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.