Has anything changed?

Back at school, I am amazed at how much everything appears to be the same: social cliques, study habits, daily routine. How did we pick up so smoothly exactly where we left off? We strain to ask each other about summer experiences, but quickly the conversation veers towards apartment redecorating, upcoming dinners out, and lecture content. And yet I get the sense that many people feel changed by their summers, and are keeping that feeling within.

Without much fanfare, they have launched us into second year. Oddly, because there was much more fanfare at the start of first year (the white coat ceremony), this year feels like a significant departure from the past. A series of lectures on the "principles of drug therapy" represents the study of medicine opposed to human biology.

Here's a recipe with a little tweak on the norm, a variation in honor of summer (and my CSA share). My dad, being a food purist in favor of traditional recipes, commented, "What, do you want to eat like you live on a commune?" Despite his objections, the summer squash in this recipe adds a sweetness to the sauce and lightens the dish overall, a nice summer adjustment.

Summer pasta with squash and tomatoes (feeds two):

• 2 cups large macaroni or shells
• 1 medium-sized summer squash or zucchini
• handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• handful of parsley
• parmesan
• 1/2 tablespoon each butter and olive oil
• salt & pepper

Get water boiling for the pasta.

Melt butter and olive oil together in a saucepan. Finely chop the onion and garlic (both peeled), and add to the hot oil. Cook for a minute until fragrant. Chop the squash into 1" cubes (notice a pattern here?) and slice the tomatoes in half. Add the squash and cook for a few minutes until slightly soft, then add the tomatoes. Cook for just a minute and turn off the heat.

Cook the pasta in salted water. Before the pasta is fully cooked, drain most of the water and add the pasta to the saucepan with the sauce. Cook at high heat, stirring constantly, adding pasta water as needed. Stir in chopped parsley and grated parmesan. Serve hot!

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