The Common Culinarian

I love to cook and my wife usually indulges this habit. Particularly for the last two weeks, as the semester has been coming to a close and she’s incredibly busy. However, I guess last night she decided to start repaying all my selfless culinary… er… giving. The result was a pretty tasty dish that was filling and reasonably healthy. I can’t promise that it was cheap, but that’s because we didn’t have a well stocked pantry (I need to write up an entry about that) and she had to pick some items up at the store.

Without further ado…

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. uncooked linguine, broken in half
• 2 medium zucchini (6 to 8 inches long)
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 2 (or more) garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the linguine to desired doneness as directed on package.
2. Meanwhile, cut zucchini lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Set aside
3. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork and 1 of the minced garlic cloves; cook and stir until pork is no longer pink, gently breaking pork into large bite-sized pieces. Remove from skillet; drain.
4. In same skillet, heat oil until hot. Add zucchini and remaining mined garlic clove(s); cook and stir 5 to 7 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
5. Drain linguine; cover to keep warm.
6. To zucchini in skillet, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper; cook and stir until tomatoes are thoroughly heated. Add cooked linguine and pork; cook and stir until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese.

Serving Size	1 cup
Calories	310
Total Fat	14 g
Sat. Fat	5 g
Carbs	28 g
Fiber	3 g
Protein	18 g

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The source for this recipe came from the Pillsbury 30-Minute Meals cookbook (ISBN 0-609-60859-2). We particularly like this cookbook because the recipes are usually easy and have few ingredients. And, it’s been our experience, these meals are closer to 30 minute meals than almost anything Rachel Ray comes up with. In fairness, though, this cookbook is more like a cross between Rachel’s and Sandra Lee’s philosophies, so there are a lot of short cuts that Rachel would certainly not take–at least not all the time.