Pasta and vegetables -- recipes?

[ac_claire]

Hello CAF chefs! Here’s my situation: in these last few weeks of pregnancy, the only thing I’ve been able to keep down is crackers, cheese, fruit, vegetables and pasta.

So, for dinner almost every night I’ve made pasta with sauteed vegetables on top. Usually broccoli or broccolini, sometimes zucchini, or onions, mushrooms, etc. I went to the farmer’s market yesterday and got some eggplant and some yellow squash which I was thinking of trying. I looked online and apparently eggplant and pasta is a traditional Italian dish, but I’ve never even once cooked with eggplant so have no idea where to start.

So just wondering if anyone wanted to share any of their recipes or tips on the pasta/vegetable combo?

 

[tbcrawford]

Hi i eat pasta meals regularly.
I love pasta (usually spaghetti) in a tomato sauce made with tinned or fresh tomatoes basil, garlic (omit that if you feel queasy)onion,courgettes, mushrooms & olives.

I make pasta salad frequently.
Cook the pasta shapes (any) drain off the water & tip in to a bowl of chopped salad…whatever you like & blend through.I like chopped beetroot,cucumber,spring onions sweetcorn etc.Sometimes i use a little dressing or mayonnaise.

Of course my kids favourite has always been pasta with cheese or cheese sauce.
Cook the pasta & when cooked grate cheese over & stir it through delicious served with salad.

Cook the pasta in another pan make the chees sauce of a little butter in the pan with some plain flour adding a little milk at a time until a paste forms.Gradually heat adding more milk as necessary to make a thick consistency sauce add grated cheese & stir in (amount to your taste) pour over the pasta delicious!

When we have aubergine we usually grill it with a little olive oil and salt & pepper and add to the pasta dishes after they are cooked.

We also eat tuna pasta casserole all the time!
I don’t know if any of this is what you were looking for.

 

[ac_claire]

yeah, it’s definitely what I’m looking for! Keep the ideas coming.

tb, when you grill the eggplant…how exactly do you prepare it? Do you peel it first? Then slice or dice or what?

 

[Laurie_86]

So I don’t know what kind of foods tend to be the most upsetting but here are two of our favorite recipes!

Baked Ziti with zucchini:
We use cooked pene pasta with either a vodka sauce or regular tomato sauce both taste great. After steaming the zucchini assemble the pasta in a baking dish followed by mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, the zucchini and sauce on top. You can also put cooked chicken in the dish if it is something you can handle, but it is also very yummy without. Bake for about 15-20 min.

Pasta with tuna:
This is actually a Martha Stewart recipe. Basically you cook tri colored pasta and throw in green beans during the last minute of cooking so they stay kind of crisp. For the dressing it calls for a mixture of parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic (although I’m sure you could do without garlic if it doesn’t agree with you). Mix this into the pasta and add chopped toasted almonds and tuna. We’ve determined you could use salmon in this if you wanted but we’ve also done it with just veggies and it was yummy too. I’m sure this would taste good with zucchini in the mix too.

I agree pasta salad is the best dish ever! You can use any combination of veggies you want. With our pasta salad we typically use uncooked carrots and sometimes celery with Italian dressing on top with grated Parmesan cheese. It makes a great summer dish because you don’t heat up the entire kitchen!

I hope you get to feeling better. I will keep you in my prayers and send more recipes your way!

 

[shannyk]

Yummy. I’d take the eggplant and zukes, some onion and garlic, dice them all and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, the roast at 400 until brown and yummy. Toss with cooked pasta, some additional olive oil and lemon juice. Parm cheese would be nice on top, chevre too. This is also good as a cold, pasta salad type deal.

 

[flores81]

So I don’t know what kind of foods tend to be the most upsetting but here are two of our favorite recipes!

Baked Ziti with zucchini:
We use cooked pene pasta with either a vodka sauce or regular tomato sauce both taste great. After steaming the zucchini assemble the pasta in a baking dish followed by mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, the zucchini and sauce on top. You can also put cooked chicken in the dish if it is something you can handle, but it is also very yummy without. Bake for about 15-20 min.

