As I understand it, Wednesday is supposed to be healthy recipes and I can honestly say, I have been working on eating healthier meals. I have fallen in love with vegetable and fruit. From childhood, I rarely volunteered to take a piece of fruit or eat a salad. Now, salads are better than chocolate.
There is the other half of me. I still love sweets. While savory wins out, sweets play a big place in my eating, which is why I say I am working on healthier meals. I am not there yet.
I got to this recipe by checking out several blogs and by my new admiration for goat cheese. I only started eating goat cheese, this year, and in that short time, I found several different ways to use it. I have loved each one, especially since I discovered herb goat cheese and Pecan Cranberry goat cheese. I add these to salads with greens and all of a sudden, I am eating something heavenly.
Quinoa Pasta with Goat Cheese & Vegetables
I don’t really like titles of recipes that go on and on with all the important ingredients but I am not sure, I can distinguish the dish, without some key words. I played around with the title. I tried Balsamic Quinoa Pasta but that was not accurate. Balsamic vinegar is a minor flavor and did not belong in the title. I wanted to stress the goat cheese and vegetables as main components. At one point, I removed the vegetables from the title but Quinoa Pasta with Goat Cheese sounded sterile. The heart of the recipe is a combination of the pasta and veggies but the goat cheese gives it the fullness of the flavor.
I just noticed that the final photo is missing and when I looked for it, it is no longer there. My apologies. The recipe is really too good to bring in another.
Ingredients:
12 ounces spaghetti type pasta (fettuccine)
1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon oil from dried tomatoes
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 very small zucchini, cut in half and then half again and then in 8 cubes for each piece
1 yellow zucchini, cut the same way as zucchini
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
a few drops of hot cayenne pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Parmesan, grated
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Method:
12 ounces spaghetti type pasta (fettuccine)
1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon oil from dried tomatoes
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 very small zucchini, cut in half and then half again and then in 8 cubes for each piece
1 yellow zucchini, cut the same way as zucchini
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
a few drops of hot cayenne pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Parmesan, grated
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Method:
In a medium to large saucepan, boil water for pasta. Let simmer while you cook vegetables. Follow the package directions.
In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion and cook for three minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook for another three minutes or until onion is translucent. Mix in Balsamic vinegar.
In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion and cook for three minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook for another three minutes or until onion is translucent. Mix in Balsamic vinegar.
Add oregano to vegetables and mix in. Pour vegetables over pasta in bowl. Sprinkle with Parmesan and then with goat cheese. Mix pasta, vegetables and goat cheese together.
Serve.
I had no idea how this was going to turn out. My choices for vegetables and cheese were based on what I had, in the house. I would think thinly sliced carrots would be another vegetable that would blend in, nicely.
I plan to make this often, each time using up the vegetables in the refrigerator.Other quinoa dishes…..
Link up to Bake With Bizzy
wow, that is new. Quinoa Pasta, I am sure it is healthy and what great flavors you have added with it, love it 🙂