Meatless Monday? Meh.

In some misguided, bizarre attempt to be healthy, I thought it would be a good idea to implement Meatless Mondays (for dinner, at least).

So far, it's not such a hot idea - at least, not the recipe I chose for yesterday. And it sounded so promising, too, which always makes it an even bigger disappointment. Creamy lemon pasta with tomatoes and spinach sounds good, right?

Wrong.

The sauce? A little too sour, and a little too creamy. I get freaked out by anything with that much heavy cream in it. I think maybe it could use a little white wine in it next time. The spinach and tomatoes did not quite "cook" enough, which basically was like eating raw veggies in creamy sour pasta. We think next time it needs less lemon juice, a little white wine and half-and-half instead of cream. We also think the tomatoes and spinach need to be cooked just a teensy bit before putting them in the pasta, and we feel this recipe could benefit from some mushrooms also.

It wasn't a total loss, not by a long shot (believe me, I/we have done worse). But it wasn't great. You can check the original recipe here, or see it below. If you make it, let me know how it goes for you, especially if you do any other variations.

The finished product. Could've been better, but also could've been worse.

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Believe it or not, I can't wait to marry this man ;)

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Creamy lemon pasta with tomatoes and spinach

Make at your own risk

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy cream
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 pound rotini pasta (or whatever you have on hand)
3 ounces baby spinach
1/4 cup grated parmesan (we just used a sprinkling of the grated kind)
1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:
Set pot of water to boil for pasta.
Heat oil over medium heat; add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for a minute or two.
Add cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened (supposedly about 10 minutes, but it took ours longer)
Cook the pasta.
Drain pasta and put it back into the pot. Pour cream mixture over pasta and cook 2-3 minutes until the pasta is well-coated and the sauce has been absorbed.
Take pot off heat and add spinach, Parmesan and tomatoes. Toss until spinach is wilted (ours never did).