I can’t believe it’s the end of March already. A quarter of the year has gone by, and soon summer will be here. Summer is one of my favorite seasons. The weather is nice, everyone is relaxed and going on vacations, and I get to wear my cute little summer dresses and sandals (yes, I specifically chose not to mention that it is also bikini season…ugh)!

I’ve traveled to many places during my summer vacations, both near and far, and have fond memories of each one of them. However, one of the best trips I had was in 2006, when my hubby and I went to Napa for our 5th year anniversary. And while I don’t know the difference between a Syrah or Shiraz (besides the fact that I have 2 Indian friends that also go by those names), or what the hell a decanter is used for (which is why I once put the lovely red roses my hubby gave me into it), my hubby is a wine freak.

We would spend our day wine tasting (well actually, hubby did the wine tasting. I had the duty of writing down all his comments about the wine in his wine notebook, that I stupidly bought for him), but at night we would try the many fine restaurants in Napa. I can still remember everything we ate at each restaurant, and how good it tasted (why can’t I remember more useful things like where I parked my damn car at the local mall?).

Anyways, one of the wineries we went to actually had a restaurant in there too (thank God), so that we could actually dine in the outdoor garden, while enjoying our delicious lunch and a nice glass of wine. It was quite romantic.

I had a tomato and basil pasta dish, with a pan seared chicken breast on top, and it was so good. The pasta was light, fresh, and simple, perfect for the summer months (hubby had 2 bottles of wine, with a side of soup and salad). Ever since then, I’ve made a similar pasta dish whenever I feel like summer is near.

Today I awoke to beams of sunlight shining through the window, baby birds chirping excitedly outside, and hubby walking around in shorts exposing his blindingly pale legs, and I knew, summer is near.

So today I made my delicious Tomato and Basil Pasta with Chicken, and it brought back all those wonderful memories from 3 years ago. Just the smell of it reminded me of summer.

This dish is simple and fresh, exactly what a summer dish should entail, so here the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of chicken breast fillets
• 4 medium sized tomatoes, cubed
• ½ cup of fresh basil, julienned
• ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 box of bow tie pasta
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Tomato and Basil Pasta with Pan Fried Chicken Breast

Chicken Marinade:

• 2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley leaves
• lemon zest from half a lemon
• juice of half a lemon

Directions:

1. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breast
2. Put the marinade ingredients on chicken, and set aside
3. Heat a pan with oil and add garlic, and tomatoes and stir fry about 4 mins, or until tomatoes are soft
4. Add the tomato sauce, and let boil
5. Once boiling, add the mozzarella cheese, followed by the half the fresh basil
6. In another pan, heat, add oil, and cook the chicken breast about 4 mins on each side on medium heat, or until no longer pink in the middle
7. In another pot, boil some water, add the oil, salt and pasta, and let cook for about 8-10 mins until al dente (follow instructions on the box)
8. Slice up the chicken, put the sauce on top of the pasta, and garnish the pasta with the remaining basil and enjoy!

I was channel surfing the other day, and happened to pass by one of those kiddie channels where they were singing that song “On top of Spaghetti, all covered with cheese. I lost my poor meatballs, when somebody sneezed!”

It brought back all these childhood memories of being in daycare, and anxiously awaiting for the days where we got spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. I remember the meatballs always being a little dry, and the spaghetti being a little soggy, but I guess anything was better than those pieces of cardboard they tried to pass off as pizza back then!

Anyways it got me hungry, and craving for spaghetti and meatballs. I’ve made it a couple times before, and while I conquered the spaghetti with meat sauce, the meatballs were another story. They were always a little more dry than I liked. So this time I decided to try adding minced onions in the meat, and discovered the key to juicy meatballs! The meatballs were perfectly juicy and tasty!

