Corn, zucchini, basil, tomatoes, peppers… it’s August! The garden is bursting, the CSA bin is brimming, the stores and farmstands are overflowing —it’s the season ‘round here. What to cook/pack when you have parties or picnics, camp or beachside lunches? A pasta salad that is not only healthy, but tastes great.
Cook corn in oven, on grill or in boiling water as you would normally. Here we boiled it for 5 minutes then bathed in ice water to stop the cooking. Then cut corn off cob. Also cut the stem-end off the zucchini and boiled it with the corn. It takes about the same amout of time, but with end cut off you can check its doneness.
Cook corn in oven, on grill or in boiling water as you would normally. Here we boiled it for 5 minutes then bathed in ice water to stop the cooking. Then cut corn off cob. Also cut the stem-end off the zucchini and boiled it with the corn. (It takes the same amount of time amount of time, but with end cut off you can check its doneness by just looking at how done it appears.) Once it was done, also dunk into ice bath. Cut in half lengthwise then into smaller pieces.
Cut up orange bell pepper and tomatoes (without seeds). Both of these are raw.
I have noticed that (some of) my kids prefer certain vegetables raw and other veggies cooked. Peppers raw/mushrooms cooked; tomatoes raw/zucchini cooked; carrots raw/broccoli cooked… it can depend on the child(ren) so remember when you’re preparing something like this to try and get it to their preference so they’re more likely to eat it! By not overcooking you retain more nutrients and sometimes by adding fat can make it easier to convert those nutrients in the body. Don’t avoid all fats.
Mix veggies with cooked fusilli, penne or farfalle pasta (these are all great in pasta salad) and pesto sauce. If you don’t want to make your own, buy some fresh.
Make sure you season with sea salt and pepper if needed. Chill or serve just room temp.
Most all kids love pasta. My kids love this salad because of the pasta, crunchiness of the corn and peppers, the colors and the fresh flavors.
I’d never tried the 3 flavors they sent me, so that day used the Champagne Caper Vinaigrette on a mixed greens and Romaine salad with orange bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, mint and parsley. The dressing was nice, a little sweet but complemented the choice of vegetables well. The boys ate the salad without any complaints.
I also made a fruit salad (no dressing on this). Sliced bananas and squeezed lemon juice on them —they don’t turn brown and also gives them a nice tartness. Sliced and hulled strawberries. Picked the grapes off the bunch but left them whole (I only use organic grapes because the sulfur dioxide they usually spray on grapes makes me weeze. All my berries are also organic if not local). Tossed them all gently with the raspberries. I don’t find it necessary to add sugar because I find the sweetness of the grapes and bananas goes nicely with the tartness of the berries. My children usually devour fruit salad. We had also packed a separate container of cut up watermelon chunks. 
And for non-salad items this week we roasted chicken drumsticks. In a large bowl, coat the drumsticks with olive oil, salt, pepper and Penzy’s Mural of Flavor (mixture of garlic powder, thyme, oregano and basil would do). Roast in oven for 45-65 minutes at 350F (you can start it at 425-450 for 10 minutes for crispier skin). After 45 minutes check temperature with instant-read thermometer, should be 160 to remove from oven. Will continue to cook while it rests. You can make this to eat immediately, but is delicious cold too. The kids love eating drumsticks because they’re allowed to pick them up and eat them without forks. 
