Salami Pasta

This past week, while sitting in the dentist's chair, I was watching Rachel Ray. She mentioned a quick meal for career women, like myself, that like to cook weeknights even though time and energy is limited. I went over to Wal-mart and only spent $16 for the ingredients. I was able to make 2 dinners, 1 for 3 people and 1 for 2 people, plus 2 lunches with left overs. Good price!

When my dad was visiting, I decided to make the meal. I cooked generic whole wheat penne pasta. I microwaved frozen chopped broccoli. I chopped beef salami. I combined all 3 ingredients with ricotta cheese. Once combined, the dish was cold and not very good. On the side, I made mushrooms with tomatoes. I sliced roma tomatoes, drizzled them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and roasted in the oven. Then, I chopped portobello mushrooms and sauteed them in olive oil with minced garlic. Finally, I added the tomatoes from the oven and tossed.

The next night, I wanted to change the recipe to make the dish taste better. Instead of serving the mushrooms on the side, I tossed them into the pasta. Also, I substituted broccoli with fresh spinach. Further, I mixed all ingredients together after cooking in a skillet to warm everything up. This tasted MUCH better!