Pasta with tuna:
This is actually a Martha Stewart recipe. Basically you cook tri colored pasta and throw in green beans during the last minute of cooking so they stay kind of crisp. For the dressing it calls for a mixture of parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic (although I’m sure you could do without garlic if it doesn’t agree with you). Mix this into the pasta and add chopped toasted almonds and tuna. We’ve determined you could use salmon in this if you wanted but we’ve also done it with just veggies and it was yummy too. I’m sure this would taste good with zucchini in the mix too.

I agree pasta salad is the best dish ever! You can use any combination of veggies you want. With our pasta salad we typically use uncooked carrots and sometimes celery with Italian dressing on top with grated Parmesan cheese. It makes a great summer dish because you don’t heat up the entire kitchen!

I hope you get to feeling better. I will keep you in my prayers and send more recipes your way!

looks great inf, it also helps me a lot

 

[tbcrawford]

yeah, it’s definitely what I’m looking for! Keep the ideas coming.

tb, when you grill the eggplant…how exactly do you prepare it? Do you peel it first? Then slice or dice or what?

When i grill eggplant i do not peel it as i like the skin (but you can peel it if you think its a bit bitter)i slice it fairly thinly,brush each with olive oil & plenty of salt & pepper & grill…mmm delicious!

If you dice it you can fry it in some olive oil (again i wouldn’t peel it as i like the texture & taste but its up to your individual taste). and add to a chunky tomato sauce of tinned chopped tomatoes,almost like a ratatouillle.

If you like cheese its great with pasta!
I love mushrooms & have big field mushrooms sliced & fried in olive oil or whole baked in the oven with crushed garlic & cheese delicious! I would eat that with pasta salad!

Do you like whole peppers?

I like to cut a pepper in half (raw unpeeled) then stuff with mushroom garlic tomato & cheese bake in the oven…absolutely yummy!Peppers are also nice stuffed with couscous which tates like pasta.

Hope some of this is what you might be looking for! God bless

 

[puzzleannie]

one of my favorite summer meals is zucchini or yellow squash sauteed with veggies: mushrooms, peppers, whatever is in the garden like tomatoes (add them just a couple of minutes before you serve), green beans, even spinach, again add just before serving. Or zucchini, drained canned artichoke hearts (or frozen, steamed first) and butter, also good with mushrooms if you like them, grilled portobellos add protein.

I just use olive oil to saute, and I toss the pasta with either butter and olive oil, plus grated parmesan if you like it and can eat it, and dump the veggies on top.

I used to have trouble digesting squash but if you cut in in quarters the long way and slice off the seeds, then slice it, that problems should go away (same thing with cucumbers btw).

 

[Ponyguy]

Uh-oh. A man in the kitchen… http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/ponyguy/Uhh.gif … (But, it’s okay, because I wash up whatever I make messy.)

My recipe for eggplant (“aubergine” for the Brits among us) is to simply slice the fruit perpendicular to the axis (like you would a tomato) to make slices about ⅜" (or ~10 mm) thick. Dip each slice in a mixture of an egg beaten with milk, then coat with seasoned bread crumbs. Fry in a little vegetable oil until the slices start to turn brown and crispy and then turn them over. Sometimes I like to add a slice of Mozzarella (or a substantial sprinkling of Parmesan) cheese over the top once the eggplant is turned over; if I have some, I’ll warm up some diced plum tomatoes in juice, and spoon them over the eggplant slices as I serve them.

That was my mom’s recipe… hope you like it…

As far as summer squash (yellow, green, straight or crookneck or zucchini) is concerned, simply slice about ½" to ¾" (15 to 20 mm) thick, and steam them briefly and serve with butter. If I’m cooking about a quart of those pieces of squash, I’ll put them in the microwave with about a couple tablespoons of water for about 3 to 4 minutes with the cover on the cooking bowl to retain the steam. Add butter and salt to taste (if you don’t have heart problems).