4 Ingredient Pasta in Under 15 Minutes

Home after a long day at work and completely ravenous?  Need a go-to, no-excuses recipe for dinner before you ravage your entire pantry?

Then look no further than my classic standby- a 4 ingredient pasta dish that's complete, from start to finish, in 15 minutes (or under, if you're like me and have made this 100 times...how fast can you make it?  Contest, anyone?)

Here are your ingredients: 

Pasta (shapes of your choice, but I like shells for this to trap the tomatoes) 
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 container cherry tomatoes

Here are your directions: (I mean, could they get any easier?)

Boil water. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, heat olive over medium heat. Mince garlic, add to olive oil, saute for 1-2 minutes.

Slice cherry tomatoes in half, add to garlic and oil, cook until blistered (5-7 minutes).

Drain pasta. Add to tomato-garlic mixture. Serve hot! Refrigerate leftovers and enjoy chilled for lunch.

Why:  The reddish-pink color of tomatoes (as well as in watermelon and grapefruit) is linked to the antioxidant, lycopene. Perhaps you have heard that lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that may reduce the risk of prostate cancer (this used to be heavily advertised on ketchup bottles). But did you know that tomato products must be cooked in order for the lycopene to be better absorbed by your body? The takeaway: cooking your tomatoes increases lycopene absorption, so don’t shy away from making a quick and easy tomato sauce like the one above!