Zucchini, squash & broccoli with tomato crab meat sauce over whole wheat penne pasta

Here's something I made last night after getting home at 9pm (not from work, don't worry, but from tennis). It was late, we were hungry and I wanted something light and quick. So here it is. It'll probably take me longer to post this than it took me to make this dish, but then, I'm a slow typist and I do have a way with the chef knife.

While the salted water for pasta gets to a boil, heat up some vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion, garlic and hot red pepper flakes , cook until the garlic starts to become fragrant or to color a bit then add the chopped veggies. If you're not ready with the veggies, add some white wine, to cool down the cooking process a bit. The veggies do not need much cooking (as they are perfectly good raw), so 5 minutes after adding the veggies, add the chopped tomato and the crab meat (you don't need a lot, though the more the better) and turn off the heat. Sprinkle herbs on top of the veggies and in the cooked pasta and serve hot.


The best thing about this dish is that it can be done really quickly and is really versatile. In the winter I make a white wine cream sauce , and I usually add whatever veggies I have in the fridge. Crab meat is pricey and hard to come by, but one can easily use shrimp or fish or mushrooms. The leftovers are great too (even cold, as I had today for lunch). I omitted any quantities from this recipe because I really like the freedom to add as much of something as I like or have, and as I need. Enjoy!