Crystal's Pasta

One thing that has slowly changed since I've first gotten married and then mothered babes is my ability to cook. By no means am I a skilled chef. If you've ever been a guest or had me as a guest chances are you've eaten food I've made. I like feeding people.

It's one of those basic needs we all have. Food is the essence of life. I like contributing to others lives in simple ways. Needful ways.

A recipe I've fallen back on time and time again is this simple pasta dish shown above. It's simple and easy yet filling, hearty and packed with vitamins.

Step 1. go in the fridge/pantry/garden and collect a variety of veggies. Try and get a wide color spectrum. Chop them up into bit sized pieces.  (above I have 3 different color sweet peppers, canned black olives and tomatoes) You'll want about 2 cups of cut up veggies.

Step 2. Boil some water and cook up some pasta. Doesn't matter the kind really, we've used everything from spaghetti to ravoili and it always works out.

Step 3. Grab some pasta sauce or mash up some ripe tomatoes, you only want about a cup or two for a large pot of pasta. Warm it in the microwave or stovetop, don't cook it, just warm it up a bit. Toss in your diced up veggies and remove from heat. This will be really chunky.

Step 4. Drain the pasta and pour the sauce on top. Mix well and serve with a generous helping of Parmesean.

You can add salt and pepper or other spices if you like but I usually cook without it. Some ideas for veggies are:

artichoke hearts
roasted red peppers
raw peppers
raw tomatoes
fresh spinach
cucumber (yeah really)
eggplant
zucchini
various squashes
peas
carrots

You name it. This is a great way to use up the little bits of veggies you might have laying around and fast enough to make on a night when you forget what to make or have little time.

Enjoy!