Grilled and Chilled Veggie Pasta Salad with Basil dressing

This was a fun one! It's super simple to replicate, and easy to change up depending on what you have in your fridge and your pantry. You can use the basil dressing as a marinade, to coat lettuce for a green salad, drizzled over fish, or eaten straight out of the bowl with a spoon (yes, I have been known to do this...shhhhhh). I used orzo, but any small bite sized pasta would work just as well. 

To start, bring a large pot of salted water to boil, and add in one package of orzo. After cooking for about 7 minutes, remove pasta, rinse with cold water (I only rinse my pasta if I am going to chill it, the cold water helps the pasta not stick together in one large pasta blob, otherwise it's a no-no). When pasta reaches room temperature, remove from cold water, drain and place in bowl. Drizzle a small amount of grapeseed oil over pasta, toss, and refrigerate.

For the dressing:

Ingredients:

10 large basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon honey

1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard

A dash of salt and pepper

1/2 cup white balsamic dressing

1/3 cup grapeseed oil

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for oil in a blender. Blend until combined. While blender runs on low, slowly drizzle in oil, only until mixture is combined.

Reserve at least 1/2 cup of dressing, and refrigerate. Toss pasta with just enough dressing to coat, and return to fridge. Let pasta sit in fridge for a bit to absorb flavor. 

For Veggies:

Ingredients

4 assorted varieties of summer squash, thinly sliced

6 green onions

1 bunch of pencil asparagus

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Directions:

In a large ziplock baggy add vegetables, oil, and vinegar. Sprinkle in a dash of salt and pepper. Close bag and shake to coat. Let vegetables rest for at least 30 minutes at room temp.

Heat indoor grill pan to medium. Grill veggies until barely tender, about 4-6 minutes a side. Veggies should have slight-brown grill marks, but not be falling apart. Cool. 

Cut asparagus into bite sized pieces, squash into strips, and slice the green onions.

To composes salad. Chiffonade 10 fresh basil leaves, and add to pasta. Add veggies to pasta. Add leftover salad dressing to pasta dish, 1/4 cup at a time, tasting I between additions, to make sure that salad is not overdressed. Refrigerate until serving time.

Pesto Tortellini with bacon, spring onions, and grape tomatoes

Here's a little insight into what I'll be doing over the summer: last week's box included some amazing spring onions and grape tomatoes which I incorporated into an amazing pasta dish. 

It's super simple to make, and easily interchangeable. You can use a homemade pesto, or save a step and dump in a jar of your favorite store-bought version. While I used tortellini, if you are avoiding dairy you could substitute a different type of pasta that you have on hand (I would suggest a thicker pasta like a rotelle or parpadelle). And, if you avoid meat, you could skip the bacon and start the recipe by substituting grapeseed oil in place of bacon fat. 

Ingredients:

Bacon, 8-10 pieces roughly chopped

1 carton of grape tomatoes, quartered

1 bunch of spring onions, whites only, thinly sliced

1 cup of corn, kernels off the cob, can use frozen as well

1lb fresh pasta, I prefer tortellini 

8oz of your favorite pesto sauce

Directions

In a large skillet on medium heat, brown bacon.

Remove from pan and drain, leaving a thin layer of bacon fat covering the bottom of the pan. (Here's where you would heat grapeseed oil until shimmering, if you were wanting to leave out the meat).

Add sliced spring onions to fat. Make sure you stir, as onions are thin, and you want them to slightly crisp, without burning. Add in tomatoes. Turn heat to low, and let simmer until tomatoes are soft.

While tomatoes are softening, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add in fresh tortellini and cook according to directions. Drain and set aside.

Add corn to tomato mixture. Cook for 2-4 minutes until just tender. Return bacon to pan. Add tortellini to vegetable/bacon mixture and add pesto. Stir to coat with sauce. Remove from heat and serve.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

There not one part of me that is willing to give up carbs. Not one. So, we eat a lot of pasta. And I try to make up for the amount of pasta I eat, buy making light and fresh pasta sauces.  One of my favorites is a simple roasted Tomato Sauce, that can be thickened up to make a dip, thinned down to make a soup, and served as is to make a perfect pasta sauce.

Ingredients:

10 Roma Tomatoes, quartered
1 red onion, chopped into 8 large chunks
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
Salt, pepper, olive oil
1/2 c chicken stock
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Toss tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, and dump veggies on it. Roast for 30 minutes.

Using parchment paper, transfer roasted vegetables and all the juice to a saucepan. Add chicken stock, tomato paste, and sugar. Using an immersion blender, puree all ingredients. Simmer on low for 10 minutes.

To make a dipping sauce: Omit the chicken stock, adding instead 1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs. Serve with warm bread.

To make soup: Add an extra cup of chicken stock. 

Aloha Chicken Stir-Fry

1/2 1lb bag of spaghetti noodles

extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 small onion, chopped

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced

2 Packages fresh broccolini

1/2 of a fresh pineapple, cored and sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 cup baby carrots, sliced in rounds

1 cup cherry heirloom tomatoes

Trader Joe's Ginger Beer, 12oz (split use)

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth (split use)

1 Tbs low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbs brown sugar

Sea Salt, to taste

Cook pasta noodles in boiling water, drain and set aside.

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil and heat on low. Add onions and garlic. Saute until onions become opaque, stirring frequently. Add chicken. Raise temperature to medium. After chicken has browned add 6oz of Ginger Beer and 1/4 cup chicken broth. Leave over low heat, while cooking the vegetables.

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Coat the bottom with olive oil. Add broccolini and carrots. Stir to coat with olive oil. Add peppers, tomatoes, and pineapple. Stir. Saute for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining Ginger Beer, chicken broth, soy sauce and sugar. Cook until vegetables are just tender. Add cooked chicken and noodles to stock pot. Salt to taste, and combine.

Cheeseless Lasagne

1 bag penne pasta, cooked to al dente, in salted water
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 container fresh ground turkey
3oz sliced olives
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
1 white onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar basil and garlic tomato pasta sauce (or can make your own - this time I decided to go with the jar I had)

Preheat oven to 350

Wipe a 9 x 13 glass pan with olive oil.

In a skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Stir and cook until translucent. Add ground turkey, brown. Add artichoke hearts, olives, diced tomatoes and fresh parsley.

Spread half the pasta in the bottom of the pan. Cover with half of the turkey mixture, followed with half of the jar of pasta sauce. Repeat. Bake in oven, uncovered for 40 minutes.