An easy meal from entree to dessert for the 9 days.

The 9 days is one of those times when one must be resourceful. Due to the limit of dairy only it makes most home cooks creative and allows for more flexibility in terms of side dishes and desserts that frequently have to be manipulated to accompany a meat meal. Tonight I had my parents over for dinner. Due to the heat and wanting to make something quickly I whipped up a simple pasta dish with a garden salad and a summer fruit cobbler for dessert. The pasta is really simple and takes max a half hour to make. The cobbler is simple to make but takes about 40 minutes to prep and bake so do that slightly earlier in the day.
Whole Wheat Penne Rigate with Olives and Tomatoes in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 to 1 box whole wheat penne rigate
2 plum tomatoes diced
1/2 can of black pitted olives rough chopped.
1 t0 1 1/4 cups of jarred tomato basil marinara sauce ( I personally like gefen funny huh? but you can use any brand you want)
1/4 to 1/2 cup light cream
fresh grated parmesan or Romano cheese
2 to 3 basil leaves chopped chiffonade ( optional)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. In a small separate sauce pan add the olives, tomatoes, jar sauce and light cream. stir and let simmer on a very low flame while the pasta cooks. when the pasta is done shut the flame of the sauce. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl. Pour the sauce over and toss to coat. Using a microplane or cheese grater take your block of cheese and lightly grate it over the top of the pasta. Toss the basil on the top, serve and enjoy!

I like to serve pasta with a light simple salad. I take spring greens and add 1 persian cucumber, 1 plum tomato and the rest of the olives from the can rough chopped. I toss it with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a drizzle of honey, and a little garlic powder. easy and tasty.

Summer Fruit Cobbler

Filling
3 nectarines sliced in thin slices
1/2 container strawberries sliced in thin slices
1/2 container of blueberries left whole
1 tsp sugar
1/2 a lemon

Topping

1 stick margarine at room temperature(I use earth balance it's trans fat free and works great for baking)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour

preheat you oven to 375 degrees.
Take any pan can be round, square , whatever you have and place two of the sliced nectarines in the bottom of the pan. the pour the blueberries on top of that and then layer the strawberries. Take the third nectarine and layer that on top. Sprinkle the tsp of sugar on top and squeeze the lemon half over all the fruit. Watch that you don't get any pits in.

In a medium bowl add the margarine, flour and sugar. Using your hands ( take that diamond off first) scrunch and mix everything together till you have a crumbly mixture and all the flour and sugar is mixed in. You don't want any lumps mixed in so make sure you really break the margarine down. Sprinkle the streusel over the fruit and make sure you cover all the fruit. Cook for 30-35 minutes until the fruit juices bubble through and the crust is very lightly browned.
serve hot with vanilla ice cream or on it's own warm or at room temperature.

Btai Avon!