Recipe: Another Impromptu Pasta Dish

On a recent soggy Saturday, my husband and I ventured out for lunch before running some errands.  This actually killed our appetites for dinner, and we went on in this vein until around midnight.  At that point we decided that we were, in fact, a little peckish.  My husband was content to just slather Frank's Red Hot all over his pasta, which tells you what his diet was like before I moved in.  I was not content to slather Frank's Red Hot all over my pasta.  In fact, the thought left me a little cold.  If I was going to put something on my pasta it needed to have some nutritional value beyond sodium. 

I searched the fridge and the pantry.  The garlic went in there because, well, I'm of Italian descent and garlic goes in everything except chocolate.  The olives were in the front of the refrigerator.  I remembered that my mom had once made pasta that had walnuts on top.  Walnuts have protein.  In they went.  The yogurt was intended to give a little bit of a creamy flavor to the sauce.  That did not work out so well.  It dried out into little curds that don't look very appealing, so if you want to leave it out go ahead.  It didn't detract from the taste, though. 

Another Impromptu Pasta Dish (serves 1; approx. cost per serving not available)

1/4 box pasta, cooked

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 handful pitted Kalamata olives

1 handful walnuts

2 tablespoons fat-free Greek yogurt

Equipment:

• Saucepan

1. Heat the oil in the saucepan. 
2. Add the garlic slices.  Saute until fragrant.  Be sure that you don't overcook them.  That tastes bad.  Very very bad.
3. Add the walnuts.  Saute about 30 seconds.  You may notice that the walnuts become fragrant, but it's kind of a subtle smell.
4. Add the olives.  Saute until the olives are heated through, not very long at all.
5. Add the yogurt, if you're so inclined.  Stir rapidly to mix. 
6. Add the pasta.  Stir to coat and re-heat the pasta, if necessary.
7. Serve.