Pasta Primavera

Everyone I know eats meat. So when our daughter and her fiancé come over we usually grill. Bob grills hamburgers for everyone else and either portobello burgers or bean burgers for me. Last night I didn't feel like burgers so I said I would make some pasta primavera. I was pretty intimidated since her fiancé is a chef. Oh, and have I mentioned that I don't really have a recipe for this? Ugh! So I just started grabbing everything I could think of that I've had in primavera sauces in restaurants and started chopping! He couldn't see how I was going to get a rich enough sauce without using butter. Not only did he like the sauce, but he got seconds! He never guessed my secret for a thick, rich sauce either, I had to tell him! It's the chopped mushrooms! They almost melt into the sauce making it thick and rich!

Pasta Primavera

1 yellow squash, cut up
1 zucchini, cut up
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 orange bell pepper, cut up
Oregano
Basil
Vegetable broth
4-5 oz crimini mushrooms, rinsed
2 jars pasta sauce
1 pkg whole wheat linguine, cooked

Place all vegetables except mushrooms in a Dutch oven. Add seasonings to taste. Cook on medium heat, add about 1/4 cup vegetable broth. Cover and cook until vegetables start to get soft, adding a little broth if needed.

Put mushrooms in a food processor fitted with an "s" blade and process until the mushrooms are the size and texture of ground beef. Add the mushrooms to the vegetables and stir. Add the pasta sauce, cover and cook on medium heat. When the sauce comes to a boil, lower fire and simmer until vegetables are soft (to taste) and flavors have blended.

Serve over linguine pasta.

Tip: Save the mushroom stems in a freezer bag and use it to make stock when the bag is full!

Fran's Eggplant Casserole

Before I retired I worked in an all female accounting office. We all loved to cook and some loved to bake so we had potluck office meals fairly often. This dish started out as a simple casserole of my boss, Fran. As the recipe got passed around, almost everyone added something to it or made a variation of it. So it ended up being a true potluck dish! I love it and every time if cook it, the house smells wonderful!

Fran's Eggplant Casserole

1 whole eggplant, peeled and sliced thin
3 zucchini, scrubbed and sliced
3 yellow squash, scrubbed and sliced
6-8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
1 bell pepper, chopped (use any color you want)
15 ounce can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
 nutritional yeast, optional

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray cookie sheet with Pam or use a Silpat, spread eggplant slices, and spray slices lightly with Pam. Bake for 15 minutes to help tenderize the eggplant.

Prepare the other vegetables and place in oven-proof casserole dish. When the eggplant is ready, place in casserole dish and mix with the other vegetables. Season with pepper, garlic powder, and a dash of red pepper. Sprinkle top with nutritional yeast, if using. Cover and bake at 350F for 1 hour, until vegetables are tender. Taste, and sprinkle with salt if needed.

Notes:
1. You can use flavored diced tomatoes and any other seasonings you wish to vary the dish. For example, use basil, oregano tomatoes and Italian seasoning (my favorite), or chili powder and Rotele tomatoes for Mexican, etc. Greek would be good too!
2. This is easy to make in the crockpot. Place all ingredients in the crockpot, stir, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.