; I feel like a loser when I can’t cook a good meal on a weeknight. This is especially difficult when I work 12 hours a day and pretty much live on zoom. I should probably go easy on myself and get takeout, but there is just something about cooking, about putting together ingredients to make something delicious that helps me to release the stress of the day. This particular dinner was inspired by this recipe by Real Simple. I like to use recipes like this as inspiration, and see what I can do with them. So let’s review the ingredients that you see above…
First of all, grind your own salt and pepper. It’s not hard and takes the flavor to a new level. Pink sea salt is way better tasting than table salt and best of all, your body knows what to do with it.
The Barilla gluten free pasta is not half bad. I am not gluten intolerant, but have been encouraged by my nutritionist to reduce gluten intake mainly because white flour is horrible and literally has no nutrients. There are better gluten free pastas out there, but this one is cheap and tastes good.
I like to use diced tomatoes instead of processed tomato sauce for obvious reasons. They key to flavor aside from the good salt and pepper is GARLIC!! It’s an easy and delicious way to boost your immune health. Also, the wine adds a nice sophisticated flavor as well. An easy step for a weeknight.
Beyond Beef is amazing! And with COVID outbreaks running rampant in meat packing plants, it seems like common sense to reduce meat intake during the pandemic.
Finally, grate your own cheese. It’s simple and delicious. And, a pro tip is that you can put the rind in the sauce for even more flavor.
The end result is an easy and sophisticated weeknight dinner that is restaurant quality. Not bad, especially since we don’t feel safe going to restaurants right now…
