When I’m looking for a quick and easy pasta dish, I whip up a variation of this summer pasta and veggies. It’s a great and quick dinner idea that is flexible enough to work with what you have in the kitchen.
The main concept is warm pasta, olive oil and cheese. The cheese should be something like a soft cheddar. Mozzarella works too, although is softer and thus gooier. The olive oil and melting cheese make a light enough “sauce” that works well with the pasta. A dash of sea salt, and you’re all set.
The variation comes with veggies you have on hand. You can stop at the pasta, cheese and sea salt, or you can spice things up by sauteing up some veggies to stir in as well. Today I had onion, kale, red bell pepper and green beans on hand.
What you’ll need:
- pasta of your choice (I’m using gluten free Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta)
- 3 leaves of kale, chopped
- small handful of green beans, cut into 1-inch bites
- small red pepper, chopped
- medium onion, chopped
- cheese, shredded
- olive oil
- sea salt
First cook the pasta according to the box’s directions. Drain the pasta.
Transfer the pasta back to the pan and pour a little olive oil to coat the pasta so it doesn’t stick to the pan.
Next you’ll want to saute up some fresh veggies. Finely chop the red pepper and onion.
Cut the green beans into 1-inch bites.
Chop kale into bite size pieces.
Grate the cheese (or cheeses) of your choice. I eyeball the amount. Depending on how cheesy you want it will determine how much you grate. Grate a handful, and then you can always add more depending on the results.
Heat a small skillet with some olive oil. Once warm, toss in the onions and red peppers.
Once the onions have started to turn golden, add the green beans.
After about 5 minutes, add the kale. Cook until the kale softens.
Add the grated cheese to the pasta in the pan. The heat of the pan and pasta will help melt the cheese down. Stir frequently to mix the pasta and cheese together.
Toss the sauteed vegetables into the pot and mix thoroughly.
And now sit down to enjoy this delicious meal! Season as desired.
Full Recipe
Ingredients
- pasta of your choice (I’m using gluten free Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta)
- 3 leaves of kale, chopped
- small handful of green beans, cut into 1-inch bites
- small red pepper, chopped
- medium onion, chopped
- cheese, shredded
- olive oil
- sea salt
Instructions
- First cook the pasta according to the box’s directions. Drain the pasta.
- Transfer the pasta back to the pan and pour a little olive oil to coat the pasta so it doesn’t stick to the pan.
- Next you’ll want to saute up some fresh veggies. Finely chop the red pepper and onion.
- Cut the green beans into 1-inch bites.
- Chop kale into bite size pieces.
- Grate the cheese (or cheeses) of your choice. I eyeball the amount. Depending on how cheesy you want it will determine how much you grate. Grate a handful, and then you can always add more depending on the results.
- Toss the sauteed vegetables into the pot and mix thoroughly.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Variations: Try other summer vegetables and seasonings to mix things up.
Kind Words, Big Results
“Kate has an incredible amount of drive when it comes to LoganSquarist. In the six months that I’ve been involved, I’ve watched the site grow from a pet project to a respected community publication. This success can be attributed to Kate’s technical and leadership skills. From building out the site to off-hours community management and a consistent flow of content, the site improves by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. When it comes to team management, Kate delegates tasks in an organized and efficient manner, making her an all around great and inspiring person to work with.”
“Kate is a wealth of knowledge who served as a tremendous mentor for all of our team members while constantly improving processes and workflows. She’s a tremendous project manager, pays great attention to detail, and is able to demand results from her team with respect. At LoganSquarist she has built and led a team of dozens of volunteer contributors committed to her vision of a community resource. I would happily work with Kate again anytime!”
“Kate is a real professional and a pleasure to work with. She is a great communicator and always put her client's (my company) interest first. She is tremendously personal and had a great understanding of our business and how she could help it. She is great and is a tremendous asset to any company.”
“For nearly two years, I had the pleasure of working alongside Kate to develop social strategies. Kate has an extraordinary knowledge of the ever-changing social and digital media landscape. She has an endless enthusiasm for taking on new projects and effortlessly provides guidance for clients across a variety of industries. She's an excellent communicator, and will be a great addition to any team!”
“I met Kate through the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) and immediately was impressed (and inspired) by her creativity, drive, work ethic and use of social media. Her passion for journalism, digital media and communications overall is evident in the projects she takes on, including LoganSquarist, an online news outlet that she founded that uses social media to socialize the neighborhood. What I admire about Kate is her vitality as well as her desire to keep learning and growing personally and professionally. Kate is a modern-day renaissance woman who is multitalented (ask about her travel, knitting and marathon exploits!) and who brings instant value to any team or organization.”
“I worked with Kate during my time as a community manager at Lightspan Digital while Kate was my direct manager. Kate’s communication practices really taught me how to navigate the sometimes complicated agency world. As an account manger, Kate smoothly orchestrated 10+ accounts at one time as well as help me manage and prioritize tasks in my role. Kate was a role model during my first few years in the professional world and continues to be so to this day.”
“Kate was a wonderful consultant to work with on my business web site project. She had fresh ideas, laid out a detailed plan of work, stayed on time and budget and presented me with a product that looked great and more importantly, has been easy for me to manage on my own. Will definitely send more of my clients her way.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Kate for just over a year and watching her in action. Kate is an immensely talented digital marketer, account manager and processes guru who balances a keen eye for detail with an almost intuitive grasp of the big picture. Her deep wells of industry knowledge allow her to bring a depth of expertise and professionalism to almost any task she sets her mind to. During her time at IntraLink Global, she was instrumental in implementing many integral processes that set a framework for how we operate. I learned a lot from working with Kate, and her guidance and mentorship was invaluable in my professional development. ”
“Kate is a natural leader and I can easily say the best boss I ever had. Kate hired me as the Director of Video Production at the agency Imagination where she was the VP of Digital. On top of Video Production, she also had reports from Audio, SEO, Analytics and Web Development divisions as well. She would consistently champion people she thought needed to be seen in leadership and client meetings where they sometimes might have been overlooked. Kate takes time to listen wisely and is always buzzing with ideas on how to make things more effective. Her energy is contagious and I’d work with her again any day.”
“Kate did and excellent job with our website. We have received several compliments on how nice it looks and how easy it is to navigate. She also went above and beyond to make sure that we were able to update and the website ourselves through Wordpress. I cannot gush about how awesome she is and how happy we are with the site and her dedication to the project.”
“Kate has been a fantastic resource for all things digital, whether redesigning my website on Wordpress, fine tuning my social media profiles, or understanding Google Analytics. She's an excellent communicator, and I will absolutely hire her again in the future.”
“Kate will be an instant asset for any company she joins. Her unique understanding of how the digital landscape and content play nicely together is second to none. Kate has the ability to jump into any conversation about digital strategy or tacos and feel at ease. I've enjoyed working with her in various roles and she creates and designs THE BEST presentations, regardless of the subject. As a team member or leader within an organization, Kate gets my highest recommendation. ”
“One of the best things I've ever done in my career is work with Kate Hamilton. Her enthusiasm for all things editorial, not to mention her energy and passion for any project she's involved with, is contagious. In addition to being a natural born leader, she's also a creative type, a thinker, a stickler for details, and someone with incredible vision and the drive to get things done. I always marvel at how she is constantly teaching herself new things. She always seems to be ahead of the curve on anything related to social media, and she also has an eye for design. This lady rocks! And she continues to be a mentor to me and others in journalism and communications.”