Sunday, September 6, 2009

Top healthy pasta with shrimp, roasted veggies

It's harvest time; a great time to cook up an abundance of healthy food. Tonight, I grilled green, red and yellow pepper pieces on skewers along with big sweet onion chunks, all brushed with olive oil. (The key to grilling veggies on skewers just right is to keep the gas grill temp at around 350-400 degrees and let the veggies cook on an upper rack until they're soft and juicy, but not charred.) Then I mixed those veggies with shrimp and fresh-from-the-vine tomatoes to make this pasta dish:

Pasta with shrimp, tomatoes and roasted peppers

3 cups uncooked whole wheat rotini
7-10 medium fresh tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup water
1 pound cooked medium-sized shrimp, shelled, with tails removed
2 cups green, red and yellow pepper chunks
1 large sweet onion, cut into large pieces
3/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons cup fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh grated romano cheese

Grill pepper and onion pieces on skewers as described above. Set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta cooks, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chopped tomatoes, basil and garlic. Stir well. Add vinegar, red wine, lemon juice, water. Cover and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add peppers, onions and shrimp. Simmer 'til shrimp is heated through. Stir in feta cheese. Drain pasta; spoon sauce over rotini. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with parsley, pine nuts and fresh romano cheese.

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