As I write this post I feel like my eyes could close at any second.  You see, I decided to work in the office today – what a bad idea.  It is so hot in here it feels like my cheeks are on fire and I could fall asleep.  You know that feeling you get when you are all hot… and you cannot control it.   I AM HOT!!

Well then….That was my little rant for today.

Now onto the food.  This pasta is a 9 minute dish assuming you have some pasta sauce you can warm up or thaw from the freezer.  Some days you are just in a rush, it happens to all of us – but we shouldn’t always revert to unhealthy food.  We have to stay true to ourselves and make something nutritious to get us through the night.  Now don’t get me wrong – I am all for a double cheese burger or some chicken fingers but in general – I try to keep it on the “somewhat healthy” side of the fence.

This dish is really 3 ingredients.  The flavor is really hinged on the quality of both the sauce and cheese.  As you know, I like to make my own tomato sauce and store it in the freezer for quick thaws.  Lately I have been buying the real Parmesan cheese in the block… what a huge difference – love it!

So let’s turn on the stove, fill up the pot and bring this dish to a boil.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Uncooked Pasta
• 10-12 Grape Tomatoes
• 1/2 Cup sliced Bell Peppers
• Pasta Sauce (here is my homemade tomato sauce recipe)
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan Cheese

Method

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. Heat up sauce either in the microwave or on the stove top.
3. In a sauce pan, add the olive oil and quickly pan fry the bell peppers and tomatoes. (about 4 minutes)
4. Add the sauce and continue heating through.
5. Salt and pepper.
6. Toss in drained pasta and coat.
7. Top with Parmesan.



8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I have people comment that their pasta is very bland.  Salting the water is key to letting the pasta absorb some flavor while boiling.  Salt must be added once the water has started to boil.  If the salt is added too late, it will not be  absorbed correctly into the pasta.  Adding salt too early may lengthen the boiling time. Allow the salt to dissolve before adding the pasta.

I hope you have a great Thursday as the weekend approaches I have an interesting question for you.

Question of the day:  What is your favorite day of the week?

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Friday!  I like to call this the 10 minute pasta with a twist.  We all need these types of meals sometimes – especially this week for me.  When you are in a rush as it sometimes happens… eating healthy is tough.  To help out in the process of preparing healthy meals, you need to have some quick meal ideas that can ease the stress, and sometimes dread, of cooking dinner.

I created this meal out of scraps (as I call them) in the fridge.  The scraps used for this meal were left over spinach and feta cheese.  I always like to have some homemade tomato sauce in the freezer on hand as a quick and easy sauce in a pinch.

Next time you need a meal in 10 minutes give this a try.

Ingredients

• Macaroni
• Tomato Sauce
• Spinach
• Feta Cheese

Method

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. Warm sauce in microwave until heated.
3. Drain pasta, once cooked.
4. Toss pasta with sauce.
5. Add generous portion of uncooked spinach to bowl.
6. Cover with macaroni.
7. Top with cheese.
8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: To freeze tomato sauce and or stocks – try saving them in ice cubes trays or ice cube bags for simple access and great if you only want to thaw out a little bit at a time.

That is it!  A zesty meal with a decent balance of Nutrition in 10 minutes.  Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Hey everyone!  I had a craving for Pizza last night – however we didn’t have too many pizza ingredients on hand.  Being stubborn, I took a closer look in the fridge and came up with a few toppings that I thought just may do the trick.  The funny part was that they were all left overs from previous posts this week.  That made me smile and think of the LeftOverQueen and all her delicious recipes she shares with us using leftovers. I was excited!

Once digging around in the fridge I found some spinach which I had left over from the Red Pepper Jelly Chicken Sandwiches.  I also rooted around and found some mushrooms left over from the Apricot Pork with Feta and in the meat drawer I found a half of package of bacon left over from the b.

I was totally impressed.  But after that, I realized I had no pizza sauce!!  Oh no what am I going to do?  I ripped apart the freezer and I came up with some Homemade Tomato Sauce.  I thought to myself… this will work. We are ready to make a pizza.

Follow along and let me know what you think of this slightly different leftover pizza.  I guess before I begin, I went ahead and made the dough in the bread maker – however I forgot to capture some pictures of that so just follow along with the instructions.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Teaspoons salt
• 2 Teaspoons sugar
• 4 Cups all-purpose flour or bread machine flour (I would have used Whole Wheat but I ran out)
• 4 Teaspoons fast rise yeast
• 2 Tbsp cornmeal
• 1 Cup Monterey Jack and Cheddar Cheese Blend
• 1/4 Cup Feta Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Cooked Bacon Chopped
• 2 Handfuls of Spinach
• 1 Cup of Mushrooms
• 3 Tbsp. Tomato Sauce

Method

1. MEASURE all ingredients except cornmeal into bread pan in order listed; Select dough setting.
2. While the bread maker is working its magic – you can prep your toppings. I chopped up some bacon and started to render that over medium heat.



Zesty Tip: For crispier bacon while frying add a tablespoon of water to the pan when it reaches the high heat.

3. Using a tablespoon of the left over bacon fat I added the mushrooms and sauteed those for 3 minutes over medium heat then added the spinach as well a squeeze of a half of lime (this will brighten up the spinach).



4. ONCE the bread maker is complete – remove dough to lightly floured surface and cover with plastic wrap; Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
5. SPRINKLE cornmeal on large 16 inch pizza pan or on a pizza stone and press dough into pizza shape; Cover with a towel and let rise for another 30 minutes.



6. SPREAD with desired sauce.



7. TOP with some bacon and a light coating of Monterey Jack Cheese.



8. TOP with the mushrooms and spinach.



9. TOP with the Monterey Jack Cheese and then a sprinkle of feta.



10. BAKE at 425F for 20-30 minutes. I like to bake the pizza stone while the oven is pre-heating and then transfer the dough to the hot pizza stone sprinkled with the cornmeal to dress it.



11. Let cool for a couple of minutes, slice to your size liking and ENJOY

As always, zesty wants to know – what are your absolute favorite toppings on your pizza? Tell me the must haves for you!  I hope everyone has a great Thursday… look forward to hearing from you.

Zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty