My Favorite Pasta

My favorite pasta dish always reminds me of one of my favorite days. It was the spring of 2004 and Chris and I were on a cruise in the Southern Caribbean.

The first two times we were in St. Thomas we booked a trip through the cruise line and we snorkeled at Buck Island via sailboat. Going out on a private sailboat in St. Thomas is a wonderful way to get away from the crowds because only six passengers can go on each boat per US Coast Guard regulations. Even though a lot of boats (including larger catamarans) go over to Buck Island, I would still recommend this trip because it is such a beautiful place to snorkel. We really enjoyed it both times, but we were looking for something more for our third trip to St. Thomas.

I found out about private daysails in St. Thomas from my favorite website about cruising. We decided to go with High Pockets and we LOVED it! The captain is Kathleen who learned to sail from her husband. He went with us because their friends, with whom they had sailed together in other places over the years, were going out with Kathleen. In addition to us there was another couple from NJ who were staying at resort on St. Thomas. So it felt like we were honored quests at a private party.
We went spent the day at St. John. We snorkeled, ate lunch, snorkeled some more, ate dessert, and then headed back to the dock. We saw beautiful fish and this sea turtle.
It was the BEST vacation day ever! I love the ocean and the water was so beautiful and the setting just gorgeous. Of course, the food was going to be good - anything would taste good on a sailboat in the beautiful location. We had a simple salad and pasta with chicken. It was so yummy that I had to get recipe.

They also had an open bar. In addition to beer and other mixed drinks, they served rum swizzles. I am not a big rum fan and I have since learned that I usually don’t like rum swizzles that much but their rum swizzle were delicious. They used key lime juice, simple syrup, rum, water, ice and fresh nutmeg. Every time I grate nutmeg, I crave the rum swizzles and remember the perfect day on the sail boat.

The other week our friends Susan and Jim came over for dinner. When I asked her about what I should make for dinner she suggested the High Pockets Pasta. They went on the daysail a few years ago based on our recommendation. That year they sent the recipe out with their Christmas cards!

It was such a blessing that Susan suggested this pasta. It is so easy to make that it took all the stress out of hosting dinner.

High Pockets Pasta
Whisk together 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil. Put the chicken in a gallon ziplock bag and add some of the dressing - just enough to cover the chicken and let it chill for a couple of hours. Cut in half a container of grape tomatoes and add them to the rest of the dressing. Cook the pasta and grill the chicken. Combine the pasta, tomatoes and dressing, chicken, basil, and parmesan cheese.

Kathleen served this with linguine but we use penne because it easier for the kids.

It is simple, easy, and healthy. When I see grape tomatoes on sale that is when I make it.