Simple Pasta with Nuts and Cheese

I clipped this recipe from the Columbus Dispatch (aka, the Dogpatch) roughly twenty years ago.  It's one of those recipes that I always forget about, but every time I make it I'm just delighted.  And this last time I made it, the kids loved it.  It's so simple, that it's about to become a staple at our house . . . 

Simple Pasta with Nuts and Cheese 

12 oz. rotini

6 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1-2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil a pot of water and cook your pasta until al dente. 
2. When the pasta is close to done, heat the butter in a small pan at medium. 
3. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
4. Add the nuts and sauté two minutes, until toasted.  Remove from heat. 
5. Combine pasta, cheeses, parsley, and nuts in a serving dish.  Toss to coat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Family Ratings

Will, who's getting almost easygoing about food:  10

Lucy.  Nuts?!  Cheese?!  You kidding me?!:  10

Jamie, who also likes cheese:  10

Ellen, who can't believe I remembered this recipe after all these years: 10

Paul.  Nuts?!  Cheese?!  You kidding me?!: 10

Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil

This is an old standard in our family:  it's about as easy as they come and very flavorful.  It comes from Cooking Light's 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook.

Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil

4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1. Slice the chicken breasts in half, length-wise.  (If they're extra thick, you might want to slice them thickness-wise as well, just to make for more even cooking.)
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. 
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet at medium-high. 
4. Cook chicken for five minutes each side until lightly browned. 
5. While chicken is cooking, mix together the vinegar, honey, and basil
6. When chicken is ready, stir in the honey mixture and cook for one additional minute. 
7. Serve with rice, baby carrots, lime jell-o, and anything else your kids like.  

Family Ratings

Will, who has a habit of picking up a large chunk of meat and eating it off his fork, like the Asians do with chopsticks:  10

Lucy, who could probably already make this herself:  10

Jamie, who actually finishes it before we have to tell him to:  10

Ellen, who comes from the midwest and likes minimalist, fresh flavorings:  10

Paul, who's had this about 600 times in the last 17 years and is mildly sick of it:  9