Simple, Summer Pasta Recipe

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted, life this past year has been crazy to say the least.  We are still here, trying to make life as simple as possible for our little family.  We are still eating as clean as we feel is possible; there are times we eat  out or order gluten free pizza but 90% of the time our meals are clean.  We continue buying our food from the Farmer's Market and have tried new vegetables and meat, some to our liking and others not so much (wild hog sausage is not for us).  We are canning more and more with our new pressure canner and pressure cooker (I LOVE my pressure cooker).  It is a treat to have home canned beans, broth, jalapenos, and sauces at home.

Tonight I'm going to share a favorite recipe with you all that I hope you try.  It's a perfect clean recipe for a warm summer night.  Feel free to adapt it to fit your needs, I don't think I have made it the same way more than twice.

Simple Pasta and Veggies

Basic Ingredients:
A bag of pasta (we use rice pasta with rice and water as the only ingredients - use the kind of pasta you like but to make it clean, use pasta with limited, whole food ingredients)
A tub of Cherry tomatoes (cut into halves or fourths)
1 small onion
3 bulbs of garlic (more to your liking)
1-2 tbs fresh herbs (I used chopped basil and thyme)
1/2 cup broth (or the water you used to cook your pasta)
Chopped broccoli (to your liking, probably about 1 to 2 cups)
1/2 cup sliced black olives (or more if you like olives)
1/4 to 1/2 cup Roasted pine nuts or slivered almonds
Raw, organic cheese if desired

We add more veggies depending on what we get in our box at the Farmer's Market.  The last time I made it we had asparagus, mushrooms, bell pepper, and spinach.  Just chop the vegetables to your liking and add it to the mix.  The picture below is of all of our chopped vegetables.

1. Cook the pasta according to the package
2. Sauté all of the vegetables except the tomatoes and olives in a tbs or 2 of olive oil depending on how many vegetables you use. The length of time will depend on how crunchy you like your vegetables.  I put the onion in first and then the vegetables that take longer to cook go in, followed by the garlic, and the remaining vegetables.  I like my sautéed vegetables crunchy so I don't sauté more than 10-15 minutes depending on the amount of vegetables I have.
3. Add the tomatoes and black olives and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes.  
4. Drain the pasta and add to the dish with half of the broth or water.  Stir for 2-3 more minutes and add more broth or water as needed.  
5. Add the pine nuts or almonds and you are finished.
6. We top ours off with a little nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and Louisiana Hot Sauce. 
7. You may add cheese to yours at this point if you want.

Mmmmm

 It's simple, beautiful, and delicious.

I hope this becomes a favorite in your family as well!