My Go-to Summer Dish

Cavatappi with Bacon and Summer Vegetables

This is a fantastic summer recipe! The greatest thing about it is that it incorporates all the great flavors of the season. Its also very light so you won't feel overfull after eating it. A great summer night dish or to bring to a picnic. Also, I found the easiest way to make this into a meal was to add garlic bread and a fresh greens salad with balsamic dressing. You also have a few options when it comes to adding protein to this dish; you can either add grilled shrimp or grilled chicken in addition to the bacon that is already in it. To make this dish vegetarian, simply subtract the bacon and use extra virgin olive oil to cook the veggies.

Prep Time: 20 minutes


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 2 cups pasta mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese)

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked cavatappi

• 8 slices center-cut bacon, chopped

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 1 cup prechopped red onion onion

• 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

• 1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

• 1 portabella mushroom

• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)

• 1 pint grape tomatoes

• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded

• 1/4 cup small fresh basil leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

2. While pasta cooks, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving drippings in pan; add oil to drippings. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn and tomatoes; cook 5 minutes or until tomatoes burst, stirring occasionally. Add pasta to tomato mixture; toss. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add 1/4 cup cheese, basil, salt, and pepper; toss to combine. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Mixed greens salad: Combine 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon orange juice, 2 teaspoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Whisk in 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Toss with 6 cups mixed salad greens.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

248

Fat:

8.4g (sat 3.3g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.8g)

Protein:

12.8g

Carbohydrate:

32.6g

Fiber:

4g

Cholesterol:

15mg

Iron:

1.7mg

Sodium:

626mg

Calcium:

203mg