Dinner Ideas: Vegetable Pasta

What You’ll Need:

-vegetable pasta

-zucchini

-yellow squash

-green bell pepper

-yellow onion

-extra virgin olive oil

-garlic marinara sauce

-reduced fat/fat free grated parmesan cheese

As an Italian I LOVE pasta but like everyone knows, eating pasta everyday can really pack on the pounds. In an effort to remedy this nasty side effect, I created this recipe which allows you to eat a larger portion and still consume fewer calories than traditional pasta with marinara sauce. For this recipe I used shell shaped tomato and spinach pasta that I purchased from Whole Foods but you can find this in any grocery store. Vegetable pasta has less fat than whole wheat pasta; however, it also has less fiber. Once I start heating the water that’s needed to boil the pasta I start chopping the vegetables. I like to try to get 2:1 ratio of pasta to vegetables but you can add more or less depending on your taste. By the time I’ve finished chopping, the water is usually at a boil so I go ahead and add the pasta to the water for about 13 minutes. I then drizzle a tiny bit of EVOO into a wok and sauté the vegetable mix. The vegetables should be fully cooked by the time the pasta is finished but if not it’s no biggie. Once the pasta is fully cooked, drain the pasta then add it into the wok with the vegetables. Lastly, pour some garlic marinara sauce into the wok but just enough to coat the pasta. Plate then top with fat-free or reduced fat grated parmesan cheese if desired.