Warm Pasta Salad

I love summer for so many reasons, one of them being that I love all of the fresh veggies. I have been making a lot of pasta dishes lately and throwing in whatever veggies I have on hand in the dish.

I also love pasta salad and so tonight I thought I'd try to make a warm pasta salad as a main course. Read the following to find out what I did:

Tonight, I have zucchini, asparagus, sweet onion, green onion, carrots, mushrooms, sweet yellow and red peppers, broccoli, and tomato (I know, it's technically a fruit). All of these are fresh and all of them are organic. While waiting for my pasta water to boil, I chopped these veggies up and set in them in a bowl for later.

I then added 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 of a sweet onion (diced), and about 1-2 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to my wok and sauteed until translucent. I then added all of the fresh cut veggies and sauteed until tender/crisp. While cooking the veggies, I added salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper to give it just a little kick.

While the veggies were cooking, I added the pasta to the boiling water and cooked according the package.

When the pasta and veggies were done, I combined them and added, goat cheese (I told you I have been a little obsessed with it lately), just a little Italian dressing, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I mixed all together in the wok over low heat, so that the goat cheese would have a chance to get nice and melted. I then topped it all off with parm again!

Serve immediately....hoping the left overs are just as good cold as warm! :)

Recipe:

2 cloves minced garlic
1-2 tbsp EVOO
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
a pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Whatever veggies you have on hand (here is what I used):
Carrots
Sweet Onion
Zucchini
Green Onions (the whole thing)
Tomato
Red and Yellow Bell Peppers
Asparagus
Broccoli
Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
Goat Cheese (I like a lot...about 1/2 to 3/4 of a tub)
Freshly Grated Parmesan
Italian Dressing (I prefer Newman's Own Organic Tuscan Italian)

1. Cook Pasta according to directions
2. Dice/chop veggies and saute with EVOO, garlic, and seasonings
3. Mix pasta and veggies together in sautee pan, over low heat, and add goat cheese and Italian Dressing.
4. Heat until Goat Cheese is soft.
5. Top with Parm and serve