Recipe: Pasta Primavera (gluten free)

ROASTED CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE PASTA PRIMAVERA: GF

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe! I'm sure you will agree though that this one is worth the wait!. I've been gluten free now for almost 1/2 a year and it has made a HUGE difference in my health. I plan on posting about that soon...but for now, just know that ALL of my recipes going forward will have the option of being gluten free. For example: you can use regular pasta or gluten free pasta in this recipe. Totally up to you! If you are living gluten free or considering going gluten free..you can find gluten free pasta in any grocery store these days.

This is a recipe that I developed using Giada DeLaurentis's Vegetable Primavera recipe. I've made with and without chicken...but Kevin and I agree the chicken really adds a lot of heartiness to this pasta dish. If you want to go meatless however...it's great that way too! What really MAKES this dish is the ROASTED VEGGIES.  This dish is literally a party in your mouth with all of the spectacular flavors from the roasted veggies. This dish is easy to make and VERY healthy. This recipe proves to me that you don't need a pasta dish with a heavy, fattening sauce on it. The flavor in this dish is not to be missed... Be sure to use organic vegetables and free range, organic poultry if you can. Also note that I made a HUGE bowl of this that we ate off of for 3 days! This recipe will easily feed a large family of 8-10, or you can half it to feed 4-6. Enjoy!

 

  Ingredients: 3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips

2 medium zucchinis or 1 large zucchini, cut into strips

2 yellow squash cut into strips

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper cut into thin strips

1 red bell pepper cut into think strips

8 oz sliced mushrooms (white or baby bellas work best)

15 cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in 1/2
3-5 cloves whole garlic

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (plus extra for the table)

1 rotisserie chicken

                    1/2 c. olive oil (4 Tablespoons)

                                     1 T. Italian seasoning

                                     1 pound penne pasta or bow tie pasta (I use GF pasta)

                                     **1/4-1/2 cup reserved pasta water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash and cut up all the veggies. Spread out on two baking sheets. Drizzle 2 T olive oil over each tray of veggies.

Sprinkle aprox 1 t. Italian seasoning over each tray of veggies. Using your hands or a spoon/spatula, toss the veggies to make sure they are covered in the oil and seasoning. (notice the cloves of garlic next to the onions...I roasted 2 but next time I'll probably do 5...roasted garlic has a really mild flavor and we could hardly even taste it with only 2!)

Adjust your oven racks to the 2nd and 4th position in your oven. Put one tray on each rack and roast veggies for 20 minutes.

In the meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until pasta is tender (according to your package directions) Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy, pasta water.

While pasta is cooking, saute the mushrooms in 1 T of butter or olive oil over medium heat.

While mushrooms are cooking, peel skin off the chicken and pull as much of the meat off the chicken as you can. Use all the white and dark meat, cutting into cubes. Discard the carcass.

By this time, the veggies should be done.

In a LARGE bowl, combine the mushrooms, veggies, chicken and pasta.

Pour approx. 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta liquid into the pasta and toss to coat. This creates a nice, light sauce.

Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and toss.

This is seriously one of Kevin's and mine FAVORITE dishes now. I've made it twice in the past month.
Enjoy!!!

South Lake Fishing Trip

Bishop, CA is one of the cities in Kevin's territory and he has to be there for business every 8 weeks. It's about 4 hours from our house and Kevin had heard it was a great place to go for fishing. When he goes up he has to rent a car and stay the night. Kevin thought it would be fun to bring Kyle and I along. We both agreed that a short family get a way would be wonderful so we packed an over night bag and headed up to the mountain air Tuesday morning. We got a much later start than we hoped, so by the time we made the four hour drive, got checked into our hotel and Kevin did his business...the day was nearly gone. Still, the guys headed out to explore a few of the many nearby lakes, streams and rivers that are known for some of the best fishing in California. I stayed behind to enjoy some rest in the room. After being gone about 3 hours, they showed up around 8:30 p.m. and were totally excited about what the next day had in store. They ended up fishing along a stream for a couple of hours and were told by some locals that THE lake to go to, rent a boat and enjoy some rainbow trout fishing was South Lake. Only 20 minutes away from our hotel in Bishop, we headed out the next morning bright and early and were on the lake in a boat fishing by 9 am Wednesday. Kevin and Kyle have poles and I don't...so I ended up being the official photographer of the day and enjoyed the picturesque scenery and my book while the guys fished. We realized right away that Kyle was TOTALLY in his element. The only other time we have seen him that focused on something and enjoying it as much is when he has been on the golf course. He not only loved it...but WOW...is he a great fisher man! He caught 5 fish total and we decided when we began that they would do catch and release unless a really big trout was caught. We did not want to bring home more fish than we knew we would eat. So when Kyle caught a 2.5 pound trout...that is the one we kept! It is now in our freezer and we are going to BBQ it up this weekend. I'm not a fresh water fish lover, but I promised Kyle I would try it since he caught it! Kevin had lots of bites, but only ended up catching one fish. I ended up casting out a few times and I am really excited to get a fishing pole so I can fish too next trip up which is in November. Kyle and I plan on going up with Kevin every 8 weeks from now on.

Driving up to South Lake....the scenery was breath taking. Many of the trees were turning yellow, gold and orange...so beautiful!

Kevin and Kyle...ready for a big day on the lake! Notice that Kyle is almost as tall as his Dad now!

Arriving at South Lake...we parked right up the hill from here and walked down to the docks where we rented a little motor boat.

What a beautiful lake! So serene, quiet and pretty. The air was slightly crisp and the mountain air was wonderful to breath in. Ahhh...nature at it's best!

The small dock with boats. We were only 1 of only 3 boats on the lake the entire day. So wonderful!

Kevin does some prep work with his fishing pole before heading down to the boat.

Kyle is in the boat and ready to go out for a great day!

I love candid shots like this. Can you tell Kevin is loving this moment?

The pictures do not do the scenery justice. The fall trees were so beautiful.

Kyle enjoys the boat ride as we search for the perfect place to stop and fish.

With no other boats out on the lake yet...the water was like glass.

The reflection of the rocks in the water was really spectacular.

 

 We found a great place to stop and put down the anchor, right at the mouth of a small water fall.

 Kyle is excited to catch a fish!!!

waiting.......

 ...and he has one on the line!!!

 Kevin brings in the fish.

 Kyle with his first fish of the day....he held it briefly for a picture and then released it.

It wasn't but five minutes later when Kyle had his second fish on the line!

 another beautiful trout!

 Another beautiful trout to release....

 Soon after....Kyle has his third fish on the line!

 WOW....this one is bigger and it is a fighter!

Kevin brings in the fish.

 Kyle's 2.5 pound rainbow trout....which he proudly called "his trophy for the day" THIS ONE is a keeper!

 We pulled the boat up to a small inlet of beach to eat our picnic lunch. Kevin chose to take his lunch and climb up on this big rock to eat!

 FINALLY...at the end of the day, Kevin catches a fish! (and releases it)

 Kyle had his fish weighed and recorded at the tackle shop. They took a picture for their website.

  A proud fisherman! As we were driving away from South Lake Kyle said "I can't wait to fish again!"