Everyone needs a weeknight dinner you can throw together in just minutes. Instead of throwing some frozen fish sticks in the oven with a box of kraft mac and cheese on the side. How about whipping up this summery pasta primavera that’s full of summer fresh veggies with dollops of lemon garlic ricotta? I promise it’s easy. You can even post a picture on Instagram hash-tagging #eatyourveggies if you make this amazing dish! You can’t do that with fish sticks and mac and cheese…..
If you have a garden it may have an abundance of zucchini, squash, and tomatoes. That’s why I chose these popular garden vegetables. If you don’t have these veggies on hand here are some other choices.
What other veggies could I use?
I have some vegetables I picked to use in this dish, but there are some other veggies you may want to choose. Here are a few I think would work well.
- Broccoli. I would pull the florets off and then cut the florets in half. You want them to be thin enough to fry up when you are stir-frying the veggies.
- Mushrooms. You could use button mushrooms, sliced portobellos, or probably any other mushroom you like. Just slice them the same width as your other vegetables so they cook up the same.
- Cauliflower. Prepare the cauliflower the same way as the broccoli.
- Eggplant. You could add this sliced and then halved.
- I use red bell pepper in this dish, but you could also use yellow or orange.
- Not a fan of ricotta? I love the creaminess the ricotta brings but if it’s not your thing you can replace the lemon garlic ricotta with some parmesan cheese.
- You can also switch up the linguine with other pasta like angel hair, or thin spaghetti.
Adding more vegetables to your diet can provide lots of health benefits!
We can all benefit from adding more vegetables into our diets, but what kind of benefits. Here are a few.
- Eating more vegetables will help prevent constipation by adding extra fiber to the diet.
- Consuming more vegetables could reduce the risk of cancer by providing your body with cancer-fighting antioxidants and vitamin C.
- They will help with weight loss. Most veggies have little to no fat or sugar.
- Vegetables high in vitamin A can improve eyesight.
- Veggies keep you hydrated. Vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce, and celery are full of water!
- Eating all the colors of the rainbow can aid in healthy immune function, healthy DNA health, heart, and brain health. It can also protect against heart disease, gut problems, diabetes, and many other diseases.
For other recipes like this pasta primavera check out these easy Vegetarian Fajitas!
Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
- 1 box linguine
- ½ cup sliced red or yellow onion
- ½ of a red bell pepper sliced thin and long
- 1 cup sliced and halved yellow squash
- 1 cup sliced and halved zucchini
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved and seasoned with salt and pepper. To top dish with.
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves To top dish with.
- 6 tablespoon olive oil separated
- 2 large garlic cloves grated
- 1 teaspoon pink salt or sea salt or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Lemon Garlic Ricotta
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 large garlic clove grated
- zest of one small lemon
- ¼ tsp of both salt and pepper or more to taste
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 2 teaspoon of salt to season pasta water and cook linguine according to package directions. (about 10 minutes)
- While water is coming to a boil for pasta wash and slice all the veggies.
- Halve cherry tomatoes and season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves to top dish with.
- Add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a large frying pan and over medium heat cook vegetable to desired tenderness (about 10 minutes). While they are cooking season with a teaspoon of salt and about a ½ teaspoon of black pepper and garlic powder.
- Grate in 2 large garlic cloves in the last couple of minutes of cooking.
- In a small bowl mix up 1 cup ricotta, and whisk in 1 grated garlic clove, the zest of 1 small lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. I just mixed this up with a spoon. Set aside.
- When pasta is done. Strain and pour back into the pan. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons or more of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place pasta on serving plate and top with stir-fried veggies, dollops of ricotta, and tomatoes, and basil. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
