Meatless Monday with One-Pot Pasta Primavera

Welcome (back) to the blog and thank you for joining us for another Meatless Monday vegetarian recipe share day. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it just one day per week to preserve personal and planetary health. Miratel supports this great initiative and includes it as part of its CSR business strategies to spread awareness of the impact of food choices on our environment.

With all the beauty of Spring in the air, there isn’t a better time to make a pasta Primavera for dinner. Primavera (or La Primavera) means the season of Spring in Italian and today we are making a healthier version of this classic Italian dish without the cream, butter or cheese normally used. This recipe for one-pot pasta Primavera comes from Vegetarian Times and as per the publication “this easy recipe lends itself to endless variations. In place of fresh basil, try 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley, 2 Tbs. chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 Tbs. finely minced fresh rosemary or oregano.” So feel free to experiment with it – now on to the recipe.

Ingredients

Image courtesy of vegetariantimes.com

• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 8 oz. fusilli pasta
• 2 small yellow squash, halved and cut into ½-inch-thick slices
• 1 medium orange bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 oz. small broccoli florets (3 cups)
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 8 green onions, thinly sliced (½ cup)
• ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves
• Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (use animal-free substitute or omit for vegan)

Directions

1. Combine oil, garlic, and lemon zest in small bowl. Set aside.
2. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling, salted water according to package directions. Add squash and bell pepper 4 minutes before end of cooking time. Add broccoli 3 minutes before end of cooking time. Drain pasta and vegetables, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.
3. Return pasta mixture to pot, and stir in tomatoes, green onions, basil, oil mixture, and reserved cooking water. Heat over medium-low heat until tomatoes are hot. Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

This recipe will serve 4 and takes less than 30 minutes to make and it’s all in one pot. As mentioned, feel free to experiment with the herbs and vegetables used in consideration of your palate. For example, if you like your food a little spice, add some chili’s to the mix. Another substitution could be with the pasta itself. To add nutritional value or in respect of sensitivities, you can use a spelt, whole wheat or gluten-free pasta. This pasta primavera is very versatile as you can make it with whatever combination of vegetables, herbs and pasta you happen to have on hand. Serve with a side green salad of your choice.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work to promote CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop or salon even greener.

Enjoy!
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.