"Fancy Without the Fuss"

Toss it Together Pasta

Ingredients:
1 box linguine or thin spaghetti – whichever you prefer
1 container of grape tomatoes sliced
½ cup chopped pecans
Broccoli
Garlic – 4-5 small cloves
Fresh Basil
Shredded parmesan cheese
2 tsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 T Olive Oil
1 T Butter

Directions:
Start boiling your pasta in a large stockpot. Be sure and add salt to your water.  Melt butter with olive oil in a sauté pan over a med high heat. Add tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes then add in garlic. Tomatoes will shrivel a bit. Next add in broccoli.  If frozen simply run it under hot tap water for a bit to soften it up. Cook for a bout 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally.  Next add in your pecans and cook for about a minute. Make sure broccoli is tender. At the end add in the lemon juice and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once your pasta is cooked, drain and mix it with your broccoli tomato mixture. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. (Sugar Snap Peas could also replace the broccoli or any vegetable that you like would work well!)

Avocado and Strawberry Salad with Honey Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
2 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice
3 T honey
3 T olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/16 tsp ground black pepper
2 avocados, peeled pitted and cut into wedges
8 ounces strawberries, halved

Directions:
Whisk the lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper together. Arrange the avocados and strawberries on 6 salad plates. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the fruit salad. Serve immediately..


Garlic Cheesey Bread

Ingredients:
¼ cup butter
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp fresh parsley and basil
1 – 1 pound loaf of Italian Bread
1- 1 ½  cups shred Italian Blend Cheese

Directions:
In a small bowl combine butter, garlic and parsley and basil. Slice bread into even pieces down the loaf about ¾ inch thick. Without cutting through the bottom crust. So slices stay attached. Spread slices with the butter mixture about 1 tsp per slice. Sprinkle with cheese. Wrap bread tightly in foil. T this point you can refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bake bread in foil in a 275 degree oven for 15 minutes or until butter has melted and bread is hot. Remove from oven and open toil at eh top. Place back into the oven and bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is just starting to brown. Unwrap carefully and serve hot.


Cherry Pie Nests

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray
4 sheets of frozen phyllo dough, thawed
1 cup  cherry pie filling
1 tsp orange zest divided
Vanilla ice cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a nonstick muffin pan with vegetable oil spray and also lightly spray both sides of  each sheet of phyllo dough and lay on top of each other. Once you have all 4 sheets sprayed, cut the dough into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into fourths to make 16 squares. Be sure and lay a damp paper towel over the remaining phyllo dough to keep it from drying out.

Place 4 squares in each  muffin cup adding one square at a time. Overlap the layers to form a little nest and mold to the shape of the cup.  Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake for 4 minutes or until golden. Allow your nests  to cool completely. Gently remove the cooled nests from the muffin pan.

Combine pie filling and ½ tsp orange zest. Fill each nest with about 2 tablespoons of the  pie filling mixture. Top with ice cream and serve immediately. Share