As a New Yorker, I have a habit of talking myself into finding a healthy restaurant for dinner more often than I probably should. Considering there’s such a great variety of nutritious meals offered, the (somewhat) high prices at the grocery store and a lack of time, I haven’t been taking advantage of my kitchen as much as I could.

A new tool that I received from my mom and dad for Christmas, the handy mandolin, provided some nice inspiration to get cooking. So I set to searching around online for some recipe ideas, and stumbled upon Cooking and the City’s great blog. She created a delicious and healthful looking pasta dish, which I riffed off of for this delicious dinner!

Step One: Spray pan with Pam, add 1/2 of one small sliced onion and three sliced garlic cloves. Cook over medium heat until onions and garlic starts to become translucent.

Step Two: Mix in one sliced carrot, two chopped Roma tomatoes (or your tomato variety of choice), 1/2 sliced zucchini and 1/2 sliced Chinese eggplant. Continue cooking for about five more minutes and stir regularly to ensure even heating.

Step Three: Pour in 1/3 cup chicken broth to bring ingredients together and form a sauce. Simmer this down until it reaches your desired consistency.

While the sauce is finishing up, toss your favorite pasta (I used Fiber Gourmet) into boiling water and cook until tender.

Step 4: Strain pasta and add it to simmering sauce. Toss to coat pasta in veggies and cooked down broth. Grab a fork and dig in! This dish is perfect for someone who feels jipped by tiny portions of food—the veggies bulk up the serving size of the dish and make for a large bowl of antioxidant-packed goodness.

I meant to grab some herbs while at the grocery store for ingredients, but it slipped my mind. To add a little extra flavor, I sprinkled on a bit of NutraSalt Seasoned Salt (which is basically sea salt, paprika, dried garlic and dried onion. It added a nice kick!

Now one thing I forgot to mention was a semi-traumatic experience brought on by all of this kitchen work. Let’s just leave it at this…1) The mandolin blade is really sharp, 2) it comes with a hand protector for a reason and 3) no matter how many times you tell others that you won’t cut yourself, if still can happen (see exhibit a, below. Sorry for the poor lighting)!

Anyway, some time later, I’m healing nicely and can surely say that I will never make the same mistake again! Big thanks to my whip smart doc sister Amy, who talked me through how to stop the bleeding over the phone :)

What’s your worst kitchen mishap?