Carbs with a side of Carbs

This dinner was summer on a plate.

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When I got home from work today, I had no idea what I wanted to make for dinner.

The original menu plan was a zucchini, artichoke and pasta frittata. But…I thought I may be having eggs for lunch tomorrow and I didn’t want eggs for dinner and lunch, so that idea went out the window.

While I was deciding what to make, I whipped up 2 desserts! I don’t know what’s up with me lately – I just want to be in the kitchen, creating. Recipes soon :) One is a family recipe of sorts that is very close to my heart and another is my spin on a recipe I found online, but those won’t be finished until tomorrow anyways.

Back to dinner!

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I decided to stick with zucchini and yellow squash in my meal – I have way too many in the house right now from our CSA.

For the pasta, I sauteed 2 diced artichoke and garlic chicken sausages until browned, took those out of the pan, and added 1 diced zucchini and 1 yellow squash to brown. After those were browned (but not soggy), I added in about 1 cup of fresh corn kernals (cut right off the cob) and let the veggies cook for 2-3 minutes.

I added the chicken sausage back to the veggies along with some crushed red pepper, salt, pepper, and the last of a salad dressing I made the other night which had olive oil, dijon, whole grain mustard, vinegar, salt, and oregano.

After the veggie and chicken mixture cooked for a minute, I tossed in 2 cups or so of whole wheat spaghetti with a little pasta water and some fresh basil and parsley from our garden.

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Best side dish for pasta?

Carbs with carbs. Specifically bread.

And not just any bread. This is homemade sourdough bread, from Biscuit Bob himself that he made this weekend.

I made a quick bruschetta topping with tomato, basil, salt, and olive oil.

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And we had just a little of the tomato mixture left, so I added it to my pasta.

Seriously – summer on a plate!

And SO much of it was fresh + local:

  • tomato – gift from our neighbors
  • zucchini and yellow squash – from CSA
  • corn – farmer’s market
  • basil/parsley – our garden
  • bread – made a few days ago by my father in law

I’m a little sad that dinner is over – it was that good.

So many people think of pasta as always being this heavy dish, but light summery pastas are the total opposite of that. Yes, I’m full and satisfied, but I don’t feel completely weighed down or stuffed to the brim. Keeping the flavors light, bright, and flavorful keeps it from becoming too heavy. Plus, all the voluminous summer vegetables in the pasta help control my portions – the more veggies in the dish, the less actual pasta I need on my plate.

Win win.

Off to catch up on Top Chef and get into my pjs – it’s been a very long day.

 

14 comments

  1. wish i had seen this before i did my last post – all about summer foods! i’m feeling pretty uninspired here.

    • Ha, I JUST read that post and thought the same thing! :) Feel free to take some ideas :)

  2. Haha – we have a ton of fresh veggies, too, and I made pancakes for dinner!! Maybe I should have dinner for breakfast tomorrow then….? :)
    Enjoy your night!

  3. I have no veggies in my house except baby carrots and I’m dying for some. I really have to hit the store tomorrow instead of waiting for the farmers market.

  4. If I could, I would seriously eat bruschetta every day. I love the freshness of the tomatoes with the crustiness of the bread. Looks like a great dinner.

  5. Yum your dish looks delicious! Bruschetta is also top on my list of favourite foods…tomatoes…yum! Especially in combo with zucchini and artichokes. Veggies are a great way to portion control! Sometimes I think I eat TOO many though. Is that possible?

  6. I’m sad I wasn’t there to enjoy the dinner with you! It sounds awesome…what is better to pair with carbs than carbs, indeed!

  7. I would be sad if this dinner were over too. And I think it’s great that you made two desserts… I’m crazy too. I made three!

    Can you believe all the pea puree drama on Top Chef? And no one even said anything at the end.

  8. Mm! That sounds divine! I’ll have to try that. I’m impressed that you incorporated so many fresh and local vegetables in those carbs.

  9. i would be sad too when i finished eating dinner if i ate that, man that looks amazing.

  10. Carbs + carbs = perfectly balanced meal in my book ;)

  11. sometimes not knowing what to make for dinner works and u can make delicious meals like this!!

    the local ingredients are abundant in here! YAYYY <3

  12. Some days all I want are carbs, carbs, and more carbs! (I love those days.) ;-)

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