Garden Vegetable Pasta Bowl

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Garden vegetable pasta bowl

A Meatless Monday option that evolves with the growing season

This meatless dish is on the menu a lot at my house, especially when the garden is in full swing. Like so many of the recipes I share here, my garden vegetable pasta bowl recipe evolves with the growing season. As June’s snap peas and greens give way to July’s summer squash and peppers, I will tweak the basic recipe to take advantage of what’s fresh and in season. But the basic cooking technique remains the same.

Depending on what’s in your garden (or refrigerator), you can use any combination of firm vegetables (like broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, and carrots) and tender vegetables (like peppers, mushrooms, summer squash, and leafy greens). The firm vegetables are cooked in boiling water with the pasta, while the tender vegetables are sautéed in olive oil with onion and garlic.

You also can change up the type of pasta based on your preferences (or simply what’s in the pantry). I use farfalle (bow-ties), rotini, or penne pasta most often in my garden vegetable pasta bowls.

The basic recipe

The formula is simple. Cook the pasta according the directions on the package. When there are about four minutes left in the cooking time, add the firm vegetables to the boiling water and cook them right along with the pasta. In the meantime, sauté the onion, garlic, and tender vegetables in olive oil in a skillet. Toss everything together at the end, along with a 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Top each vegetable pasta bowl with a generous amount of grated Parmesan cheese.

The end result is an easy, healthy, and delicious meatless lunch or weeknight meal. To add extra protein, top each bowl with an over-easy fried egg. The creamy yolk will coat the pasta and the vegetables like a luscious sauce.

After you’ve mastered my recipe, go ahead and experiment with your own combinations of vegetables and pasta. This is a recipe that will let you have a little fun in the kitchen with the garden’s bounty!

Fresh garden vegetables

You easily can modify my garden vegetable pasta bowl recipe to take advantage of fresh, seasonal vegetables.