Southwestern Pasta Bake
Tonight’s drink is a St. Vincent, which has gin, Galliano, cream and grenadine in it. I used to really hate gin. It all tasted like rubbing alcohol to me. But then I found New Amsterdam Gin. It’s smooth with a really nice citrus aftertaste. Whereas I used to buy whatever liquor was on sale, I’m starting to find I’m brand loyal to some things, and New Amsterdam Gin is one of those things to which I’m brand loyal.
The drink is fine as a one-off, but it’s too creamy to really enjoy more than one at a time. When I’m done with this I’ll be enjoying a BBC (Bluegrass Brewing Company) American Pale Ale. It’s good, but I had their Nut Brown Ale last night, and it knocked my socks off. It was one of the best nut browns I’ve ever had, no lie.
Guess what? I’m leaving out the onions. Shocking, I know.
I’m using fresh cilantro but dried parsley. I’ve got a LOT of dried parsley, and this just seems like an opportune time to get rid of some.
This is a very easy recipe to make. Get everything prepped in advance and you’re set.
As with almost all of my Sunday night meals, I knew my kids wouldn’t touch this. They love plain pasta with parmesan cheese, so I held out a little bit of the penne and served it up with some oranges, carrots and celery. As long as I can give them a healthy alternative, I don’t feel the need to try and force them to eat something like this. Now, I might not be so accommodating if this were an every night sort of thing, but I’m only able to cook like this once a week, so it’s okay. Of course, they have to at least TRY the dish if they want dessert. I’m accommodating, but I’m not a total softy.
I enjoyed the meal, but it was rather bland for something calling itself a Southwest dish. But I’m okay with that since I don’t like spicy things. If you DO like spicy things, I’d suggest using a hotter type of pepper, using the onion I omitted, and maybe mixing in some cayenne pepper with the chili pepper.
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