inspired edibles++yet another baked pasta with farmer’s market baby root salad++heidi swanson

i’m kind of boring.

maybe not boring but predictable.

i love to garden, cook, photograph, code, design, sing & compose.

i love succulents, beautifully photographed cookbooks, home-grown food, doc & b, picnics, pits (puppies not olives), really good olives and baked pasta.

i love baked pasta. so does b. he loves it so much that he asks me to cook it almost every night.

i do not always comply, for i do not wish to be three sizes larger.

but on some nights…

especially when there is a brilliantly colored baby root farmer’s market salad to accompany the pasta.

then it’s just perfect.

this pasta is straight out of my childhood. zucchini and onions sauteed with garlic-

(i’m embarrassed to admit that i only recently learned to spell zucchini. i kept trying to type it in as zuchinni. which looked prettier to me. but is not correct.)

-tossed with a beautifully simple tomato-garlic sauce and dainty little pasta shells! then it is decked with shredded mozzarella and baked into oozy gooey perfection.

a good friend of mine does not LIKE CHEESE. i just don’t understand. i know people who due to lactose intolerance abstain from cheese, often with great sadness, but to not LIKE IT AT ALL?? **amendment, she loves parmesan. but still.

i love you but i just don’t get it.

a few years ago, my bestie sent me a link to this recipe:

a thousand layer lasagna

and with her consistently gorgeous photography and the words “I’ll fight you for a corner piece. Seriously.”- heidi swanson won our affection for life.

incidentally, this was also when i first thought of starting a food blog.

so,

thank you christi sue. you are so beautiful and i <3 you.

	and thank you heidi swanson. you make it look easy. and you do it with grace & style. thank you for all of your beautiful inspiration. heidi has a brand new book out. (her third!) available here. my copy just arrived! she makes healthy food look so sexy yet accessible.
	last night i made her incredible lentil soup. i will share my adaptation soon! at the sunday hollywood farmer’s market, we picked up a gorgeous bunch of flowering cilantro, with teeny purple blossoms and feathery green leaves. they finished the hearty spring soup perfectly.

i am easily distracted. sometimes it takes me days to write these posts. i’m learning to be ok with that. i’m also learning to work with my faults instead of fight them. on that note, back to the recipe!

i love shredded root veggies in salad. i dont enjoy them nearly as much when they are just sliced.i also stir fried some sliced onion & jalapeno to put on top. inspired by the seasonal fried tomatillos atop my mediterranean salad at the counter last week.
delightful!

farmer’s market baby root salad with baked shells+zucchini

PASTA

1 lb whole wheat pasta shells

3 organic zucchini, sliced into strips

1 yellow onion, diced

1 jar best tomato sauce or 3 c homemade

7 cloves garlic

3/4 c shredded mozzarella

1. cook pasta al dente and rinse with cold water to stop it from cooking further.

2. saute the zucchini and onion on medium high heat with a few glugs of olive oil. season with s&p.

3. crush in garlic and saute a few minutes until fragrant.

4. mix in tomato sauce, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, until warmed through.

5. incorporate pasta with sauce and transfer to an oven proof casserole dish.

6. top with mozzarella and bake at 375º for 30 minutes or until golden & bubbly.

SALAD

3 radishes, sliced paper thin with mandolin

1/2 small red cabbage, thinly sliced with mandolin

1 golden beet, shredded

2 large carrots, shredded

1 jalapeno

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 lemon

2-3 green onions, chopped.

a little honey

1 T toasted sesame seeds

1. saute onion and jalapeno on high heat with a little olive oil for 3-5 minutes. season with s&p.

2. combine cabbage, beets, carrots & radishes in a large salad bowl.

3. incorporate green onions, sesame seeds & onion-jalapeno mixture.

4. juice lemon over salad. add a good squeeze of honey.

5. taste and season with s&p.

serve side by side for beautiful balance.

enjoy with the ones you love.

i’m reminded every day: each moment we have is utterly precious. i’m thankful for every single one.

check out my local farmer’s market finds article for your daily thread! i love my monday weho market!