Renegade

Ah, October! When the days get cooler, we start to crave heartier fare -- soups, stews, roasts. And being the perverse renegade that I am, (I'll bet you didn't know that about me) I always make one final salute to the bounty of summer.

I read a story in the New York Times last week about whole wheat pasta. Now, I've always been a traditionalist where pasta is concerned. When I was little, I refused to eat any pasta except my mother's (renegade, remember?). I distinctly recall turning my nose up at a neighbor's spaghetti -- she used tomato soup instead of good homemade tomato sauce!

Even as a child, I knew that tomato soup was not meant to dress pasta.

So having read the story about the new, tastier versions of whole wheat pasta, I decided to give it a try. While I boiled the cooking water, I roasted some zucchini, onions and grape tomatoes in the oven with extra virgin olive oil and salt. When the pasta was al dente, I drained it and mixed it with the vegetables, and topped the dish with freshly grated Romano cheese.

Delicious!

So that was my salute to the end of summer vegetables, and the widening of my horizons to include whole wheat pasta. (And probably the widening of my waistline, too.)

But after all, keeping up my renegade reputation entails some sacrifice, no? ;)