The Wonderful Zucchini & Fresh Summer Spaghetti

So, remember my picture from last post?  My recent "farmer's market haul" (all for under $15 I might add!)..?  Well, here's a recipe I threw together using a few of those fresh ingredients.

First off, a little info about...Zucchinis!  I actually didn't really start eating this veggie until this summer.  Because I've been doing my produce shopping locally this summer, I obviously have been seeing a lot of items in the summer squash family lately...zucchini being one of those items.  And after making a few delicious dishes with the stuff, I can't get enough!  And how awesome for us that it's LOADED with health benefits.  To name a few:

• One cup only has 36 calories and about 10% of your daily fiber
• This high fiber content not only aids in digestion, but also can help lower cholesterol
• Contains vitamins A & C as well as folate, which act as antioxidants in the body
• Contains potassium and over 10% of the daily dose of magnesium, both of which help to lower blood pressure

There are many more benefits...these are just some that I found particularly interesting.  Even though I work in a pharmacy, I really hate seeing people taking 10 medications a day to solve problems that I feel can be solved by just putting the right kind of food in the body.  And because I don't want to end up taking multiple medications for blood pressure, cholesterol, stomach, etc. I spend a ridiculous amount of time learning about how I can prevent it with diet.  Thus....zucchini research ;)

And without further ado, I give you....

Fresh Summer Spaghetti

Ingredients

• whole wheat spaghetti noodles (I used about 2/3 of a box)
• 1 c. chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped (I had some purple basil on hand, so I ended up using a combination of this and sweet basil)
• 2 chopped garlic cloves (about 1 tbsp)
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 c. toasted pine nuts, for serving
• grated Parmesan, for serving

Cook the noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente.  Drain.

While noodles are cooking, heat 2 tbps of oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add the zucchini, garlic, salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes until zucchini is softened.  Add chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Combine pasta and zucchini and tomato mixture in a large bowl.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and the rest of the olive oil (you can add more here if desired).  I like to top mine with some toasted pine nuts and Parmesan.  To toast the nuts, just add to a small skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until pine nuts start to turn a golden brown.

And a delicious, fresh and healthy dinner is served!