Eats: Lemon Pasta.

I know that we all like to pretend that we have little diets for ourselves. For me it's cutting out white bread (sourdough just tugs at my heart strings it's so delicious) and trying not to eat so many G-D potatoes (especially those adorable little fingerling ones.) But let's be real for a second here and realize that "diets" are simply no fun. I'm all about indulging from time to time (or every other day or so) and with this lemony garlic spaghetti for two you can treat yourself (and a deserving friend!) without feeling like you cheated afterwards. It's light, tasty and reminds me of the uncomplicated pasta dishes I used to inhale in Rome. File under pasta diet part two. 

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. spaghetti
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 5-6 basil leaves, chiffonaded (chopped real perrty)
• Salt and freshly-cracked pepper

Recipe:

• Boil your spaghetti. My stove takes forever to heat up so I'd do this step first while chopping/preparing everything else.
• Heat up the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the chopped garlic and cook just until fragrant. Be careful not to burn it! Remove from heat and set it aside in a big bowl (large enough to toss the pasta in.)
• Chop your basil leaves.
• Use a large heavy object to break up the pine nuts a bit so they're not so big. (Great way to take out any excess anger you have!) Wipe out the saute pan you used before with a paper towel and dry roast the pine nuts if they aren't already pre-toasted.
• Once the spaghetti is al dente (or however else you like it cooked) drain it and thrown it into the big bowl with the garlic and olive oil, the pine nuts, the cheese and the basil.
• Squeeze the lemon over the whole deal (make sure not to leave any seeds behind!) and crack lots of fresh black pepper and salt over it. Mix it up, serve it up and eat it up. Enjoy!

[Image and recipe via I Nom Things]