Spring into Lighter Meals

A great way to move out of the heaviness of winter is to eat lighter food. The best way to do that is to incorporate lots of delicious spring vegetables such as, asparagus, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, spinach, kale, kohlrabi to name a few. The simplest way to do this is in preparing salads or one of my favorites, a spring Pasta Primavera.  It's a very flexible dish and can be made with your preference of vegetables. It's a nice "in-between season dish" because it's served warm for those cool spring evenings. Still it's lighter because it's filled with vegetables rather than meat and you can choose to dress it with just olive oil and cheese or a cream sauce for a heavier flair.

10 ounces of Trader Joe farfalle pasta1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 white onion sliced
3 medium Cal-organic rainbow carrots cut into match sticks
1/2 of medium red pepper sliced
1/2 of medium yellow pepper sliced
2 cups of 2” cut asparagus
2 cups of broccoli florets pre steam
1 medium zucchini sliced
1 medium yellow squash sliced
5-6 large white mushrooms sliced
4-5 Campari tomatoes quartered
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 cup of fresh basil chopped
1-2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano
2-3 teaspoons of dry Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Cook pasta until tender.

Sauté all vegetables in large deep skillet. Begin with heating oil medium-high heat, add garlic, onion, carrots. After 2 minutes add peppers, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, then tomatoes and broccoli last. Toss vegetables and add salt and pepper and dried Italian seasoning. Turn down heat after 5 minutes and simmer for additional 2 or until vegetables have softened. Pour veggies over cooked pasta and toss with Parmesan Reggiano and fresh chopped basil. Add additional olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

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