Veggie Pasta

This is a nice dish that an help you get rid of any leftover veggies you may have. Here, I used green beans, leftover carrots (also for color), mushrooms I used half of last night and garlic and onions.

A dish like this can still have tons of flavor and be light. Seasonings are red pepper flakes for spice, basil for flavor (if you have fresh basil that's even better!) and grated parmesean as a topping.

Veggie Pasta:

Ingredients:
Olive oil
A few garlic cloves, minced
Half an onion, diced
Green beans, about 3 or so handfuls
Carrots, one handful of the cut kind
One box pasta of your choice, though I am partial to shells :)
4 or 5 shakes of basil
3 shakes of red pepper flakes
Salt to taste (everything is to taste, actually)
Diced tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli would also be great in a dish like this. It's very flexible.

1. Boil water and dump in pasta. Drain and set aside. Add a teeny bit of olive oil and toss just so the pasta doesnt stick to itself.
2. In a large pot, add about 3 tablespoons olive oil and let it get hot. Add in garlic and onions, cooking these ingredients first help flavor the oil and add more dimension to your dish. Heat should be on medium high.

3. Add in the basil and red pepper once the onions have turned translucent.

4. Add carrots. They take longer to cook than the other veggies. Turn heat down to medium and cover with a lid, leaving it ajar for steam to escape.

5. Green beans after the carrots have cooked up for a few minutes, depending on how well donw you like your veggies.

6. Mushroom go in next. Wait till the green beans and carrots are almost done. Mushrooms are quick.

7. Add salt to taste.
8. Stir in pasta.
9. Plate and eat!

This dish can be enjoyed by itself or along side another dish. I recommend lemon chicken or fish. We're having this with almond crusted grouper, the recipe to which I shall post later.