I just got back from a short trip to visit family in California. Kevin’s sister, brother-in-law, and their two children live just outside of the bay area. The weather had been surprisingly unpredictable. There were days of cold mornings interspersed with days of hot afternoons. Kevin and I stayed at a DoubleTree hotel in Pleasanton. It was our first time staying at a DoubleTree hotel, so we were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted with some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies upon check-in. Kevin’s parents also stayed at the same hotel just a floor above us. His dad and stepmom had traveled from Hong Kong to visit Kevin’s sister, Karen, and her growing family. This was the first time in over a year since I had seen Kevin’s family. They had all traveled to New York during the summer of 2018 to celebrate Kevin and my wedding in Flushing, Queens. The last time I saw both Karen and Charles, they only had one son, Grant. A little over a year later, they welcomed Henry into the world. During our short trip to California, we spent most of the time in the Pleasanton and Dublin area. We got to spend some time exploring the different regional cuisines and foods of the area. Kevin’s family was eager to have some New American cuisine. We rounded out the rest of our meals with a traditional Chinese feast, authentic Vietnamese cooking, and standard Japanese fare. We even squeezed in a fast food meal here and there including a trip to In-N-Out Burger and a stop at Jamba Juice. Kevin insisted on stopping for a burger at In-N-Out Burger since he had never had one before. I needed a break from eating a lot of heavier meals and stopped to get a smoothie at Jamba Juice. A few days into the trip, I developed a cold and lost my appetite for the remainder of the trip. The highlight of the trip was definitely getting to spend time with Kevin’s family. Watching Grant grow before our very eyes and meeting Henry brought a lot of joy to our hearts. Before I knew it, Wednesday was here and I was Ohio bound. I had to travel back to Ohio a few days earlier since I had class on Friday. Throughout the trip, I had eaten a lot of heavy meals and was ready to return back to lighter, homecooked meals. One of my recent cravings has been a garlic herb pasta made with a chimichurri sauce. The garlic herb pasta featured tons of fresh parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. The simple sauce was folded into cooked penne pasta, and chilled in the fridge to allow some time for all of the flavors to meld together. The pasta dish was impossibly easy to make, filled with fresh flavors, and made for a filling, light meal as I caught up on all of the fall shows I missed.
For the garlic herb pasta:
· ½ box (8 ounces) dry penne pasta, cooked according to package instructions
· 2 quarts of water
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 9-11 sprigs fresh parsley
· 6 cloves garlic
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1) Bring two quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Once water begins to boil, add the teaspoon of kosher salt. Pour in half of the box of penne pasta, about 8 ounces. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.
2) While the pasta is cooking, make the garlic herb sauce by combining the parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Blend all ingredients for 1-2 minutes, until the parsley is finely blended and all ingredients are well combined. Pour the sauce into a large bowl.
3) Once the pasta is cooked a minute shy of al dente, drain the pasta. Add the pasta directly to a large bowl with the garlic herb sauce. Toss all of the ingredients to combine with the sauce.
4) Cover the large bowl with plastic wrap. Chill for 3-5 hours before serving. If you can’t resist, chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: The pasta can be dressed up further with your favorite vegetables. You can also toss in some shredded kale and spinach to increase your vegetable intake. For other variations of my favorite chilled pastas, check out my tomato basil pasta salad and pasta salad with Italian dressing.