Easy does it!

Sautéed mixed vegetable pasta with lemon ginger sauce

Spinach salad with mushrooms, red onion and fresh red pepper

Fifteen minutes max!

Mixed Vegetables and Pasta

½ cup of red onion julienned

½ cup of bell pepper, your favorite color julienned

¼ cup celery cut on the diagonal

¼ cup carrot cut on the diagonal

8-10 spears of asparagus cut on the diagonal

1 lemon, zest and juice

1 clove of garlic minced and smashed

½ teaspoon of fresh grated ginger (optional, but this is a good thing to have around)

4 tablespoons of EVOO

Salt & Pepper to taste

2-4 tablespoons of chicken or vegetable stock

½ pound of thin spaghetti (I prefer the multigrain Barilla in the yellow box)

Spinach Salad

¼ cup of red onion julienned

¼ cup of red bell pepper julienned

½ cup of baby bella mushrooms sliced

½ bag of baby spinach

2 tablespoons of EVOO

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Drizzle of lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

First things first, put the water on to boil. You want the water ready when you are ready to drop your pasta. We are all about efficient use of our time, right? So, put the water on high heat as soon as you walk in the door, and then take off your coat. ;)

Mince a large clove of garlic, cut 8-10 spears of asparagus on the diagonal, zest and juice the lemon, and grate a little ginger. Next, heat up a skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of EVOO to the skillet. Since you prepared all of your staple vegetables the other day this will be a quick process (we covered this in the first of this series, yesterday…just a hint). I know it looks like a long list of ingredients but if you did your prep ahead of time all you have to do is the garlic, asparagus, lemon, and the ginger. How easy is that?! Super easy!

We want the veggies to maintain a crunch for texture so we are not going to cook these to death. Into the hot oil go the carrots, celery, onions and peppers, season lightly with salt and pepper. Always season with every layer of ingredients, this will ensure that the entire dish is well seasoned and there are no bland elements in your dish. Let this sauté for about 4-5 minutes and add garlic and asparagus and sauté for another 2-3 minutes (don’t forget to season the asparagus). Next add the ginger, lemon zest and about 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, along with a little chicken stock. Stir well and let the sauce coat the veggies. Turn the heat down to low and let simmer until our pasta is ready.

Once the vegetables start cooking drop the pasta into your boiling water. Make sure to salt the water very well prior to adding the pasta. Cook according to package instructions.

Last, add the cooked pasta to the vegetables and drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO over the dish once it is plated. Serve with lemon wedges.

Toss the spinach, mushrooms, red onion and red bell pepper in a bowl to create the salad.  For the salad dressing, in a separate bowl mix the vinegar, lemon and EVOO with salt and pepper. Whisk or stir vigorously with a fork. Dress the salad just before serving.