Cooking With A Blueprint

In my resolution to cook more I'm also trying to find recipes that I can make for just one. Though I still want to make big casseroles and pasta dishes, I get annoyed eating the same thing for four days straight, but feel bad wasting all that food. So in my most recent cooking quest I used this recipe for Creamy Penne with Asparagus and Artichoke as inspiration basically a blueprint, but basically recreated it. What I came up with was rotini with asparagus and artichoke with tomato sauce instead of the creamy. I had thought about following the recipe completely, but I will never use an entire container of ricotta cheese and I was in the mood for something different. Anyway, below is my take on the above recipe. I also made it for just one!

Ingredients:

1 serving uncooked whole wheat rotini pasta
1 medium bunch asparagus, rinsed, stalks trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
3 large artichoke hearts (no added oil), chopped
1/4 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used Jewel organic brand tomato and mushroom sauce)
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Prepare pasta according to directions on package. Cook until al dente and drain. Set aside.
- Heat garlic and olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and saute until bright green and firm. Add artichokes. Reduce heat to low, add pasta sauce and stir.
- Continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes, coating asparagus evenly. Add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese; stir until incorporated. Add pasta and stir to coat pasta with sauce.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes to heat thoroughly and combine.
- Serve with grated parmesan cheese and freshly ground pepper, if desired.

The end result was good, but it's hard to go wrong with cheesey pasta and sauce. As far as points it was about 9-10 pts.