Pasta with Zucchini and Tomatoes

Look at how gorgeous this heirloom tomato is! It almost seemed a shame to eat it - but I did anyway!

This dish was inspired by a recipe I saw in Vegetarian Times, although I didn't really follow the recipe at all. It's a simple summer dish. I realized that I've been eating pasta more since I've gone gluten-free than I did before, but that's probably because it's nice and light and doesn't require the stove to be turned on. 

For this dish, I shredded zucchini with a julianne peeler and diced a few heirloom tomatoes. I cooked them in a little olive oil for a few minutes and then added them to the cooked pasta along with some chopped olives and a little shredded Sheese. This was quite tasty and was a good use of all the tomatoes and zucchini that I picked up at the farmers' market.

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Pasta Shells with Chickpeas and Zucchini

This is a recipe from my friend Vanessa. It originally came from a cookbook her mom has but it's been passed down and altered, so I have no idea if it resembles the original recipe at all. It's quite easy and very delicious, especially if you're a chickpea lover like me. Any type of pasta can be used, but shells work well because they chickpeas sit inside them nicely.

The recipe Vanessa gave me made a huge vat of pasta, so I'll be eating this for lunch for the next few days. The next time I make it, I'm going to cut it in half.  The recipe calls for three cans of chickpeas, half of which was pureed with the liquid from the can in a food processor. I chopped up an onion and a few cloves of garlic and sautéed them together, and then added the chickpeas (both puréed and whole), a large can of chopped tomatoes, and chopped basil and rosemary. I let it simmer while the pasta was cooking. The longer it simmers, the thicker the sauce becomes. I then added chopped zucchini (I had a really jumbo yellow zucchini from the farmers market) and continued cooking until the zucchini was soft. 

I liked this so much that I think it's going to be in my regular meal rotation. I will probably add some spinach or kale the next time I make it. Gotta get those greens in! 

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Pasta with Beans and Greens

I've made various versions of this meal over the past few months. This has become my "go-to" dish lately, because it's quick, easy and delicious! It's perfect for busy week nights, and I've been really busy lately. This time around, I used shallots, fennel, kale and sun-dried tomatoes and rice pasta. I topped it off with chopped olives and nutritional yeast. Perfect!


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No-Idea-What-To-Make Pasta

Like I said yesterday, I didn't have a plan when I went grocery shopping, so once again I just threw some things together for dinner. This time I made gluten-free rice pasta and veggies. I sautéed shallots and arugula with a can of chopped tomatoes and a can of white beans and then added some chopped olives.

I think arugula is an underused veggie. Believe it or not, it is a really good source of protein and calcium! It is also high in vitamins B6, A, C and K as well as folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, copper, phosphorus and manganese. It does have a bit of a bitter taste, but I've found that a little lemon juice usually takes the bite out of it.

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