More than a year ago, when I was young, I blogged about Mark Bittman’s “Cheesy Pasta,” a quick recipe he ran in the Times. I made it again last week and it’s still quick and easy and good, though I still am not the world’s most enthusiastic lover of gorgonzola.

Pretty, though:

(That’s gorgonzola, grape tomatoes, chopped arugula and a cup of milk/cream.)

Since this literally comes together in less time than it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, it’s a great weeknight alternative to cracking open a jar of sauce. I want to try out some different types of cheese in it, and I’d use more arugula than the recipe calls for, since it wilts down very small.

Other fast things I’ve been preparing for dinner lately:
-Salad with TJ’s frozen pizza (Total prep time: 15 minutes to pre-heat oven, 10 minutes to bake)
-TJ’s Lentils Punjabi with a package of naan (Total prep time: 2 minutes in the microwave; 4 minutes in toaster oven for the naan)
It’s been busy times, kids. HOWEVER. I am reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which pretty much just coincides with everything my mom did anyway when I was growing up, in terms of local farmer’s market produce and the least industrial meat available and a balanced diet with animal protein only a few times a week, etc. It does make me even more paranoid about what I’m buying, though, which I actually don’t need. As a result I’m frozen in place and can’t figure out what to buy *at all,* and am pretty much sitting on my hands and wondering when CSA sign-up time is. Gah.

The computer is still broken. I haven’t had a chance to take it in for a check-up.

I’m brooding over shallots, onions and pancetta; there is a pasta recipe brewing in my head. Also there is beef stew in the slow cooker at home, and I have one more dinner’s worth of food photos uploaded to post soon! Sorry for the slow period…