I was paging through November Everyday Food looking for something to make for dinner and feeling pretty unmotivated. It’s been a rough week or two at the MarthaAndMe house with H1N1 knocking Teen Martha off her feet and me still fighting a long-term low-grade infection (3 mos and counting). We had an incident with a Bobcat (not the animal, the machine) getting stuck in the mud in our backyard as part of a large fence installation project and then Mr. MarthaAndMe and I have been dealing with our own individual work stresses. I’m tired. And I’ve got this big Halloween party on Saturday to get ready for. An easy dinner was definitely necessary.

I happened upon Tomato and Shrimp Pasta with Feta (page 47). It’s similar to a tried and true recipe I make called Greek Spaghetti, which is made with chicken. I had a bag of shrimp in the freezer and decided to put this together. You start by making the tomato sauce – onions and garlic, tomato paste, oregano, tomato sauce and then I used some stewed tomatoes. Cook that until it thickens a bit. Boil your pasta (I used whole wheat penne). Martha wants you to cook the shrimp in a separate pan- I just dumped it into the tomato sauce and added the capers and feta (olives were optional but I don’t like them). This was quick and good.

If I made it again, I would definitely add some spinach to it. And although I usually like whole wheat pasta, I just don’t like whole wheat penne. It’s too chewy and heavy somehow. So try another kind of whole wheat pasta if you’re into whole grains.

I still prefer Greek Spaghetti. Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it:

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 lb cooked  spaghetti

2 cans stewed tomato

1/2 cup sliced green onions

2 chicken breasts cut into one inch pieces

6 oz feta cheese

1 tsp Greek herb mix (or use oregano)

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, cut into smaller pieces

Pour a few teaspoons of oil from the jar of artichoke in a large pan and cook the garlic quickly. Add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, herbs and green onions and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add in chicken. Break up the tomatoes and reduce heat to simmer and let it cook until it thickens and the chicken is cooked through.  Toss with spaghetti and feta cheese.