Friends, we have got CSA veggies from Great Country Farms coming out our ears! Green beans, squash, cherry tomatoes, corn, potatoes … we are vastly outnumbered here at Chez Recessionista by all of these goodies. And they won’t stay good forever, you know – so I knew that tonight I had to get to work putting last week’s shipment to good use.
The corn and potatoes will be employed in tomorrow’s dish — a Crock-Pot creation I’ll surprise you with when the time comes. But the green beans, squash, and tomatoes? They went straight into the Le Creuset tonight as part of a long-overdue pasta primavera.
I’ve made this dish quite a few times, with various and sundry veggie combinations employing whatever I’ve got on hand. Tonight I called the aforementioned trio into service, along with half a bag of frozen peas, a bag of frozen chik’n strips, an onion from Mr. Lopez’s stand at the Saturday market, and plenty of salt, pepper, and garlic powder to boot. The result was a concerto of flavors and textures that really sang!
The most fun part is the creation of the cream sauce. It never ceases to amaze me how a couple of pats of butter and two tablespoons of flour, blended with 2-3 cups of almond milk (and a splash of balsamic vinegar for fun), can become this wonderfully rich sauce that can coat an entire pot of pasta! But it does, every time, making even more than we really need.
I must say, this primavera turned out even prettier than normal – in large part due to the extensive palette of colors the vegetables brought to the table (so to speak). And it turned out wonderfully tasty, as well! The cream sauce was rich and thick, the vegetables were crisp-tender and translucent, the chik’n strips added some much-needed protein to the dish, and the salt, pepper, and garlic powder really brought all of the flavors together. A little nutritional yeast on top at the table, and it was a perfect meal! And now our fridge is back to normal vegetable levels – until tomorrow’s CSA shipment, that is!
:)