We’ve decided to redecorate our living room, and I couldn’t be more excited.
All I want to do is spend my days on Pinterest, curating my dream living room. I always thought Pinterest was best for finding recipes, but oh no – it’s the mecca of inspiration for everything!
When I first moved in with Lu to our apartment, I had left all of my furniture with my old roommate, because she was still staying in the apartment. Plus, Lu had previously owned an apartment in New York City and had a bunch of furniture in storage.
For the time being, that was fine – I didn’t want to deal with the headache of furniture shopping anyway. I was just excited to move in with my boyfriend!
Now, after over two years of living together, I’m ready to decorate our place the way I’d like to (luckily, Lu loves the vibe I’m going for.)
Right now, the furniture is dark (a really deep, dark brown wood) and the couch and ottoman and all of that other stuff is very masculine, very bachelor-pad esque (which makes sense, because it was Lu’s furniture from his bachelor days!)
Anyway, as part of my re-launch of Inspiralized Ali (my personal lifestyle blog that was put on hold after I learned I’d be writing a second cookbook,) I’m going to take you along for the ride, as I redecorate.
Since I’ll be busy with a lot this spring time (just wait for all the fun projects I’m working on!!), I figured I’d build up a bunch of easy, quick dinner recipes to have on hand.
This is my first one: a roasted artichoke pasta dish that uses canned artichokes and a simple Parmesan, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice sauce. The only time consuming part is roasting the artichokes, but that’s okay – as you do that, you can prepare the rest of the recipe and before you know it, the artichokes are done roasting and all you have to do is toss them together with the zucchini noodles.
If you want to add a protein here (this is more of a light lunch than a dinner,) try tossing in some chickpeas or maybe serve this alongside a pork chop. There’s not much that doesn’t go with roasted artichokes, so customize this to your preferences!
In the meantime, I’ll be building my living room on Pinterest. To those who have redecorated – any words of advice?
Nutritional Information & Recipe
Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 8 points
*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.
Lemon Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Artichokes
Ingredients
- For the artichokes:
- 1 13.75 can halved artichokes, drained, patted thoroughly dry
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- For the pasta:
- 3 medium zucchinis
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, toss together the artichokes, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Lay the artichokes out on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through or until browned.
- While the artichokes bake, spiralize the zucchini and mince the garlic. Set aside.
- Ten minutes before the artichokes are done, place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the olive oil and once heated, add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and let cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add in the zucchini noodles, season with pepper and toss until cooked, about 5 minutes. When done, add in the cooked artichokes, lemon and parmesan cheese and remove from heat, tossing constantly to coat the noodles in the parmesan sauce.
- Divide onto plates and serve.
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