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It looks like Friday nights are going to belong to the Sci Fi channel for the next couple months. New Battlestar Galactica, the new season of Dr. Who, and tonight's premiere of the Sarah Jane Chronicles. Oh my, it was fun in a completely and thoroughly cheesy way.

Actually, my main reaction can be summed up as: Hello 80s! From the multilayered outfit accompanied by a long string of beads worn by the main teen heroine to the alien computer console that looked like it was dug out of BBC props deep storage from the era when everything was held together with gum and bits of string to the wholesome plucky teens saving the day, it took me straight back to watching PBS in 1985 or so. Although with generally better production values, thank goodness - these days, sketchy and unconvincing cgi is the equivalent of yesterday's foam rubber aliens, but even poorly rendered cgi usually looks better than the styrofoam BBC monsters of yesteryear.

Although did anyone else want to start singing about Slurm as they were watching?

Tonight's dinner

Artichoke pasta

12 oz quartered artichoke hearts, frozen or from a can, drained
2 Tbsp olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
4 oz chicken or vegetarian chicken substitute (roughly one chicken breast) cut into strips (this is entirely optional - I wouldn't have added it but longstrider often needs a concentrated protein source)
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Bunch of kalamata olives, sliced
2 Tbsp basil pesto
8 oz pasta

Start water boiling for pasta and add pasta when it's boiling. While that's happening, heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic. If you chicken is raw, add it as well and saute until chicken is cooked and garlic is brown. Add the artichoke hearts and olives (and chicken if precooked), saute for 3-4 more minutes (possibly less, since I was starting with frozen artichoke hearts. Take off heat, stir in pesto and crumbled feta. Serve over pasta (I used Trader Joe's artichoke tortelloni, which was a divine combination).