Recipe | Garlic & Herb Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Zucchini

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Makes 3-4 servings

1/2 box whole grain spaghetti
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, quartered and then chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
3 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Set a large stock pot filled with water over high heat for the spaghetti. Set a large skillet with your olive oil over medium-low heat.

While waiting for you pasta water to boil, add your onions and garlic to your hot olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic until the onions become translucent/slightly browned (about 5-7 minutes) and then add some salt and pepper. Add your zucchini to the onions and garlic and and saute for another 5-7 minutes. Salt and pepper the mixture once again.

At this point, your pasta water should be boiling. Generously salt your water and drop your pasta in. Occasionally stir throughout the cooking process to make sure the spaghetti is not sticking together.

While your pasta is cooking, turn the heat off for your zucchini, onion, and garlic mixture. Add your tomatoes to the pan and stir to combine. The goal is to just heat the tomatoes through and give them a chance to lend their juices to your sauce - you don't want to actually cook the tomatoes and make them mushy.

When your spaghetti is ready to be drained, reserve 1/4 cup of the starchy cooking water and add it to the pan with your veggies. Drain your spaghetti and add it to the pan. Fold the pasta in with the sauce and make sure everything is coated. Add your fresh herbs and some more salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

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Recipe | Chiocciole with Garden Veg Sauce

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This makes approximately 3 servings, depending what you serve it with.

2 cups chiocciole
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 soy sausages, chopped into half moon shapes
1 1/2-2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
3 cups saute greens - mine had a mixture of baby kale, baby spinach, and baby swiss chard
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Set a large pot of water on high to boil. Set a large skillet on medium and add  some extra virgin olive oil. Brown the soy sausages on both sides. I found that leaving them in bigger pieces for the browing process is easier than cutting them up before hand because you're going to remove the pieces from the pan after they're browned. Whichever way you decide to brown them, they'll take about 3-4 minutes on each side to get nice and crispy

When the sausages are browned, remove them from the pan and saute the peppers and onions in the left over oil until they begin to soften and caramelize a little bit. Salt and pepper them after about 7 minutes of cooking.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Take two of your tomatoes, roughly chop them (seeds and all) and add that to the pan. Reserve the third tomato for later. Salt and pepper your sauce and add the crushed red pepper flakes. Your water should be boiling at this point so drop the pasta in. Lower the heat under your skillet to about medium low or close to simmer, cover, and cook for 6-7 minutes. Uncover the pan, add some starchy pasta water (about 1/4 cup) and continue to simmer until your pasta is done cooking.

Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Turn off the heat under your skillet. Add the saute greens (you may need to add them in batches, giving each batch a chance to wilt down so your pan doesn't overflow with greens), the reserved tomato, and the chopped soy sausages. Salt and pepper the dish if necessary.

I served this with a couple falafel balls, so it lasted me a couple meals. You could stretch it by adding more vegetables (like zucchini or eggplant or more peppers).

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Recipe | Embellished Boxed Mac and Cheese: Recipe 2

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1 box of your favorite mac and cheese
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup roasted red/any color peppers
1 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup frozen peas
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup water
a couple tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped
a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. While you're waiting for that to boil, set a large skillet on medium heat and add a few tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Saute the onion, sun dried tomatoes, and roasted peppers. Cook them for 5-7 minutes, or until the onions begin to soften. Salt and pepper the veggies.

Add whatever cheese sauce comes with your mac and cheese box to the veg mixture along with the 1/2 cup of water. Incorporate the cheese and water to a creamy consistency. You can use veg stock if you want, I just didn't have any on hand. Add the frozen broccoli, cover the pan, and cook until the broccoli is thawed - another 7-10 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce the heat to simmer, and let the sauce cook down a little bit. Salt and pepper this layer and add the crushed red pepper flakes.

While the sauce is reducing, your water should be boiling, so you can drop your pasta in. If you find your sauce is reducing too quickly, feel free to add some of the starchy pasta water to it to loosen it up a bit. This will also help the sauce stick to the pasta when you incorporate the two of them.

When your pasta is done cooking, drain and add it to the sauce along with the frozen peas. Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes and basil. Salt and pepper the dish if necessary. It's important to wait until the end of the cooking process to ass the peas because they will break down and turn to mush if you add them early on. The residual heat from the sauce and pasta together is enough to thaw them through. Or, you can thaw them out ahead of time if you're worried about serving frozen peas.

Enjoy!

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Recipe | Farfalle with Baby Bellas, Peppers, and Onions and a Sun-dried Tomato and Rosemary Sauce

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There are no pictures for this one because I just threw it together at the last minute... like about a half hour ago because I was starving when I got home from class. But it looks fancy as ~heLl and tastes equally as delicious.

I purposely made this yield two servings because I want to bring it with me to campus for lunch tomorrow, so here ya go:

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups Farfalle pasta

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 bell pepper, sliced (use whatever color... I used green because I had a half left over from my breakfast this morning)

A handful of Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced (roughly anywhere from 5-8 depending on their size)

1 soy sausage, cut in half lengthwise, and then sliced into half-mood shapes (I used Trader Joe's brand, but Smart Sausages are equally as delicious)

1/4 cup julliened sun-dried tomatoes (with the olive oil)

1 tbsp fresh rosemary

3/4 cup vegetable stock

a few leaves of basil, roughly chopped

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with water and set it on high. When the water comes up to a boil, add a generous amount of salt along with the two cups of Farfalle.

While waiting for the water to boil, coat a medium sized skillet with the olive oil and sautee the garlic, peppers, and onions. When they begin to soften up (after about 5 minutes), add the mushrooms to the pan. Sautee the vegetables for another 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper before moving on to the next step

When all the vegetables are nice and sauteed, add the sausage pieces, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh rosemary. You could brown up the sausage before you sautee the vegetables and then chop it up and add it in at the end, but I forgot to do that, so I just added them in with the other ingredients after the vegetables were cooked. Combine everything and season again with salt and pepper.

Add the vegetable stock and crushed red pepper flakes to the pan and simmer until the pasta is finished cooking. Before draining the pasta, add about 1/4 of a cup of the starchy pasta water to the pan to give a little more body. Drain the pasta, combine it with the sauce either in the pan if there's room, in the pot that you cooked the pasta in, or in a separate bowl. Toss together with the fresh basil and check to make sure the seasonings are okay.

You could serve this with some Parmesan or some fresh Mozzarella on top.

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