My best friend brought her 5 year old daughter over that day, and she had so much fun making the meatballs. This recipe is easy, quick, and so good! It’s perfect on the days where you don’t have much time, but want a filling and satisfying meal. Or if you need a cooking project that will entertain the kids too (I let my 5 yr old helper make all the meatballs, while I was catching up with Oprah!). Trust me, this will be the juiciest meatball you’ve ever tasted!

So here’s my spaghetti and meatballs recipe:

Ingredients:

1lb ground chuck (regular ground beef meat is ok too)

spaghetti and meatballs

Marinade:

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon basil paste (they sell them in tubes in the fresh herb section, or you can use fresh basil)
• 1 teaspoon Chinese hot sauce (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
• 1 small onion minced

Other Ingredients:

• 1 package spaghetti noodles
• 1 jar of Ragu traditional meat sauce
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of oil

Directions:

1. Put the ground beef in a large bowl with the marinade ingredients, and mix until even
2. Form golf ball size meatballs and put onto a foil lined baking sheet, save some meat for the meat sauce (be careful not to spend to much time forming the meatballs, the more you touch them, the tougher and drier the meatball will be. Do not spend more than 10 secs on each ball)
3. Preheat oven to 375, and bake meatballs for 10-12 mins, until lightly browned
4. In a wok, add the oil and garlic cloves until browned, then add the remaining meat
5. Stir fry the meat until browned and fully cooked, then add the meat sauce from jar and let sit on low heat (once meatballs from oven are done, add them back to the sauce in wok)
6. In a large pot, boil some water and add oil and salt.
7. Once boiling, add the noodles and cook until al dente (about 8-10 mins, or follow instructions on box)

I love Italian food. The first time I was introduced to the Olive Garden, I thought it was the best place ever. My friend Michelle and I first started going there in middle school. It wasn’t because we heard it was good, but it was located next to the mall, and we could easily take the bus there.

Every time we go, we order the same thing, chicken Alfredo fettuccine, house salad, potato soup, and the garlic bread. And it is always as good as I remember. Even though I’ve been to many Italian places since the Olive Garden, it is still one of my favorite places to go.

But I recently heard from a good friend of mine, who has a cousin that works at the Olive Garden, that all their food is frozen, and they simply heat it up when you order it. I can’t say that I’m surprised. I am fully aware that the Olive Garden is like the fast food of Italian restaurants. So anyways, I figured I should try making chicken fettuccine myself, because how hard can it be if the Olive Garden can do it =)

So I bought all the ingredients, and just threw everything together, and surprisingly it was BETTER than the Olive Garden! I know it doesn’t mean much being better than the Olive Garden, because I’m probably one of the few people that think so highly of it. But even my picky husband, who doesn’t particularly enjoy Italian food, said it was the best chicken fettuccine ever!

And being that I don’t have all the time in the world, I did use some short cuts, like using store bought Alfredo sauce. But in my defense, I do know how to make the real thing from scratch, but why bother when you can buy it!

So here is my Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo recipe:

Ingredients:

Main Ingredient:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces (cut out as much fat as possible)

Fettuccine Alfredo - Stella-style - with some broccoli on the side

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Other Ingredients:

• 1 package fettuccini noodles
• 1 jar of Classico Alfredo sauce with garlic
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 package sliced white mushrooms

Directions:

1. Cut up the boneless skinless chicken thighs into bite size pieces
2. Add the marinade ingredients and let sit at least 15 mins
3. Heat up a big wok with oil, and add the garlic cloves and fry until a little brown
4. Add the marinated chicken pieces, and stir fry until the chicken is browned and fully cooked
5. Add the mushrooms and stir fry until mushrooms are browned (about 5 mins)
6. Add the jar of Alfredo sauce, and cover with lid on low (once it bubbles then its done)

For the noodles:

1. Boil a pot of water, add in oil and salt
2. Add the dry noodles (I usually need about 2 quarter sizes of noodle bunches for one person)
3. Cook until al dente (meaning until the noodles still have some bounce to them and aren’t too soggy) about 8-10 mins

And that’s all there is to it!