"Mint Pasta" or "Bacon & Pea Pasta"

So this one is NOT DIET but it's my FAVORITE meal that is semi recent in our household. I can easily have 4 helpings of this meal. To be honest, I've never made it myself, but Nick makes it often and it is very quick and doesn't take too many fresh ingredients that you need to buy at the store specifically to make it. Most of it we have at home and I only need to pick up about 3 things for it. Soooooo good! If you make this one, please let me know how you like it! It's from Jamie Oliver.....the two names above at the various things it's called in our household. Jamie Oliver's name for it is "mini shell pasta with creamy smoked bacon and pea sauce" - a little wordy, I think!

Ingredients
• 10 slices smoked streaky bacon or pancetta
• a small bunch of fresh mint
• 150g Parmesan cheese
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 400g dried mini shell pasta (we've used all sorts of pasta with it)
• olive oil
• a knob of butter
• 300g frozen peas
• 2 heaped dessertspoons crème fraîche (I think Nick uses sour cream - maybe easier to find?)
• 1 lemon

Serves 4-6
To prepare
• Finely slice the bacon
• Pick the mint leaves and discard the stalks
• Finely grate the Parmesan

To cook your pasta
• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
• Add the mini shells and cook according to the packet instructions
• Get a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a good lug of olive oil and the butter
• Add the bacon to the pan, sprinkle a little pepper over and fry until golden and crisp
• Meanwhile, finely chop your mint leaves
• As soon as the bacon is golden, add your frozen peas and give the pan a good shake
• After a minute or so, add the crème fraîche and chopped mint to the bacon and peas
• Drain the pasta in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the cooking water
• Add the pasta to the frying pan
• Halve your lemon and squeeze the juice over the pasta
• When it’s all bubbling away nicely, remove from the heat
• The sauce should be creamy and delicious but if it’s too thick for you, add a splash of the reserved cooking water to thin it out a bit
• Add the grated Parmesan and give the pan a shake to mix it in

"Roasted Spring Vegetables"

I know veges are easy....you pick one and you cook it the way you like it. However, I'm a recipe queen so I even like a recipe for my veges. This is one we've been doing often with burgers or something else easy.

Ingredients:

- Red potatoes (the recipe calls for a 20 ounce package of precut potato wedges....I just do however many regular red potatoes I feel like we need based on how many people are eating) cut into bite size pieces

- Asparagus cut in 1 inch pieces (again, the recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups...but amount should be proportionate to the potatoes)

- olive oil

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup frozen petite green peas

- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 450

- Place potatoes and asparagus on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss well. Bake for 20 minutes or until asparagus is tender and potatoes are golden brown.

- While potatoes roast, microwave the peas with 1 teaspoon of water for 2 minutes.

- Transfer potato/asparagus to bowl and add peas, lemon rind and pepper.

I cannot get enough of this. I make it thinking I'm going to have leftovers and I eat the whole thing. Ben loves it too! Not that I need to put this since it's basically veges, but it's Weight Watchers (2 points for a cup).