Picatta Pasta Salad

I'm not fond of eating leftovers, so I remade chicken picatta into a brand new dinner!

This is another one of those 20 minutes or less super fast dinners. Granted you need leftover chicken picatta, but that was yesterday's dinner, and we won't worry about that right now. Live in the moment! Super fast dinner!

Picatta Pasta Salad

• 2-4 pieces of leftover chicken picatta
• picatta sauce
• 2-3 cups cooked pasta
• 1-2 tbsp fresh basil
• 1-2 tbsp green onion (or red if you prefer)
• 1-2 tbsp capers
• 1-2 tbsp artichoke hearts
• 1-2 tbsp sundried tomatoes
• 1-2 tbsp olives
• 1-2 tbsp pine nuts
• 1-2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice or wine
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

Okay, yes, the measurements are more approximations than anything, but adjust as you need/like/have in the fridge.

If you have leftover pasta, this dish is even faster than 20 minutes. I didn't have any so I needed a few extra minutes.

While the water is coming to a boil, collect all the ingredients, and change out of work clothes.

I like to toast my pinenuts, so I did that in a small dry pan over medium heat. Give the pan a shake from time to time, between ingredient choppings works, and when they're nice and golden, turn the heat off.

As the pasta boils, chop anything you want chopped.

If your pasta is freshly boiled, cool it by running it under cold water.

If you have enough picatta sauce to just use it as the dressing, perfect. Me, I didn't (frankly, I'm not sure there's any such thing as enough picatta sauce) so I extended the dressing with wine and olive oil.

Combine everything in a nice big bowl and stir it gently.

If I had any lemon, I probably would have added a bit of lemon zest as well.

And what do you know, dinner!

How do you get creative with leftovers?

Zucchini Fettuccini

Not a noodle!

Side dishes are usually overlooked and kinda boring. No wonder they're overlooked.

This one is definitely not one of those.

There are some days when boiling a huge pot of water just seems like too much trouble. Especially in the summer when it's warm outside and adding humidity to the house is the last thing you want to do. It's not quite that warm here yet, but I've been craving zucchini, and this is a fun way to eat it. I'll bet even kids would be willing to try them this way!

Zucchini Fettuccini

(this serves one, multiply as needed!)

• 1 zucchini
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 clove garlic

Using a vegetable peeler, or a mandolin (if you have one) peel thin strips off the zucchini.

Keep going with the peeler. Don't worry if the strips are even in width, or if they break a bit.

The middle, where all the seeds are, won't work well, so don't worry about it. Just keep turning and peeling the zuke until you've turned as much of it into ribbons as possible.

Heat a large pan over high heat. The goal here is to really sautee these things. You don't want them to steam at all. Zucchini has a very high moisture content, and we want to trap that moisture inside the "fettuccini."

Chop the garlic. Get the butter sizzling, then drop in the garlic. It and the butter will start to brown pretty fast. As soon as you see that golden edge, drop in your zucchini.

Keep the fettuccini moving around and DON'T add salt. Salt will draw that moisture out, and we want it trapped. It takes about 3 minutes for the zucchini to cook.

Topped with a bit of grated parm, or a tiny sprinkle of lemon zest..

These not-a-noodles, make a perfect side dish

Hm. What should I put on the other half of the plate...

How about chicken picatta?

I'll bet the zucchini fettuccini would be great next to Taneasha's little turkey meatloafs too!

What would you put on the other side of the plate?