Everything but the kitchen sink!

The genesis of last night's dinner was quite interesting. It began with me asking RRR if she thought I should add fresh basil or parsley to my shrimp with tomatoes in a garlic white wine sauce. The basil seemed to be a natural complement to the tomatoes while the parsley worked with the shrimp. Decisions, decisions...

As I reached into my produce drawer, I realized that I also had some slender asparagus spears and a bit of rigatoni in my cabinet. Determined to be less wasteful in the kitchen, I figured why not combine all of these ingredients?

I began by sauteing some garlic and added the finely chopped asparagus spears. I added a bit of chicken stock and covered to steam and soften. After some seasoning, I added the chopped tomatoes to the pan and again let it simmer for a few minutes.

The shrimp and white wine were added next along with a squirt of tomato paste. By this point, the pasta was almost al dente, and I took my sauce to the next level by adding (gasp!) a healthy tablespoon of butter!

Being calorically challenged, it was a huge step for me to add butter. Any cook worth their salt knows the addition of butter or cream at the end of a dish is what makes most food flavorful and certainly not something you won't find happening on a regular basis at your local restaurant. In those cases, what you don't know doesn't count in your food journal right?

I gently spooned the pasta into the pan, bringing in a bit of the pasta water to add some starch to the dish and finished with a generous helping of freshly chopped parsley.

I wound up with a fresh delightfully unexpected meal and a much cleaner fridge!