The Grumpy Garbanzo vegan food for real life The Grumpy Garbanzo vegan food for real life Summer Vegetable Pasta
I present to you a recipe for making a recipe: Step 1) grab your reusable bags and go to the farmer's market. Step 2) buy vegetables that are in season. Step 3) cook the veggies with garlic, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and serve over pasta. Disclaimer– if you don't have access to a farmer's market, apply this process to the grocery store and buy local produce if possible.
The beauty of this recipe within a recipe (recipe–ception, if you will) is that it's lazy, healthy, fun, and environmentally friendly. When you start a meal with fresh, high quality produce, you don't have to add much to make it taste delicious. You also don't have to worry about making a grocery list; just enjoy the spontaneity of what nature has to offer. If you don't usually dabble in local produce, you may be surprised by how different vegetables can taste when they're home–grown (if you've ever tried a tomato straight from a garden, you know what I'm referring to). You also may be surprised to discover that farmer's market produce can cost the same, or even less, as the conventional produce in the supermarket.
You see, there are many pros to this pasta. Unless, of course, you don't like pasta. In that case, pile the sautéed veggies onto mashed potatoes. If you don't like mashed potatoes, then you have defective taste buds, but you could try farro (an ancient grain), couscous (pasta disguised as a grain), or rice.
Cook grain of choice. Chop onions and garlic and sauté (onion first) in olive oil. Add veggies (I grilled the squash ahead of time) and continue to sauté. Season with salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and optional spice. If cooking pasta, toss noodles into the veggie sauté while the heat is still on to let the flavors mingle before serving.
There are no specifics here—use whatever vegetables and extra seasonings you like! Nutritional yeast adds a savory, funky flavor in place of cheese. I used a Cuisinart Griddler to grill the squash because, unlike an actual grill, it fits in my tiny apartment.