Vegetable Sautee and Couscous

I made this for dinner 2 nights ago and it was really good!

Vegetable Sautee and Couscous

Ingredients:

• 1 medium red or white onion, cubed
  
• 1 large green pepper, cubed
  
• 2 msall zichinni squash, cubed
  
• 2-3 gloves garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilanto leaves, chopped
  
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatos
  
• 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
  
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
  
• 5.8 oz. package Near East brand flavored couscous, such as Raosted Garlic and Olive Oil or Parmesan
  

Directions:

Prepare couscous according to package instructions, set aside. Cut the onion, green papper and squash into even size pieces, about 1/2 inch. Pul olive oil into a large sautee pan and heat to medium temperature. Add vegetables in the following order, cooking a few minutes after each addition: onion, gralic, green pepper and squash. When these are crisp tender, add fresh ground black pepper, a dash of salt, the cilantro and undrained tomatos, heat until just warmed through. Stir in prepared couscous, remove to a serving dish, and add a few sprigs of cilantro for garnish.

Penne a la Vodka II

Last night I made this dish for dinner (will upload the picture tomorrow). I made some modifications to the recipe which I will note below:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 1 pint heavy cream

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook garlic in olive oil until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, breaking up a bit with fork. Stir in basil, salt and pepper and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in vodka and cook 15 minutes more.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Stir cream into sauce and cook 10 minutes more. Toss with hot pasta.

Outcome: This was AWESOME!! I used Fire Roasted Diced tomatoes instead of the whole tomatoes, I used Vanilla Vodka (that's all I had), I added asparagus, red pepper flakes and I didn't have fresh basil so I used Cilantro. I added the pasta to the sauce during the last 10 minutes or so and it really is a fantastic dish. I'll be making this one more often :)