Cheesy Pasta Primavera

This is yet another recipe from Everyday Food magazine - can you tell where I went for my recipes this particular week!! EF volume 91, thank you!! Ha! I loved this recipe bc it was very much like comfort food, but with all the veggies it kind of felt healthy, too :) I love it, too, bc I strayed away from the original recipe and it was still so yummy. I think you could add whatever you like to suit your tastes & you'll still love it!

For this recipe, you'll need:

• coarse salt and ground pepper
• whole wheat fusili or other short twisted pasta (I really wanted to try wheat pasta, but I only had regular fusili on hand, but I will be trying the wheat at some point)
• 3 tbs butter
• 1 onion (I used sweet)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 zucchini or yellow squash (I used yellow squash), cut into 1/4 inch half moons
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 grated parmesan, plus more for serving
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves (I didn't have any of these, therefore didn't use them :)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, but reserve 1 cup pasta water for later in the recipe...

Melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions & cook until translucent. This is where I threw in some mushrooms I had to add more flavor to the sauce (And I cut them big enough for the hubby to pick out, since he doesn't like mushrooms, but is okay with using them in sauces :)

Add flour and whisk to combine

Add milk and cook, whisking frequently, until simmering and thickened, about 10 minutes - doesn't that look yummy??? Season with salt and pepper (and garlic powder if you'd like, just sayin').

Add yellow squash and cook until crisp-tender, about 6-8 minutes.

Stir in pasta, parmesan, and tomatoes (I saved the tomatoes for later bc hubby doesn't like tomatoes & I put them on the side so he wouldn't have to pick them out :). At this point, I used the remaining pasta water to make the sauce the right consistency (I didn't use the full cup bc I like sauce on the thicker side).

Here's my bowl! I added the tomatoes, mixed it up, and added the avocado on top since I had one in the fridge - isn't it pretty?? And it tasted so fresh and yummy! The avocado added a nice buttery addition to the pasta - to go with the butter & cream already in the dish :) Enjoy!

Summer Squash

This may seem so simple, but I never thought about eating summer squash until it was introduced to me several years ago.  So simple, but so yummy - I'm seeing a trend that way with what I cook - simplicity rules!  All you need is:

• 2 yellow squash
• 1 sweet onion
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup water (estimate)

Peel and slice squash.  I don't know if you're supposed to peel it, but that's what I do, then I don't have to worry about what is on the rind.  Slice onions - this day I left them in rings bc I thought it was fun (sometimes it's sad what I find fun, but whatever).  Anyway, I put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in the saucepan, then added the squash and onions.  When the mixture starts sizzling, I added about a half a cup of water (more if you need it, less if you don't) to cover the bottom of the pan and prevent it from burning.

Then I covered it and cooked it over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.  I like my veggies crisp tender, and this is a little long for the squash, but perfect for the onions.  Next time I whip this up, I plan on putting the onions in first for a few minutes before adding the squash.

Then I added a little sea salt and garlic powder (of course!!) and, as my son would say, it was "delightful"!!  Yum!

How do you prepare summer squash?