It’s mid-summer already. Seriously, time is flying by my friends! I’m still working on finishing all of my case studies for nutrition school, and it’s keeping me crazy busy! Oh my!
On a side note, I’ve done a few fun projects I thought I’d share with you. First off, I created the most delicious naturally fermented cashew yogurt recipe for the super cool peeps at The Body Book (Cameron Diaz’s blog). Then I was hired to create a summer picnic recipe and an article for a company that I really love: Patience Fruit & Co (organic cranberry products from Quebec). You can find the healthy chicken pasta salad Healthy Chicken Pasta Salad recipe here (it can easily be made vegan by simply not using the chicken), and you can find the article with my Top 10 tips to spend the best sunny afternoon.
Now, on to today’s recipe! Easy summer meals (like this other roasted veg and pasta dish) are staples around here, especially ones that cook quickly because we’ve been having a really hot summer, and we don’t have central air conditioning, only a portable one, so it’s been hot in the house (my poor cat has been feeling it too). I made this originally for a fun dinner with my husband last month (any excuse to have my house filled with beautiful pesticide-free peonies from a local farm!), but we ate this dish on repeat many, many times, in different variations, throughout the summer so far. It’s quick, it’s simple, it’s healthy. What more can we ask for? 😉
P.S. the recipe for the delicious gluten-free dairy-free Coconut Berry cake that you see on the pictures below will be coming up soon!
How is your summer going? Tell me!
Send me a message or an email, or show me your favourite summer creations by tagging @eyecandypopper and #eyecandypopper on Instagram 🙂
Bon appétit!
ECP xo
Simple roasted vegetable and pasta dinner
Ingredients
- 450 gr spelt spaghetti or linguini (1 regular size package)
- 24 oz organic shiitake mushrooms (3 packages - 680 g) washed and trimmed
- 6 large garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 lb organic cherry tomatoes (1 pint) washed, cut in halves
- 8 organic sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, chopped in small pieces
- 1/4 cup organic red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
- olive oil for cooking
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 handfuls baby arugula
- 12 fresh basil leaves + extra for presentation
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- organic parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and put aside in a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and mix in (this will prevent the pasta to clump together).
- Warm a large pan over medium heat.
- Thinly slice the mushrooms. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the warm pan, and immediately put in the mushroom slices. Spread over the whole pan. Try not to move them too often. You want the mushrooms to be nicely roasted all over. Sauté until roasted and golden, about 10 minutes or more, depending on how thick your slices are.
- Add extra olive oil as necessary, if it gets too dry.
- Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the cherry tomato halves, and mix in. Cook until the tomatoes are soft, 5-10 minutes (you can use the spoon or spatula to gently push on them to get the juices out).
- Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes in and the red wine, mix in well and cook for 1 minute.
- Add a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of black pepper, mix.
- Serve immediately over the cooked pasta. Mix in the chopped basil leaves and baby arugula (the heat will soften them, but not cook them).
- Sprinkle with pine nuts, and parmesan cheese (optional).
Note: I do not believe anyone should worry about counting calories, but here is the nutritional information for one serving
Calories: 650kcal | Fat: 19g | Saturated fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 111mg | Potassium: 1154mg | Carbohydrates: 103g | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Protein: 24g | Vitamin A: 925% | Vitamin C: 23.7% | Calcium: 139% | Iron: 6.4%
Sounds good! I have lots of tomatoes in the garden, now I know what to do with them
Perfect to enjoy homegrown tomatoes! Yum!