Whole Wheat Veggie Pasta

We don't eat a ton of pasta at our house, but when we do I like to make things that are packed full of veggies and flavor.  This was absolutely delicious and didn't take long at all to make.  It just requires a lot of different ingredients.

Ingredients and cooking:

1/2 bag whole wheat pasta (any variety is fine.  I used fusilli because I like the way it catches the veggies and cheese) - Cook in a little salted water

1 yellow onion diced
1 heaping tablespoon of minced garlic
1/2 jar of sun dried tomatoes (I use Trader Joe's Julienne Sliced Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil) I use the oil from the sun dried tomatoes to sauté the onions and garlic.  I sauté all those three ingredients together until the onions are clear.

Once the above are cooked then I start throwing in all the additional items:

Yellow and Red Fire Roasted Peppers (also from Trader Joe's) - I slice up the peppers before adding
Red and Yellow peppadew peppers sliced (got these from my local grocery store olive station)
Big White Beans (got these from the olive station as well)
Artichoke Hearts (I used one can of whole artichoke hearts and then quartered them)

Once these are all mixed up together in a pan, then I add as much baby spinach or super green mix as possible.  You can pretty much fit an entire 10 oz container if you wanted, just add a little at a time.  Cook down the greens.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, then add to your pan with all the veggies.  Toss everything together and add feta cheese.

I am telling you this is delicious.  It was great for lunch today too.  You can eat it cold or warmed up.  Yummy.

Easy Tamale Pie

I picked up this recipe at Whole Foods one day.  I tried it out and it to so delicious and it is something the kids love as well, which is such a bonus.  Not only do the kids like it, but it is super healthy.  It calls for no oil, very little salt and full of flavor.  I do however add some shredded cheese because there is no reason not to add cheese.  Everything is better with cheese.  Thank you Whole Foods!  This is delicious.  

Easy Tamale Pie

2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup onion, diced

1 tsp chopped garlic

8 oz lean ground chicken (or shredded chicken)

1 cup crushed tomatoes 

1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach, thinly shredded

1/2 tsp cumin

Pinch cayenne pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1 4oz can diced mild green chilies

1 15 oz can black beans no salt added, rinsed and drained

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup instant polenta

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350

Heat 1/2 cup of the vegetable (or chicken) broth in a nonstick saute pan over medium high heat.  Add the onion and garlic and steam saute for 3-4 minutes, until onions are translucent.  Add the chicken and cook for 6-8 minutes until cooked through.

Add the crushed tomatoes, spinach, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, diced green chilies, beans and lime juice.  Lower heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, bring the remaining 2 cups of vegetable broth with the salt to a boil, stir in polenta and cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro.  

Spray a 8x8 baking pan with nonstick spray, place the bean mixture in the pan.  Spread the polenta evenly over the bean mixture.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  

I usually put a layer of shredded cheese on top of the bean mixture and then add the polenta.