Friday Fare: Healthy Recipe - Grilled Veggie Pasta

Sorry this is a little late today. Our guest blogger, Shannon Stahura, sent me this recipe last night, AND she showed up at my door with some for me to taste! Oh, the perks of living right by the recipe guru! It's super yummy AND healthy...

Shannon:

Grilled Veggie Pasta

"This is yet another great way to get your veggie servings. In the summertime I grill the vegetables with a grilling tray (available at Walmart), and in the off-season I recommend sautéing them in olive oil and garlic. Summertime is a great time to forego the heavy sauces and go light. This pasta is tossed in olive oil and topped with fresh lemon juice. It is also full of vegetables, so it provides an excellent source of Vitamins A, K , C, B6, and Folate .(Nutrition & You, Joan Salge Blake). I also love using the Barilla multigrain pasta in this dish. It has a texture that is lighter than the wheat pasta so it’s a lot easier to fool the family into thinking they are eating the regular enriched pasta and it has a higher protein content. This recipe is definitely one you will want to make again and again."

Ingredients

Barilla plus multigrain pasta
Olive oil 4 TB
4 cloves crushed garlic/ and or garlic salt
1 cup fresh parmesan
1 lemon
Fresh basil (dried will do too)
asparagus
spinach
cherry tomatoes
mushrooms

* chicken another great option with this recipe

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat grill.

2. Cut asparagus and toss in a bowl with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, olive oil, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, salt and pepper to taste. (and if you prefer you can add zuccinni, peppers, garlic salt or whatever you like)
3. Put vegetables in grilling tray and grill for 5-8 minutes.

4. Heat a frying pan with 2 Tb of olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic. Strain pasta and add pasta to frying pan stirring for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add vegetable mixture to frying pan,

(if using steamed spinach add add it at this time) toss veggies and pasta with juice of one lemon and top with fresh parmesan and sliced basil. Sliced basil makes a lovely garnish. Just pick the leaves, roll them and then start slicing.