Vegetable Ribbon Pasta (found on rachaelraymag.com, recipe by Tracy Seaman)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pappardelle pasta

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 3 large carrots, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise

• 1 large onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

• Salt and pepper

• 4 zucchini, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

• 2/3 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

Smart move:

Use a vegetable peeler to make zucchini and carrot ribbons.

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

2. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Add the zucchini and cream and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes; stir in the tarragon. Add the pasta, reserved cooking water and pecans; toss.

The version for the single Jane Austen fan on a budget:

Go to the grocery store (don’t forget your reusable cloth shopping bags).

Buy the following:

a bag of baby carrots, which can also be used in salads and as a healthy snack afterwards. One zucchini. One onion. A boxed prepared pasta (the kind that already has the noodles and everything) that has a white cream type sauce. Salt, pepper, milk, salad dressing, cheese if you don’t already have them.

STAY AWAY from the ice cream, no matter if the store premium brand triple chocolate is on sale.

Back home, put in the BBC version of Emma for the 1000th time since it first came out in January.

Chop up half the zucchini. Put some of the baby carrots and some of the chopped zucchini in a bowl. Add lettuce, shredded cheese, and salad dressing. Chop a little onion, and add some to the salad if you want. Chop a few more of the carrots. Set aside the veggies that were not used in the salad.

Eat the salad (cuz you’re already hungry) while you prepare the pasta according to the directions on the box. Saute the zucchini, carrot, and onion in butter in a separate skillet, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Plate half the prepared pasta, add the veggies. Save the rest of the pasta for leftovers to eat the next day with Morningstar Farms “chicken” strips or a side of green beans, etc.

Make sure to sit down while eating, not over the counter like Diane Lane in Must Love Dogs (you had to know I’d slide in a John Cusack movie).

Finish watching Emma while petting your dog because he climbed in your lap as soon as you sat down on the couch.