30-min Veggie Tossed Pasta

Tonight we had a million things going, and as much as I wanted to eat out, I swore we wouldn't. That said, I also wasn't up to cooking anything fancy or that took a lot of time. After looking through a couple of Rachel Ray cookbooks I came across a recipe that took veggies & tossed it with penne with pesto and some other things. Well, I was even too lazy for pesto (plus, I don't have fresh herbs -- yet). But I remember a recipe I hadn't made forever that is similar and decided to do a mix of the two, but instead of fresh veggies, I used a frozen package of PictSweet Deluxe "Steamables" Spring Vegetables seasoned with black pepper. It turned out fabulous. Even the picky one ate it all up. Yeah! Even better it took less than a 1/2 hour from start to eat.

30-min Veggie Tossed Pasta
1-lb pasta
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
1 med onion, sliced & sliced again (it will look chopped & sliced)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp dried basil, crushed*
1 tsp dried parsley, crushed*
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 pkg frozen package of "Steamables" Spring Vegetables seasoned with black pepper, cooked according to package directions.
1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
Black Pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil & butter over med-high heat. Add onion. Saute a couple minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, & parsley. Saute a few more minutes until onion is tender, but not slimy. Add vinegar. Allow to cook 1-2 more minutes. Add vegetables and allow to cook until pasta is ready.
3. Drain pasta and toss with a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Pour vegetables over pasta and toss. Add more pepper if desired.

*Use 1/4 C of fresh basil and 1 Tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped if you have them.

I think this would be fantastic with chicken or broccoli, which I usually use. I however, loved the combo of asparagus, yellow squash & zucchini with the pasta. My 3 favorite veggies.