Pepper Asparagus Pasta

When I was doing my student teaching, my cooperating teacher was Elizabeth.  I really lucked out with her; she is smart, she has a great sense of humor, and as green as I was back then, she was very patient and understanding with me.  I was so nervous!  I was practically afraid of the teenagers.  I so desperately wanted to do well that I stressed and fretted the entire semester.  

At the time, Elizabeth was pregnant.  I couldn’t figure out why a pregnant woman would choose the additional stress of having a student teacher, but about halfway through the semester when she asked if I would be her long-term sub while she was on maternity leave, I was ecstatic!  She made me feel like I must have done okay.

Anyway, in addition to being so wonderful in many ways, Elizabeth is also a vegetarian.  Every so often she would bring in this pasta dish for lunch; it was so pretty, and it smelled divine!  I would ogle it every time she brought it.  Finally, I asked her for the recipe, and she was kind enough to share it with me.

I’ve made the dish several times since then, and once I began my clean-eating journey, I made one small change to it: I replaced what originally was bow-tie noodles with whole wheat rotini noodles (if I could find whole wheat bow-ties, I would use those, but as of yet, no such luck).  It is still clean, still wonderful, still fresh and vibrant, just like Elizabeth.

This Pepper Asparagus Pasta makes a great lunch or dinner and reheats beautifully.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 red and/or orange bell peppers, chopped

1 lemon, zested, juice reserved

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. salt

2 cups whole grain pasta such as rotini or mostaccioli (if you can find bowties or farfalle, go for it!)

¼ cup olive oil

Parmesan cheese,shredded

Directions:

1. Cook pasta.  Drain.
2. Saute lemon zest, peppers, asparagus, salt, and pepper in olive oil over medium heat until vegetables are crisp-tender.
3. Add beans and juice from lemon.  Cook until warm.  
4. Stir in pasta and additional salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve either warm or room temperature with shredded parmesan cheese.

Let me know what you think if you try it!  In the meantime...

BE FIERCE!