This sh*t is bananas: Rasta Pasta

What makes a pasta Caribbean? From the looks of Rasta Pasta's menu, it's names like Spaghetti Trench Town, The Natural Mystic, and Dreadlock Ravioli, as well as ingredients like pineapples, jerk chicken, and bananas. Throw in some reggae music and it's definitely time to pass the doobie.

I joined MC and her pal for dinner at the Fort Collins location one night (there's also one in Breckenridge). Each dish came with a fresh side salad, accompanied by house-made sundried tomato vinaigrette, and a piece of toasty garlic bread. And the servers were accommodating about our request for a dish of simply pasta with butter, which MC's pal happily scarfed down as her entree.

Of course, I'm never one to go for simple when I can order "Chicken Montego Bay," penne in a light cream sauce with pineapple chunks, pieces of jerk chicken, and an assortment of fresh vegetables like cauliflower, tomatoes, broccoli, and carrots. I didn't taste much jerk on the chicken, but it hardly mattered—the dish was delicious. Huge, too; I only ate about a third before packing the rest up to take home. Next time I get the munchies I'll check out the "Tortellini Jamaica Mon," with its bananas, pineapples, grapes, and "secret spices"….