Caprese pasta with sun-dried tomatoes

A couple of nights ago, my roommate's sister made this dish using bow-tie pasta. It was so yummy and I am now in love with sun-dried tomatoes! I decided to recreate it tonight, but I did not have any bow-tie pasta. Instead, I used spaghetti and it turned out fine. This recipe is super easy and budget-friendly, especially if you are a college student. :P

I usually cook by taste, so I never really measure out my ingredients. The measurements in this recipe are approximations, so feel free to tweak it to your liking. Fortunately, this dish is so easy to make that it is nearly impossible to mess it up. This recipe serves only one person, so make adjustments if you are making a larger batch.

You will need:

A handful of spaghetti (you can use whatever kind of pasta you like, but I used spaghetti)
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped into strands
1/4 cup canned sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup mozzarella, cubed
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
A dash of garlic powder (optional)
Salt, to taste

Clockwise: sun dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, mozzarella

Cook your pasta according to the directions on the package. While it cooks, mince your garlic, chop your basil, cube your mozzarella, and cut each slice of sun-dried tomato in half (they should be bite sized chunks). You want to make sure that all of your ingredients are prepared before the pasta finishes cooking because it is best to mix all of the ingredients while the pasta is still hot.

Once you drain your pasta, put it in a large bowl and mix in your garlic. Then mix in the extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, and salt. Add the mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and lastly, the basil. Mix everything together until the cheese starts to slightly melt.

Serve while still warm and enjoy!

P.S. This dish goes well with chicken parmesan. :)

Fried bananas!

Super easy fried bananas topped with vanilla ice cream:

You need:
1 banana (= 1 serving)
A pat of butter
Vanilla ice cream

Peel the banana and cut it horizontally in the middle. Then cut each half vertically (I hope this is all making sense). Melt your pat of butter in a frying pan over medium heat and then fry each banana slice on each side until it is golden brown. Put each banana slice on a plate and wait a couple of minutes for it to cool down a bit. Then plop a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream on top while the bananas are still a little warm.

It is sooo good when you take a bite of the warm banana with the cold ice cream!