Hey, Ma. What's for Dinner?: Tomato Caprese Sauce with Whole Grain Linguine

I love cooking dinner.  The problem with home-cooked dinners can be the fact that they are time consuming and hard to keep on the healthy side when you want a fast meal that pleases the entire audience.  I always take tips from my mom in these situations.  She's been cooking dinner for her picky family for years, and she has mastered this challenge again and again.

Plus! Being home for the summer=full use of my mom's amazing kitchen.

She gave me the directions for this recipe, so all credits to her!  I was sous-chef, if you will.

Tomato Caprese Sauce with Whole Grain Linguine:

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 white onion, diced, medium size
• half tablespoon of minced garlic
• half tablespoon of minced basil
• 20 ounces of grape tomatoes
• 8 ounces of fresh mozzarella pearls
• one box of whole grain linguine 

Directions:

1. Sautee the olive oil and onion with a dash of salt in a skillet/pan
2. Add half a tablespoon of red pepper flakes (If you like a little spice--if you do not, omit this step. If you like lots of spice, add more!) 
3. Once the onion is softened, add tomatoes.
1. These tomatoes will fall apart or break once they are cooked.
4.  Start on pasta.  Bring water in pot to a rolling boil, add the linguine, and cook until al dente.
5. Add the pasta to the skillet along with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
6. Add garlic, mozzarella balls, and basil
1. This must be done last because these ingredients will burn if added anytime before this.
7. Serve immediately. Salt and pepper to taste.

 That's all!  Super easy, reasonably priced ingredients (and also very healthy, might I add).

Here is what the tomato splitting/breaking looks like!

Finished Product(:

Nutrition Information (4 servings):

• 545 calories per serving
• 68 grams of carbs (all whole grain!--these are good carbs)
• 23 grams of fat (good fats--olive oil)
• 25 grams of protein
• 195 grams of sodium
• 10 grams of sugar  

Don't forget to add whatever vegetables or protein sources you want!  As I always say, get creative(:

I added 1 cup of shrimp and spinach to mine. I just used the leftover oil on the pan after removing the finished pasta to sautee quickly.