Garlicky pasta with smoked salmon, red onion, and dill

I feel I'm on a roll with these pictures (no pun intended..you know, camera roll..anyone? :-) )

When you have a quick and easy base like garlicky, buttery pasta, a variety of delicious and satisfying meals is at your fingertips.

In the case of this dish, it took little more than preparing the pasta, and assembling the salmon, onions, and dill, before a fantastic and vibrant dish was mine for lunch last weekend.

Feel free to use this as a go-to base for quick weeknight suppers – all you need are a vegetable and a protein to complete the meal. 

Kale and a fried egg are great options – easy to prepare and loaded with nutrients. Or you can do sautéed green beans and sausage of your choice. How about an easy microwaved sweet potato (mixed with some oil or butter and a dash of cinnamon), quick pickled cucumbers, and roast chicken? Or green beans and roast chicken and potatoes. I can go on - pick whatever vegetable and protein suit your fancy, or whatever you happen to have on hand!

For a light lunch or side dish, just add the salmon, onion, and dill (plus some good extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice) following my instructions below.

Garlicky, buttery pasta:

-8 ounces dried fusilli pasta, cooked in plenty of salted water, drained. I recommend fusilli for its corkscrew shape that maximizes the absorption of the delicious oils, butters, and spices we’ll be mixing it with. There is nothing like these wonderful ingredients clinging to every nook and cranny of the pasta. It also looks pretty :D

-1 tbsp olive oil

-1 tbsp butter

-generous shake of red pepper flakes

-1/2 tsp black pepper

-about 1 tbsp dried parsley (fresh would be wonderful here too – just make sure it’s very finely chopped)

-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced – try to take care of this step first, or at least with enough time to allow the minced garlic to sit for at least 5 minutes before you mix it in.

After you’ve emptied your pasta cooking pot of the freshly cooked pasta, turn the heat to low, and add the olive oil and butter to the pot. Immediately add the hot, drained pasta, spices and herbs (except the garlic), and stir together to coat. Turn off the heat, add the garlic, and mix to combine and evenly distribute the garlic. Voila – your base is completed!

**To make the dish pictured above, simply add for each serving 4 ounces of flaked smoked salmon, about 2 tbsp of finely chopped red onion (I soaked mine in a little bit of rice vinegar, to help take off some of the pungency and sharpness), and about 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill. Mix it all together, and top it off with a drizzle of your best extra virgin olive oil and a splash of fresh lemon juice. Mix again and enjoy your refreshing and zesty dish!