New Recipes

I've been trying out some new recipes that were a big hit here at my house. I thought I'd share them with y'all. These are both quick to make, using veggies that are currently in-season. My favorite was the quesadillas, but they're both good.

Veggie Primavera

Serves 6 comfortably

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz package bow-tie pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 zucchini, washed and diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 3 tomatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely diced
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in skillet.
3. Saute zucchini and onion for 3-5 min, or until soft.
4. Add tomatoes, garlic, and parsley and cook for 5-7 min.
5. Drain pasta.
6. Add vegetable mixture to pasta.
7. Toss and serve.

The recipe also says you could saute some portobello or snowcap mushrooms with the veggies. Another suggestion is to add feta cheese to the top. It is also says you could skip all the other veggies except the tomatoes and eat it that way.

Zucchini Quesadillas

Serves 5 comfortably. (This one is hard for me to gauge because my kids didn't eat a whole lot due to a snack too close to dinner... Dan and I were both way full off 3/4 of a quesadilla each, though.)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 2 diced zucchini
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 8 flour tortillas
• cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Heat oil in skillet and saute onion and garlic for 5 min on med-high heat.
3. Add zucchini and peppers. Cook 5 min or until soft.
4. Mix in salsa.
5. On a cookie sheet, layer it like so: tortilla, cheese, veggie mixture, a bit more cheese, another tortilla.
6. Cook at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

You could stretch the recipe by not filling the quesadillas as full of the veggie mixture. You'd just need more tortillas. Instead of doing it in the oven, you could also do it in the microwave. (Though, I like the little crunch the baked tortilla gives.) The recipe also says to give it a bit of pizzazz, you could add 1/2 teaspon cayenne pepper and/or 1 teaspoon chili powder to the salsa mixture and top the quesadillas with some diced tomatoes, black olives, shredded lettuce, sour cream, etc. I guess if you added the toppings it would stretch the meal to feed a bit more.