Yldara - A Glimpse at Poetry & Life

« Riding Winged Verses | Home | Just write »

Category: Egg free and Gluten Free Recipes |

Pasta and Vegetable Delight

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

Sometimes, those frozen vegetables do come in handy. When one’s schedule is wrecked and you need a 30 minute healthy meal, they come to your rescue without sacrificing any of the stuff that matters: visual and palate appeal.

Take a look at this —-

Colorful, tasty and relatively fast to fix–the kind of meal-in-one I could rely on to satisfy a hungry bunch. Top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and you’ve got a winner! Well, at least as far as my brood is concerned. This can easily feed 6-8 people as a main dish.

Pasta And Vegetable Delight

1 pkg. 16 oz. frozen sweet yellow corn
1 pkg. 16 oz. frozen broccoli florets
1 pkg. 12 oz. Tinkyada (Rice) Macaroni
1 cup fresh grape or cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp. butter (half a stick) salted
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. sea salt (fine)
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
freshly ground pepper to taste
grated parmesan

In a stock pot big enough to hold all the pasta and liquid needed, cook pasta according to directions, except season the cooking water with 1/2 tsp. sea salt and 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil.

While the pasta is cooking, in a 12 inch skillet with cover, cook the frozen corn in 1/4 cup water, 2 tbsp. butter and remaining olive oil for approximately 10 minutes covered. Test for doneness before adding in the broccoli, red and green bell peppers, 2 tsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder. Stir together for a minute or two. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes. You want the broccoli to be cooked enough but still retain a bit of its crispness. Turn stove off.

By this time the pasta should be cooked al dente. Rinse with cold water and drain then transfer to a 9×13x2 serving dish. Add cooked vegetables, halved grape or cherry tomatoes, remaining 2 tbsp. of butter. Mix together lightly. Season with ground pepper according to your taste and serve with grated parmesan cheese on top.

Enjoy!