Wednesday dinner

I didn’t have much time to cook dinner tonight so I need to do something really quick and easy and what could be easier than making pasta. But no creamy or tomato sauce this time. I know I have some pine nuts stored somewhere and lots of grape tomatoes and a bag of baby spinach-the perfect ingredients for a simple pasta dish. I chose ziti pasta from my stock being the smallest and more fitting for what I have in mind. I sliced twenty pieces of grape tomatoes, minced three cloves of garlic which I sautéed in olive oil. There’s something about oil and garlic that when they meet over heat, it just smells magic! So when that delicious aroma started wafting the air, I added the tomatoes and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Then I added the baby spinach, tossed in the pasta and grated parmesan. Ah, the kitchen smells wonderful. For the finishing touch, I sprinkled the pasta with toasted pine nuts before I dug into my plate. I served some with sliced grilled chicken breast but I prefer the simple meatless version.


Banana-Nutella Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

It was late in the night when I finished dinner and I was trying to decide what to have for dessert when I saw two ripe bananas in our fruit tray. Too ripe for my taste but just right for something else. These bananas will meet their Master to create something delectable so I grabbed my jar of Nutella; not to make the popular crepes or my lazy Banana-Nutella Sammies but to bake some cupcakes. Yes, why not Banana-Nutella Cupcakes? And they bake faster too! It was smooth sailing at first but baking at midnight after a long day at work finally took its toll on me. By frosting time, there was no more regard for aesthetics- I was just too eager to get it over and done with and just slathered the cupcakes with my gooey chocolate ganache frosting. But man, I quick chilled one in the freezer and I tell you- these bad girls may not be the best looking ones but the one I tasted just melts in my mouth- there’s no reason why the rest won’t. So I packed some to bring to work tomorrow and let’s see what my friends would say. Updates later....