Meatless Monday: Cutie Spinach Salad and Roasted Lemon and Rosemary Tomato Pasta

I've really been craving a good colorful, flavorful salad. I don't know how ya'll feel about salad but I always feel disappointed and gipped.  Well not tonight!  I made a Cutie Spinach Salad with a Sweet balsamic vinaigrette. YUM!  The salad is full of flavors, textures, and colors!

I felt this Tomato Pasta would be the perfect meatless Monday plate! The colors and flavors are just outta of this world! I feel like this dish is the perfect spring or summer dish.  The tomato and lemon juices mixed together nicely and balanced each other out. 

I think next time I make this dish I would either try to replace the pasta noodles with spaghetti squash, another alternative is to add squash and/or zucchini to the roasted tomatoes.

Cutie Spinach Salad 

1/2 cup spinach leaves
1 tablespoon chopped roasted almonds
1 tablespoon chopped purple onion
1 tablespoon chopped roma tomato
4 baby carrots, grated
1 cutie (small orange, or tangerine)
1 garlic clove
salt
pepper

This recipe is for one side salad

1. Peel garlic (I smush the garlic under a knife and then peel; I feel like this releases the juice).  After the garlic is peeled rub the inside of the salad bowl with your garlic just to provide a very subtle flavor. (Set this aside you can use it when making the Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette)

2. Add spinach, almonds, onion, tomato, carrots. Peel the cutie and separate them out. Since these tangerine are small I like the idea of putting an entire cutie in one salad. Put a little bit of salt and pepper on the salad.

 

YUM look at that it's kinda like spring in a bowl

Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/8 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together.

YUM!!!!

 

Roasted Rosemary and Lemon Tomatoes Pasta

 

 

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Juice from 1 lemon

5 tomatoes, quartered lengthwise

3 garlic cloves, minced

 

1. Preheat oven to 400.

 

2. Chop all ingredients. Place ingredients in a large bowl; toss well to combine. Place in a baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove Tomato mixture from oven.

 

Chopped

 

 

Combined in a bowl

 

 

Mixed with olive oil

 

 

Beautiful!!! 

 

3. Preheat Broiler

 

4. Broil tomato mixture 10 minutes or until tomatoes begin to brown. Removve from oven; stir gently.

Ready to mix with the pasta

 

5. Make pasta according to box. Drain.  Add Pasta back to saucepan and stir in tomato mixture, cooking on low heat until liquid thickens.  Garnish with Parmesan Cheese

Allowing the liquid to thicken up a bit

 

 

Prep: 11 minutes

Cook: 45 minutes

 

Dinner is served!

Check back tomorrow to see how I'm cooking the Chicken!

 

What did you have for Meatless Monday?  How was it?