P90X2 Dish: Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Before I get started with the recipe of the day, I need to get some frustration out. It has nothing to do with health or fitness. It has to do with fires that refuse to start.

As I mentioned the other day, we have a wood burning stove insert that is currently the light of my life (no pun intended). It doesn't matter if it's going to be 60 degrees that day, I start that puppy up nine days out of 10 because it's cold in here in the morning. And cold equals cranky.

And when conditions are right, I can get that thing blazing in no time. And it gives me a certain, "I am woman, hear me roar" thing when I get a nice big fire started.

But on days like today, the wood is wet. And no matter what I do, or how much paper I load, or how many times I light and re-light that stupid thing, it REFUSES to go. And it makes me so annoyed. All it does is smoke up my house, waste my time....AND I'M STILL COLD.

Okay. Moving on. I'm gonna get a niiiice cup of tea and settle down. We're going to move on now.

**********

So the other night I cooked my first meal from the P90X2 nutrition guide, and it did not disappoint. It was a recipe from Melissa Costello at Karma Chow, and since I fix so many other of her recipes, I was pretty sure it would be delicious.

The recipe calls for tempeh, a meat substitute which I did not have on hand. So I cubed some tofu and roasted it with the veggies, and it turned out great. I liked this so much that I fixed it a few days later, but as a side dish without the pasta. I think these might be my new favorite roasted vegetables. Sorry, roasted root vegetables. You have competition.

My favorite part of these roasted veggies are the cherry tomatoes. There is just nothing like a tomato that has roasted and burst in the oven. It's on flavor steroids, or something.

Here's the recipe.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta
- 1/2 orange (or green) bell pepper, cut into strips
- 1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 8 mushrooms, stems removed
- 1 TB olive oil
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 4 oz. whole wheat fusilli pasta
- 1/2 cup vegetable (or chicken) broth
- 4 oz. tempeh, crumbled (or cube tofu and include it in the veggie pan)
- 2 TB freshly chopped basil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Place first 5 ingredients in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil to coat, along with oregano and sea salt. Toss to make sure all veggies are well coated.
3. Place veggies on banking sheet or 9 x 13 pan. Place in oven and roast for 10 to 15 mins. or until browned.
4. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse, return to pot.
5. Add broth to pasta and place over very low heat. Add crumbled tempeh an stir to combine; cook just long enough to heat through.
6. Add roasted vegetables to pasta mixture and toss to coat.
7. Add basil and season with sea salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

*********

Workout of the Day

P90X2 Recovery and Mobility