Fresh herb tip!

Tom and I were watching one of the many cooking shows we watch .. and a famous chef, whose name escapes me, said a trick to spruce up any dish is fresh herbs. Well, we have an herb garden so I was anxious to hear his tip. Combine several cloves of garlic, 15 - 20 fresh basil leaves and 2.5 cups olive oil in a blender. Puree, then pour into ice cube trays ... remember those?? ... and freeze. When they were solid, I popped them into a labeled Ziploc bag and tossed them back in the freezer.

So, for last night's dinner with my grandson, Aidan (he's seven), I cooked some spaghetti pasta and after I drained it and while it sat in the sink, I tossed some chopped onion, fresh mushrooms (about 1/2 pound) in the pasta pan and sauteed them until they were cooked through. I tossed in a drained can of diced tomatoes and two "garlic/basil ice cubes" and the drained pasta. I tossed it and served with a sprinkling of feta and Parmesan cheese and a bit of salt and pepper. It was wonderful! Aidan ate it all, though he prefers canned mushrooms!

So for Tom's dinner at work tonight, imagine my surprise when I pulled out the leftover pasta/tomato/mushroom/garlic/basil concoction and it was half gone!! He took some to work ... now I have to wonder if he noticed there was no meat in there??? Only time will tell!