Pasta is my comfort food and there is no limit to the number of pasta dishes I’ll make. I wish I could make it every night, but in the name of excess that is definitely NOT a good idea. When I do make it I try to bulk it up with some vegetables and protein. This helps make the dish filling and nutritious, not just a giant bowl of carbohydrates.

The other night I made this easy angel hair pasta dish. I added lots of peas, stirred in cooked pancetta strips, and bound it all together in a light pink sauce. It is the perfect tasty yet light meal to enjoy on a weekday winter night. It was made even easier by the fact that the peas were Cascadian Farm Organic frozen peas served fresh from the freezer. It is so nice to have frozen product all stocked and ready to go in the winter when the local produce is not available! I warmed them up right in the sauce.

The beauty of muffins is their portability. They pack well in lunchboxes, purses, and just about anywhere they need to fit. I’ve even started taking them to the ski mountain to enjoy as a quick snack when we need to warm up in the lodge. There is no end to their versatility! The key to enjoying muffins frequently, however, is keeping them on the lighter side. I like them to be full of flavor, but I really don’t like them when they are sweet like cake.