Suprising Delights...

All day rainstorms cancelled the kids all-school picnic, and when I stopped by the school to drop off the lunch supplies we had promised, the teachers had a slightly off-kilter, You-Can't-Leave-Us-Here-On-This-Island look in their eyes. So instead of picnicking I got a ton of office organizing done and almost "caught up", whatever that means; tried to make the new dish "Upper East Side Pasta" but ended up making a second cousin which we're calling "Lincoln Park Pasta" since Lincoln Park was the trendy upscale Chicago neighborhood to live in when we lived in the bland Western Suburbs.

(pic and recipe below)



1. Slice tomatoes in half and roast in the oven for 30 minutes after you coat them in olive oil and sprinkle them with only a little sea salt and basil.

2. Splurge on some high end noodles, make sure there are crevices where the sauces can hide later. For now, boil them.

3. Saute garlic and finely chopped onions in a moderately deep pan. Add pre-roasted red-pepper (of course you could roast your own, but I'm trying to save you a little time here).

4. Add the pasta to the saute pan and mix thoroughly with garlic, onions and peppers. Add half a cup of chicken broth. Simmer.

5. Chiffonade a cup (or so) of spinach and a handful of fresh cilantro. Add them to the simmering dish. Add a fourth of a cup of chicken broth. Keep simmering.

6. Chop up 8 oz of Chev cheese. Mix in.

7. de-skin and chop roasted tomoatoes. Mix. Simmer.

8. Eat!