Garlic and Lemons and Bumblebee Jasper

I love lemon and garlic together, especially when it’s hot outside. Garbanzo beans are good with lemon and garlic, too. Hmm…actually that’s why hummus is so good – lemon juice, garlic and garbanzo beans….but I digress. (hummus also requires expensive Tahini, which is outside my budget at the moment). This is about the inexpensive but very yummy pasta salad I made yesterday. I’m trying to increase the amount of veggies in my diet, and maybe lose some weight, too. And save money to boot - eating on the cheap is pretty much a necessary skill for a self-employed artist. This little salad is simple and quick and a very satisfying summer supper.

Lemon Broccoli Pasta Salad

(makes extra salad dressing, too)

1 cup olive oil

3 large cloves garlic, put through a press

juice and zest from 2 large lemons

1 can garbanzo beans

1 box penne pasta (I use DeBoles rice pasta – gluten free)

2 nice size broccoli crowns, stems chopped and flowerets broken into small pieces (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds

1. Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, zest, and olive oil and set aside.

2. Cook pasta according to directions. Put broccoli in the water with the pasta about 3 minutes before it is ready to come off the heat. Drain broccoli and pasta and put in large bowl.

3. Open and rinse can of garbanzo beans, toss with broccoli and pasta. Pour lemon-garlic dressing over pasta to taste. There will be a nice amount of dressing left for your salads, too. Add salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, and enjoy.

For a more hearty version, add: feta cheese, kalamata olives and grilled tuna. Yum!!

Now, about that bumblebee jasper – what a lovely stone! Bright true yellow is not something very often seen in jasper, but this stone has beautiful yellow running through it like ribbon candy. It comes from the fumarole fields of the Mount Papandayan volcano in West Java, Indonesia. This particular cab is going to be a ring very soon. Think I’m going to name it “Sun Soul”. I’ve got a lovely little faceted yellow sapphire that might the perfect accent stone for the setting. We shall see, anyway. That’s all for now, time to head down to the bench!