Roasted Red Pepper Rotini Caesar

This pasta dish is so quick and easy, but the taste is kind of complex...a really good combination of flavors. This is Sam's favorite kind of pasta he's ever had...and I got the recipe off of the back of the Ronzoni rotini box! He was eating it for lunch at his lab one day, and the lab manager asked him for the recipe because she thought it looked/smelled so good. It's great for those nights when you need something quick to throw together!

1 13.25 oz. pkg. rotini noodles (I typically use whole wheat, although white is pictured above)

1 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, diced

4 cups of fresh or frozen spinach, chard, sugar peas, basil leaves, arugula, pesto, artichoke hearts, or broccoli florets

1 cup Caesar dressing

shredded parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat a large saute pan with a light film of oil, toss in red peppers and spinach; heat until warmed (about 1 minute). In the large saute pan, toss cooked pasta with spinach and peppers. Add Caesar dressing, stirrin frequently until heated through (approximately 3-5 minutes). Top pasta with desired amount of parmesan cheese, cracked pepper, and salt (the cheese, salt, and pepper really do make a big difference).

To make things even faster, you can toss the dressing, spinach, and peppers in with the pasta without sauteing them. I've done it that way and it works beautifully.

Whole Wheat Batter Bread

I dug this recipe out of some papers I had from my college cooking class. I had no idea how good it would be! But wow. Sam and I were both amazed by this bread. And seriously, please don't give up the honey butter. It makes this bread incredible! It's very fast, easy, and nutritious, and it has the consistency of a sweet bread. It is really dense with a very soft crust. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

2 1/2 cups hot water

1 tablespoon yeast

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup honey

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 to 5 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in hot water. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Add oil, honey, salt, and half of flour to yeast and water. Mix with flat beater attachment. Switch to dough hook (if using a KitchenAid stand mixer, or switch to your hands if you're not) and add enough of the remaining flour to make a thick, sticky batter. This dough is very sticky. Knead well (at least 5 minutes in the mixer), place dough in two well-greased loaf pans, put pans in warm oven, and TURN OVEN OFF. Let loaves sit in warm oven for 20 minutes. With loaves still in oven, turn oven to 350 degrees. Set timer for 30 minutes. Remove bread from oven when timer goes off. If loaves aren't nicely browned, bake for an additional 3-5 minutes. Brush with butter and remove from pans to cool. Eat warm with honey butter spread on top. (To make honey butter, simply whip equal parts butter and honey until light and fluffy.)

NOTE: My bread pans are the larger size, so I put all the dough in one pan. I still only let it sit in the oven for 20 minutes before baking. I'm not sure if the consistency would turn out the same if it is cooked in two pans, like the recipe says. Maybe you can try it and let me know!