Pasta Pesto Primavera – with chicken. Or not.

26 Apr Pasta Pesto Primavera – with chicken. Or not.

I’ve been so busy teaching and with hockey games, I haven’t been very social these past few months. So now that hockey season is over for my team (boo, but also kinda glad because…) I have so much more free time! Last weekend I ran the Pat Tillman Memorial Run (more about that later), hit up a burger and beer tasting at the ball park, stayed for the baseball game, and then hit up a pool side yoga class on Sunday morning, ended up staying and hanging with some friends (old and new) and enjoying a few mimosas. I was so chilled out.

Come Monday, after drinking and eating all weekend, my weight was up 5 POUNDS! I know its mostly water weight and some inflammation. Not only does alcohol consumption instigate a inflammation response in the body, it usually comes with less consumption of water and less inhibition (read: its harder to say no to that burger and fries, and shakes, and chips, and taco bell….) which all lead our bodies to retain water. To reduce the effects of my weekend of disregarding my goals, I’ve spent all week eating super clean, with a ton of veggies and drinking a lot more water and tea to help flush my body.

If I treated myself like that every weekend, I’d never lose the weight I have lost. I’d up spending all week recovering from the weekend, and do the same thing all over again the nest week, and the next. Eventually getting frustrated with my lack of progress and just saying “forget it”. Still, those burgers and beer were amazing, and the mimosas were perfect. Something to consider if you’ve hit a plateau or just can’t seem to lose any weight, even though you work hard all week. I mean, I even RAN 4.2 miles and did yoga – still the 5 pounds showed up.

Lecture over. Heres my new recipe: pesto pasta primavera; say that 5 times real fast! So many veggies. I pretty much go over board every time I make this, especially in the spring because there are so many fresh veggies to chose from, so I pick all of them. The biggest time suck in this recipe is the prep work: chopping vegetables. So much chopping. So it’s totally okay to buy the packages of prechopped stuff and throw this together. It makes for a super quick and easy weeknight dinner. Enjoy!!

In a large pan, heat the butter to melting, and add garlic, onions and carrots.

Allow onions to start to become translucent, and then add remaining vegetables based on cooking time to al dente. For example, I started with carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, summer squash and bell peppers; saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Then  add the less dense vegetables like mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, sugar snap peas; cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Finally, you add the more delicate produce like spinach, other leafy greens and tomatoes. Continue cooking for 1 or 2 minutes.

Add white wine to the pan, and give it a quick stir. Add the cooked pasta to the veggies, and the pesto – stirring to combine.

*I quickly sautéed two chicken breasts in the same pan before I started sautéing the veggies. Once the chicken was cooked thoroughly, I set it aside, covered, and kept it warm. *

Pasta Pesto Primavera 

Ingredients

8 ounces pasta 

1/4 cup white wine

2 Tablespoon pesto 

1/2 Tablespoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 to 6 cups chopped veggies

(asparagus, summer squash, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, red onion, mushrooms,  carrots, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, kale, green onions, sweet peas, green beans, etc)

Grated parmesan to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions, 
2. In a large pan, heat the butter to melting, and add garlic, onions and carrots. Allow onions to start to become translucent, and then add remaining vegetables based on cooking time t al dente (for example, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli would take longer to cook so add them, allow them to saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, green beans. Allow them to cook another 2 -3 minutes, and finally add the more delicate produce like spinach, asparagus, tomatoes)
3. When all the vegetables have been added, add the white wine. Allow to cook for 3 min, then add pasta to pan. Stir in the pesto to combine and serve

**I sautéed some scallopinined chicken breast in the pan before I cooked the vegetables. Once the chicken was cooked, I set it aside and served it atop the pasta. This dish would be lovely with Salmon or Halibut as well.**

Serves 4

Nutriton

Calories 197 * Carbs 18g (6g fiber, 7g sugar) * Fat 9g *  Protein 7g     

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