Pesto Rainbow Pasta with Roasted Vegetables + Giveaway
 
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“Spring Into Wellness” with this divine recipe: Pesto Rainbow Pasta with Roasted Vegetables. Eating all the colors of the rainbow on a weekly basis is important for our health. Every color offers different benefits to our bodies. For example: RED foods have lycopene which is a phytochemical associated with preventing cancer. ORANGE/YELLOW foods have beta-carotene which can be converted to vitamin A and used to protect our eyes and skin. GREEN foods have lutein which helps keep our eyes healthy and clear. BLUE/PURPLE foods have anthocyanins, an antioxidant found to prevent heart disease and reduce inflammation. All these colors also offer many more benefits, too. When you eat the colors of the rainbow throughout the week, you can ensure that your body is getting a variety of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals which will help prevent disease and keep you strong. With this recipe, Pesto Rainbow Pasta with Roasted Vegetables, you are getting every color of the rainbow in one tasty dish. This recipe is delicious when eaten warm for dinner OR you can eat the leftovers at lunch. Yum! Yum! Long-Term Health Goals: Try to include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your weekly diet. Focus on eating at least one different color every day of the week. For example, Monday is a red day, Tuesday is an orange day, Wednesday is a yellow day, and so on. This way you can guarantee you get the rainbow of colors and benefits into your weekly routine and you rock your health.
Author:
Recipe type: Pasta Entree
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 3 cups uncooked Dreamfields Rotini pasta
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 small eggplant
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 1 cup fresh basil
  • Pesto Sauce:
  • ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Cooking Spray
  • Salt and ground pepper to taste
  • Parmesan cheese, basil, and/or red chili flakes to sprinkle on top (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450° Bake.
  2. Slice the zucchini into medium rounds and halve again. Slice the red onion into slivers. Slice the eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Slice the carrots into ½-inch rounds. Chop the tomatoes.
  3. Chop the bell peppers into 1-inch cubes. Chop the basil.
  4. Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray and add the zucchini, onion, eggplant, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and basil to the pan. Lightly spray the vegetables with a cooking spray. Toss with salt and fresh ground pepper, as desired. Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Set aside.
  6. Make the pesto. In a food processor, combine the Parmesan cheese, parsley, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Puree.
  7. In a large bowl, toss the pasta, vegetables, and pesto. Serve with extra Parmesan cheese, chopped basil, and/or red chili flakes, as desired.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 2 cups Calories: 256 Fat: 5 Saturated fat: 2 Carbohydrates: 45 Sodium: 143 Fiber: 8 Protein: 11 Cholesterol: 5
Recipe by Sarah Koszyk at https://sarahkoszyk.com/pesto-rainbow-pasta-with-roasted-vegetables-giveaway/