Walnut and zucchini pasta

There's nothing like studying the biochemistry of omega-3's to whet your appetite for some walnuts and flax seeds. Combine that with a few nutrition lectures on PUFA's and MUFA's (poly- and mono-unsaturated fats) and you've got yourself a meal.

As it turns out, cells build fatty acids as long saturated molecules like this:

Then process them by de-saturating some of the bonds (adding a double bond) to make a variety of different molecules used in the body:

But cells can't just add a double bond anywhere they'd like: in particular, they can't add double bonds 3 or 6 carbons down from the far end. Thus, we can't make omega-3's or omega-6's ourselves, but we still need them, so we have to acquire them through the foods we eat!

Salivating, I know. But don't get me started on saliva, I've just finished studying that too...

The following recipe is not particularly original (see Mario Batali's ambitious Pansotti -- ravioli -- with Walnut Sauce and Smitten Kitchen's zucchini strand spaghetti) but it's so easy and delicious that every busy cook should be making it.

For one large serving:

• 1/8-1/4 cup walnuts, toasted (good source of omega 3's)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 zucchini or 4 baby zukes, sliced into rounds
• 1/4 box of pasta
• olive oil (good source of monounsaturated fat, which lowers LDL cholesterol)
• parmesan
• red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper

Prep the vegetables as you boil the pasta water. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the pepper flakes and garlic for about a minute, then zucchini rounds. Cook for just a few minutes, until the garlic is toasted and the zucchini is slightly soft but still has some crunch. Cook the pasta until just before it's ready (still fairly al dente), then drain. Add the pasta and walnuts to the frying pan and toss everything for 1-2 minutes until the pasta is to your liking. Serve with salt, pepper, and Parmesan.