Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Lemon and Mint Pasta

I have a new toy...or well a borrowed toy.
That toy allowed me to snap these photos...got any idea what the toy might be? 

A new camera!  Or well, a borrowed camera!
The pastor at my church, Doug, is allowing me to borrow one of his older cameras for the duration of our Africa trip!  My camera has a broken shutter button, and while I can still use it with an earring pressed into the shutter, it isn't very ideal for travel! 

Doug is an excellent photographer and gave me a few pointers today.  You should check out his photos!  They are beautiful.  I definitely have much to learn from him.  I am excited to travel to Africa with Doug and have many lessons on how to take amazing photos.  And I am sure you are excited to not stare at iPhone photos all the time anymore!
I played around with the camera a bit after dinner but we were in a hurry to get to Bible Study.  So far I am really pleased with the quality of photos that were produced.  Considering my shaky hand, lack of camera knowledge and skills, and no post-edits I think these photos are not half bad.
But if you are anything like me, you are less worried about the quality of photos, and more concerned about that amazing dish that happens to be within!

Lemon and Mint Pasta

This dish is full of robust flavor from the lemon zest and fresh mint.  While the whole wheat spaghetti helps to fill you up, it is still light and fun on a hot summer evening.  This dish uses the season's freshest ingredients to bring to life bright and cheery flavors.  

1 package whole wheat spaghetti
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch mint, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tomato diced
1 yellow squash, sliced thin
1 bunch kale, chopped
salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add spaghetti noodles and cook 10-15 minutes until soft.

Meanwhile, rinse and chop kale and place in a colander.  When spaghetti is finished cooking, pour hot water and spaghetti through colander that is holding the kale.  The hot water will wilt the kale as it is poured through.  Add spaghetti and kale back to large pot.

While spaghetti is cooking, heat saute pan over medium heat.  Add 2 tbsp olive oil and minced garlic.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add chopped mint and continue to cook for several minutes.  Stir in chopped tomato and juice from 1/2 lemon and finally add in sliced squash.  Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes until squash is tender.  Toss in the zest from the lemon and add the contents of your saute pan to the spaghetti and kale in the pot.  Stir in 2 more tablespoons of olive oil if desired and salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.  Mix well.  Serves 4.
After making this dish, I really wished I would have grilled some tofu to add to the spaghetti.  Too late.  Chickpeas would also be a great addition to this dish for some added staying power, but I really recommend my Lemony Baked Tofu with Rosemary.  But even on its own, this dinner was fresh and satisfying.  I enjoyed all the juicy flavors!

2 comments:

  1. I love being able to borrow all of the super nice cameras at my school! I am very sad to graduate in december and lose my camera borrowing privileges but hopefully ill get a good job and be able to save up for a nice camera of my own:)

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  2. I need a new camera - I lost my point and shoot on a lake the other weekend :( I want a DSLR really bad.... too expensive though. Maybe someday. The pasta looks great!

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