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Veggie Patch Pasta

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Veggie Patch Pasta | WorldofPastabilities.comBack to School…it’s never an easy transition!

We are used to late nights, late dinners, too much dessert, lots of friends, lots of popsicles and a flexible laid back schedule.  Not anymore folks!  The alarm goes off at 6:00 (or earlier), you I have to PUULLLLLL your my kids out of bed, make a healthy breakfast, remind them of the day’s activities, and get them on their way all before 7:00am.  And accomplish all of this while smiling and pretending I am happy and this is fun :)!  We are having fun, right?

All that being said, back to school is a special time of year for renewal and reflection.  The kids are a year older and ready to take on new challenges and adventures.  I’m a year older (yikes – not quite the same).  It is a time where I renew my “healthy eating” vows and declare that I’ll make at least 3 delicious meals for the family a week.

I fantasize about sitting around the kitchen table on those nights and laughing and talking about each other’s days.  But the reality of multi sports, endless school activities and conflicting schedules makes this dream a bit more difficult…

Veggie Patch Pasta |WorldofPastabilities.com

 

We may not ALL eat together every night, but I do make a deliberate effort to incorporate more vegetables and healthier recipes into the mix.  The Veggie Patch Pasta recipe here is light and healthy.  It’s a wonderful accompaniment to grilled chicken, fish, or pork.  The small pieces of veggies go almost unnoticed by the kids when tossed in this fresh tangy dressing.  I love vinaigrettes just for this reason.

Veggie Patch Pasta | WorldofPastabilities.com

 

Feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have on hand or in the garden.  Squash, zucchini, cucumber, etc….all would be delish!  I’ve featured ABC-123 Pasta, but any short shape can be used.  And don’t forget to save yourself some for lunch tomorrow.  So farewell summer!  Hello fall…football…cool nights…colorful leaves…comfort foods…farmers markets…actually, I think I’m ready!

If you are interested in seeing all of our pasta shapes, you can visit The Pasta Shoppe website.  And if you have any fundraising needs, please check out Fun Pasta Fundraising!  We’d love to hear from you!

4.6 from 29 reviews
Veggie Patch Pasta
 
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Fresh and Light Veggie Patch Pasta
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 14 oz. ABC123 Pasta (or other short shape)
  • 1 cup green beans, blanched and halved
  • 2 carrots, peeled and grated
  • ½ cup red pepper, diced
  • ½ cup green onions, chopped
  • 4 T. lemon juice (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 T. white vinegar
  • 6 T. olive oil
  • 2 t. lemon rind
  • 1 t. sugar
  • 1 t. Dijon mustard
  • ½ t. salt
  • ¼ t. pepper
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, add the carrots, red pepper, and green onions.
  2. Vinaigrette: whisk the lemon juice, white vinegar, olive oil, lemon rind, sugar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
  3. Cook pasta 6-8 minutes in gently boiling water. Add green beans with 4 minutes to go.
  4. Drain pasta and green beans and rinse with cold water. Add to veggie bowl.
  5. Gently toss pasta and veggies with dressing.
  6. Adjust seasonings to taste.
  7. Serve immediately.

 

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Comments

  1. We love the ABC Pasta! My girls begin kindergarten and first grade next week and like this pasta with cannelini beans mixed in!

    Reply

    • Girls? Does that mean twins?! You have your hands full! Cannelini beans are a favorite of mine too…and what a great addition to this recipe – I’ll give it a try!

      Reply

  5. Not having grown up with pasta in our diet – now looking for new ideas for my husband who eats bowls of it.

    Reply

  6. I love all of your fun shaped pastas. It makes cooking dinner so much fun and my family loves them. These recipes are great!

    Reply

  11. Looks awesome! We have all of the ingredients on hand, except for the ABC123 pasta. Gonna have to do this with some farfalle instead. Lunch is handled!

    Reply

    • Farfalle is a great shape – and will work just fine! Let me know how it goes – other suggestions have been to add cannelini beans or roasted corn!

      Reply

  12. Love these recipes. Wish this pasta was around when my kids were little.
    My son works for Northwestern and ordered the Northwestern pasta for
    tailgates!

    Reply

  13. Sounds wonderful! Will send it to my culinary arts major to try out for his 3 year old little sister and maybe the older girls too! So hard to find good recipes for healthy eating when your range of children go from almost 20 to 3 and time is so limited!

    Reply

    • Thanks Elizabeth – I’m finding that most of my favorite recipes come from food bloggers – and I love the ease of printing too!

      Reply

  18. We love your pasta! Kids are looking forward to ABC mac and cheese for the night before school starts!

    Reply

  19. Love different shapes of pasta, running for hubby, baseball for grandson and bunnys for Easter, love them all. Think Im going to new love your news site, ty.

    Reply

  23. Love your new look!! AND loving these Pasta recipes!!
    My girls LOVE pasta any way it comes..my smallest one just slurps them up with butter!1
    Thanks for all the ideas!!

    Reply

  24. This looks awesome and I love how natural the recipe stayed..no added mayo but I have say, in duplicating it, I hope it comes out goo without the ref peppers or bell pepper because those are two things I just can not eat.

    Reply

  25. This is a definite dinner happening at our house! My children love the alphabet pasta! That’s the one time I allow them to “play” with their food! Plus it allows the soup to cool so they can eat it! Love hearing them laugh when they’re making words and trading letters with all of us together!

    Reply

  33. All the different shapes of pasta just makes coming to the dinner table even more fun. Our little toddler grandchild loves telling me the ABC’s and shapes. 🙂

    Reply

  34. This sounds really good! The kids do not care for bell peppers, so I think I would substitute zucchini or artichoke hearts.

    Reply

  40. This recipe sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it with my Tailgate & Celebrate pasta now that football season is here. GO PACKERS 🙂

    Reply

  42. I Love your new Pastabilities blog! My family loves pasta and I will definitely be making this BLT Pasta Salad this weekend! Thanks for Sharing with us! Have a Great Weekend!

    Reply

  46. We are a huge pasta family. I am always looking for new recipes. It goes far, and fills up my men- especially my 13 year old teen basketball player. Thanks for sharing. Love this blog/title.

    Reply

  55. Looking forward to more healthy pasta recipes. My grandchildren love pasta and the more veggies they get with it the better. Any chance of making gluten free shapes?

    Reply

  61. between this recipe and the BLT salad I’m know what I’ll be making for our annual neighborhood block party on Sat – thanks for sharing love this sight

    Reply

  64. ABC Pasta!! I’m not sure which I’m more excited about the ABC Pasta post or the fact that you have a Blog now!!

    Reply

  66. Carol, you can make a 1/2 recipe…just make the vinaigrette and use enough for a 1/2 recipe – then save it for another salad! Can adjust veggies as you please! Thanks for your comment!

    Reply

  68. We have been eating more fresh food and have cut way down on processed food. We have been making a pasta salad with fresh veggies and everyone likes it.

    Reply

  70. This looks so yummy and healthy, too! The best part is I think even my 2-year-old would eat it! Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply

  71. Really good and fun recipe…love the ideas of white beans and roasted corn, which I’ll add next time–you might want to rename this “Veggie Mania,” as the addition of most any veg your family likes seems appropriate….your pasta blog is WOW, as I’ve never seen one devoted exclusively to it….thank you for sharing your genius of “quick-and-and-easy-go-to recipes!”

    Reply

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