From Our Kitchen: Vegan Pesto Pasta

We have been trying some new things in the kitchen this month, and while all of them have not been the greatest of successes, we were both pretty happy with this little dish. It is the perfect dinner dish for Meatless Mondays (or any meatless night you would like to have), and is also completely vegan and gluten-free. I think we have managed to cover most of the lifestyle and dietary considerations with this one, and bonus for it being very tasty! You can easily swap this up to be non-vegan (add some Parmesan to the pesto), non-vegetarian (add some chicken or shrimp), and/or non-gluten-free (use real pasta). Any way you make it, I am sure you will be happy with the end result.

What You'll Need:

• 4 medium to large-sized zucchini
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 container cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup, plus about 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 4 - 5 cloves garlic
• salt and black pepper

What You'll Do:

1. It's good to go ahead and prep everything because once you start cooking, this comes together very quickly.
2. To make pesto, toss spinach, basil, 1/2 cup olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt to taste in a food processor. Process until smooth sauce is formed, scraping down sides as needed. Set aside.
3. Using a potato peeler or julienne peeler, peel zucchini into "zoodles". If you have never done this before this is a good video showing technique. I use a potato peeler and my noodles are just wide and flat vs thin. When you hit seeds in your peeling process, it is time to move on to a new section of zucchini. Easy peasy. After you have made your zoodles, set them aside.
4. Snap ends off asparagus, and then cut into thirds. Set aside.
5. Cut cherry tomatoes into quarters. Set aside.
6. Hit 2 tbsp olive oil in large saucepan.
7. Add asparagus and cracked black pepper, and cook about 4 - 5 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, and cook another two minutes. Add zoodles, a bit of salt, and another splash of olive oil. Cook, mixing all together for a final two minutes (zoodles should be soft but not mushy).
8. Add pesto to taste (I recommend starting with a little bit, and adding more as your taste buds prefer).
9. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Spaghetti Squash Marinara

Spaghetti squash has been something I have been wanting to cook for a good while now, but, until this past week, I could not find it in the store! I was delighted to find on in my local produce section this past weekend, and was eager to try out a recipe. When I cut into the squash, I discovered it reminded me of a pumpkin (perhaps why I could not find it in the store before now?). I was really excited about this, and was so happy with how it turned out! I felt like I had a huge bowl of pasta, but really I had a huge bowl of veggies. Plus, 1/2 cup of spaghetti squash has like 21 calories - amazing! I served our spaghetti squash with leftover marinara sauce from our Sunday pizza making, and also prepared some chicken parmesan to go with it. You could serve it with any sauce really - olive oil with salt, pepper, and parmesan, or a garlic sauce, or really whatever floats your boat! All in all it was delicious! Also, I should note, I was very surprised by how much "spaghetti" one squash yields. It is definitely enough for about 6 servings, if not more.

What You'll Need:

• Spaghetti squash
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Marinara sauce, or sauce of your choosing

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half
   
   
   
   
   
3. Remove seeds
   
   
   
4. Place squash open side down on baking sheet, and roast for about 45 minutes
   
   
   
5. Remove squash from oven, and allow to cool completely (about 15 minutes)
6. Completely shred the insides of the squash with a fork (as soon as you begin to shred a part of it, you will see how totally easy this is)
   
   
   
7. Scrape all of the "noodles" into a large bowl
   
   
   
8. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper
9. Serve with sauce of your choosing
10. Enjoy!