Cheezy Summer Pasta!

Life feels like it’s spinning at 6453 klicks per hour these days.

Some things are happening in our lives that I can’t tell you about just yet, but will soon. Don’t you hate when people say that? I do. I hate myself for saying that.

No one likes a tease, including me. But here I am being a tease. ;)

I can tell you it’s home and career related for us (not baby related), but that’s about all I can divulge at this time. Unless of course you get me drunk and spill the beans like I did to every breathing soul that I chatted with at the wedding. I’m a good secret keeper like that. Give me a 5.5% beer and I’ll tell you my life story.

The summer is speeding by though! Suddenly, it’s August 9th, I’m craving pumpkin like it’s Thanksgiving, and I’m in serious trouble if I don’t buy Eric a kick-butt birthday gift by the 11th. We’re also hosting some Irish family this week and capping the weekend off with another big family BBQ. The weeks are flying by!

Eric said, “Ange, don’t worry! You don’t have to get me anything for my birthday.”

Oh, what a relief. I thought I had to for a minute!

Wait. This is a trick.

I thought only women played the “you don’t need to get me anything” card. Sometimes Eric even plays the “you don’t need to get me a card” card. Clearly, he wants to test me. Or he hates my cards.

Or maybe he wants one of those sentimental homemade gifts this year.

Oh noes.

Does a homemade meal count?

I will scour Pinterest hoping inspiration strikes. If all else fails I’ll just make one of everything on my Food board and send him into a food coma until he forgets all about birthday gifts.

Yes, food coma it is.

Double Chocolate Torte, you’re next on the list.

Cheezy Summer Pasta

Yield
4 servings

Prep time
10 minutes

Cook time
17 minutes

Total time
27 minutes

This is a great recipe when you need to clean out your fridge! I just chopped up whatever veggies I had lurking deep in the crisper, mixed it with my go-to cheeze sauce, and threw in my fav cooked pasta. Add some chickpeas or beans if you are looking to amp up the protein. I love using Kamut or brown rice pasta because it’s high in protein. I can see this recipe working with many different ingredients, so have some fun and play around with it…you really can’t screw it up. Well, there was that one time when I…oh, never mind.

Ingredients

For the Cheeze Sauce

• Click for recipe

For the sautéed vegetables:

• Roughly 4 cups chopped vegetables (I used 1 zucchini, 1.5 bell peppers, 2 cups grape tomatoes, 2-3 cups kale leaves)
• 2 tsp olive oil, for sautéing
• Herbamare or kosher salt + black pepper, to season
• 1-2 tbsp Earth Balance to stir in (optional)

For the pasta

• Roughly 3 cups uncooked pasta (I used Kamut Rotini)

Directions

1. In a food processor, add all cheeze sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
2. In a large skillet, add chopped onion and cook over medium heat for about 6-7 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute. Next, add the rest of the chopped vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Meanwhile, cook your desired pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
4. Add cheeze sauce to cooked veggies in the skillet and stir well. Finally, add drained pasta and stir again until combined. Stir in a tablespoon of Earth Balance if desired (I love doing this!). Heat and serve immediately. Makes about 6-7 cups. Pasta tastes best served immediately warm. If reheating, add a splash of non-dairy milk as the sauce tends to dry out in the fridge.

I recently made this cheeze sauce for my family last week and everyone devoured it! They spread it on sandwiches and loved it as Mac n Cheeze. The kids and adults both gobbled it up!

Unlike birthday gifts for your significant other or alcohol and secrets, you can’t go wrong with this dish.

For dessert, I made something that looked much more naughty than it really was, made primarily from GROUND FLAX and a few other all-natural ingredients.

For the Flax Glowball Recipe click here