Sauteed Summer Veggie Pasta

I was recently reading a pasta salad recipe in a magazine which reminded me I had to use up the rest of my veggies in my crisper drawer. I also found some spinach noodles in the cabinet and decided to make a veggie pasta dish.

I ended up chopping 2 small red onions, 2 zucchini,  2 squash, 2 cut corn on the cobs, the rest of a package of mushrooms, and 3 smashed and minced garlic cloves.

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I sauteed them in a large cast iron pan with some a couple tablespoons of olive oil and butter with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, I brought a quart of salted water up to a boil and cooked my spinach noodle one minute less than the package said. img_1709

Then I added the pasta to the veggies with a bit of pasta water and a couple more pats of butter (or you could do olive oil or both). I topped the entire dish with a GENEROUS portion of Parmesan cheese. Super light, but filling at the same time.

I challenge you to look through your fridge and pantry and see what you can create!

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2 Salads, 1 Jar

Added both of my salads together to make one delicious salad in a jar for lunch.

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Basically a Greek Chicken Pasta
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Big bowl of lettuce under there. I LOVE rainbow carrots!
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This dressing is delicious =)
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The end result

Doctored up Boxed Pasta Salad

Even though it is still cold, I really wanted some pasta salad.  It just reminds me of the warmer days to come. I had a box of the easy pasta salad mix in the cabinet. I really like these as a base, but I always like to get creative with them and add in random things from my fridge and pantry.

This time, I added a rotisserie chicken breast, 1/3 a block of feta cheese crumbled , and a couple of spoons full of black olives and roasted red peppers. I added plenty of pepper, but no salt bc the chicken, black olives, and feta are already salty. You can make this vegetarian or even vegan. So many options! Plenty of leftovers for the week!

Chicken and Ricotta Lasagna

Happy hump day! This is a semi crockpot meal that I am super excited about and has given me a few ideas for future meals. It was SUPER easy…all I did was cook 3 chicken breasts in a crockpot with a jar of tomato basil sauce (use your favorite or what you have on hand) and a can of diced tomatoes. When I got home from work, I layered no bake noodles with the final chicken product (shredded) with ricotta and shredded mozzarella and cooked at 375 for 40 minutes. The chicken was so tender and that ricotta made the dish! Happy cooking!

Creamy Tomato Vodka Chicken Spagetti

Roses are Red,
Violets are Blue,
I have been in bed for 2 days,
Because of the Flu.

But the good news is that I am beginning to feel better and on a few drugs that are helping (Tami-flu, antibiotics, Day Quill, Nigh Quill).

I made this dish a few days ago before the sickness, and it turned out super yummy. I have made home made vodka sauce on the blog before. It was super easy, but I recently bought some jarred sauces that were on sale and one of them was a vodka tomato sauce. I also had a can of diced tomatoes that I decided to add in to the mix. Here is how it all came together.

Ingredients

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pound of spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have)
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar of tomato vodka sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

Salt and pepper the chicken and cook quickly on high heat, about 3 minutes each side. Removed from pan. Cut in sliced or cubes. Chicken is not done yet…

Turn down the heat to medium- medium high. Add chopped onion in a bit of olive oil and cook down for a couple of minutes. Add in the garlic. Saute both together. Then add in your sauce and tomatoes. Mix well.

Add back in your chicken. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook pasta until al dente.

Add your butter and heavy cream to the sauce. Mix well, then add in your pasta to combine. Serve with some crusty buttered bread. Enjoy!

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