Just in case you needed something to do this weekend.

Remember the French Market and how much I love my town and how I went there last Saturday to buy food for the week? Well, lots of times, more times than I'd care to admit, I buy all that yummy food and some of it, just some of it, might not get used. I hate that. Isn't that terrible of me?

But this week, I am happy to report, all of the food that we bought at the market last Saturday has been consumed. Even though it's been a busy week, it's also been a healthy-eating week for which we are ALL thankful around here.

(Just as an aside, I had to admit to my Facebook friends a couple of weeks ago that we were eating pizza for the third time in a week. I got a lot of response from that one!)

Anyway, I just had to tell you about the pasta we bought because I made the most amazing dish, if I do say so myself.

There was a new booth last Saturday, one we hadn't seen before, and believe me, I would know if it was a new booth because I know all of the booths. I know which ones I like, and I know which ones I just skip right past. Which place has the best flowers and which place has the kind of jewelry I like. It's all a matter of personal preference, of course, because you just might like ugly jewelry and there would be a booth for you there.

But I digress.

The pasta booth was new. It is a company called Pappardelle's Pasta, and I went to their web site and found that they are expanding all over the country. And, get this, the main way that they sell their delicious pasta is through farmer's markets like mine (I say mine like I own the place, but that's kind of how it feels. I'm the Queen of the French Market!).

We bought a pound of the Basil-Garlic Fettuccini, which sounded delicious, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Now, I do think I'm a pretty good cook, but I usually have to follow some sort of recipe. I don't usually get terribly creative with food, except for pasta which is one of my favorite food groups. This week, though, I got creative with the Basil-Garlic Fettuccini.

Here's what I did.

Cook the pasta according to the directions, which I didn't have, so I guessed. About 5-6 minutes was perfect.

Heat a saute pan until it's pretty hot, just not too hot because that's what I did and I just about burned down the house (don't tell B). Anyway, get your pan nice and hot, and add about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Heat that for a minute, and then add about 5 seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes and two cloves of chopped garlic. A little garlic on top of garlic isn't a bad thing, is it?

Meanwhile, fire up your grill and grill some fresh zucchini. When that's cooked (it only takes a couple of minutes), bring it back in the house and cut it up into small chunks. Throw that in with the tomatoes and garlic in your really-hot-but-not-too-hot pan. Add about 1/2 cup of white wine and let the whole mess simmer for a few minutes.

Put the pasta in a pretty bowl and top with the tomatoes and zucchini. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Mmmmmmm.

I didn't happen to have any that night, but if I made it again I think I might throw in a little bit of fresh basil too.

So there you go. Just in case you were looking for something to do this weekend, you can now make this delicious creation.



Oh, and by the way, did you happen to notice that there is no meat in this recipe at all? We've been talking about healthy eating at our house (my sisters and parents are laughing right now), and we're trying to eat vegetarian once a week. I know it's not much, but it's a start, and it gives me something to think about when I'm planning meals for the week. Kind of an interesting aside . . .

And one more thing. Remember my friend, H, I told you about on Monday? Well, she's going to have a busy weekend because she's in labor RIGHT NOW. Say a prayer for her if you think of it. Thanks!

Happy Friday, everyone. I love you for stopping by.

Now tell me, what are your plans for the weekend? Cooking anything delicious? I'd love to know!