Recipe of the Week! Mediterranean Vegetable, White Bean & Feta Penne

This was great dinner I made last week. I saw the recipe in the February 2011 issue of Clean Eating Magazine. I like to make pasta dishes because it's easy enough to make a whole wheat pasta and it's also a great way to sneak in a ton of vegetables as well!

So..I started off with some zucchini, pepper, and tomatoes..the other stars of the recipe..some whole wheat penne, white beans, and fat free feta to give it a Mediterranean twist.

The veggies got cut up into some good sized chunks..

I diced the tomatoes as well as some garlic, then mixed it with some balsamic vinegar and added some salt, dried basil, and red pepper flakes. This smelled so good as I chopped everything else up!

The zucchini and bell pepper were sauteed in some oil. Some more garlic was added in. Then, you remove the mixture from the heat and ad in your tomato mixture.

I cooked 1/2 pound of whole wheat penne and added in a can of white beans during the last minute of cooking. The pasta and beans were drained and immediately added into the vegetable mixture. The dish was finished off with some dried rosemary and some fat free feta!

I thought this was a very filling meal. Mr. Allan seemed to enjoy it as well..although he did ask what the "twigs" he was eating were..I believe the "twigs" were the dried rosemary...so instead of watching him pick twigs out, I might omit that next time!

Mediterranean Vegetable, White Bean and Feta Penne

from Clean Eating Magazine

6 oz whole wheat penne

1 cup canned white beans

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium zucchini, cut into eights lengthwise, then cut into 2" pieces

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1/2 tsp dried rosemary..aka "twigs"

1 cup crumbled reduced fat feta

Chop tomatoes and combine with 2 cloves of garlic, vinegar, basil, pepper flakes and salt. set aside

Cook penne according to package directions adding in the can of white beans (drained) during the last minute of cooking

Heat 1 tsp oil in a skillet. Add zucchini and pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes or until edges start to turn brown. Add 2 remaining garlic cloves. Cook for 15 seconds and remove from heat. Stir in tomato mixture and then drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil.

Drain penne/bean mixture. Sprinkle with rosemary and 1/4 cup of feta.Then top with tomato/vegetable mixture and remaining feta.

nutritonal info based on 4 servings: calories: 353, total fat 12g, carbs 44g, fiber 11g, sugars 6g, protein 18g