Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes and Pasta

Oh, summer tomatoes rock.

I picked these up at my local farmer's market. They were $3.50/pound and I love getting a few in each color and flavor. Aren't they sooooo purdy?! There isn't much of a recipe here...I guess I just want to show off these pretty things!

Tonight's dinner was super simple...whole wheat pasta, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, basil, salt & pepper.

I was a little crazy and skinned the tomatoes. A quick 1 minute blanch in boiling water made the skins easy to remove.

Cook pasta. Let drain. Heat good olive oil in a pan and add sliced garlic. Let cook for a bit and add the tomatoes and pasta. Coat and let heat through. Add the basil and some salt & pepper, and yum, yum, yum.

Have a great week! I'm excited because I got to pick this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe! Classic Banana Bundt Cake! Awesome.

Homemade Rice-a-Roni (Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli from Everyday Food)

Oh, the box. The box rocks.

Sometimes, it comes to my door with a big Amazon label and I do a little happy dance of retail therapy happiness.

And I can't name one person who doesn't love a big pink box from the bakery.

Anyway, I often have a few boxes in the kitchen...a San Francisco treat!

I do enjoy the Rice-A-Roni (chicken flavor is my favorite). However, the crazy high sodium content and long list of "ingredients" with many syllables makes me long for a different recipe. I found this recipe for Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli on the Everyday Food website.

1/2 onion, finely chopped, 1 ounce of angel hair pasta, and 2/3 c long grain white rice are the main ingredients. I tried to health it up a notch and used whole wheat angel hair pasta. Next time, I want to replace some of the white rice with long grain brown rice (might need to cook it a bit longer).

Saute in a pan, just like the box and add low-sodium chicken broth. You can go vegan and make it with veggie broth or powder. I threw in a bunch of finely chopped Italian parsley at the end. Or you can use dried parsley and other dried herbs (like the box stuff).

I still love you box. But this is a nice homemade version of Rice-a-Roni...with a lot less salt and ingredients you can pronounce!

Recipe:
Everyday Food Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli