Stirfry Veggie Pasta

Everyone would like to have hours to spend cooking gourmet meals, but the reality is, most of us don’t have the time or inclination.  This meal can go from beginning to end using one pot and be on the table in less than half an hour.  It is totally customizable:  Use fresh or frozen veggies (no need to defrost), add cheese, don’t add cheese, choose which herbs you want to add (basil, Italian seasonings, oregano–fresh or dried), use spaghetti, shells, broad noodles…the possibilities are endless.

I wanted to see how long this actually took to make, since, in my head, I think everything I cook takes 20 minutes. So I set a timer, and started running around like I was game show contestant trying to win a new car.

Boiled water: Check

Added pasta: check

Diced Veggies: check

I was totally crushing it.  I was unbeatable.  Take that Guy Fieri.  Watch out Rachel Ray, I’m breathing down your neck.

And then I went to make the marinade.  Five simple ingredients that you don’t even have to do anything more to than get them into the blender. And that is where everything slipped through my fingers. Literally.

I picked up my large bottle of olive oil to pour it into the measuring cup and it slid right through my fingers.  But instead of crash landing on its side, it landed right side up and spewed forth a volcano of oil…all over my shirt, my shoes, the counter, the cupboards, my face and my hair.  In one second, I went from Beat the Clock to getting slimed.  And yet somehow ,miraculously, with all the carnage, not a single drop managed to actually make it into the blender.

On the bright side, my hair and skin are really soft right now.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box of pasta (any kind will do)
• 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
• 2 cups of diced veggies, fresh or frozen
• 1 batch of my Onion Garlic Marinade

Directions:

1. In a large pot, boil water and cook pasta according to directions.  Drain.
2. While the water is boiling and the pasta cooking, prep the veggies if you are using fresh, or measure them out if you are using frozen.  Also make the marinade.
3. When the pasta is done, drain it and set aside.  Return the pot to the stove and turn the heat on medium high.  Add a few Tablespoons of the marinade to the pot and saute the veggies a few minutes till the tomatoes blister.  Add the pasta and toss to combine, adding more of the marinade as necessary, but not all of it (I used about 3/4 of the marinade).  Remove from the stove and serve immediately.

Enjoy!