I miss summer.
I miss summer for all of the reasons I like summer, but I also feel like a saner person during the summer. From June through September this year, I did a great job at eating healthy, working out almost every day and doing all of the things you’re supposed to do when you have about 60 pounds to lose.
Then, like clockwork, October rolled around and I completely lost my momentum. I’ve maintained a 20 pound weight loss (only 44 more to go!) but for whatever reason, the changing seasons completely zaps any motivation that I have to get to the gym regularly, cook more at home instead of resorting to ordering food delivery every other night and eating foods that make me feel good instead of foods that make me say “why did I eat that?”
That is why the world needs more healthy, hearty pasta dishes. This capellini pasta recipe is an adaptation of a recipe from a Weight Watchers cookbook and is one of three that I shared this morning on a CBS Chicago segment about healthy swaps to make in your favorite pasta dishes.
There are a lot of ingredients I love in the fall (pumpkin, pumpkin, blah blah blah) but ginger is one that is highly underrated year round. It’s also uniquely fall in a way that few ingredients are, because it’s perfectly complementary to traditionally fall flavors like pumpkin, apples and squash.
This capellini pasta is a great recipe for a weeknight dinner because it’s infinitely customizable. It’s great for your meat-free Monday nights, to serve as a side dish alongside your favorite protein, or to serve as is topped with your favorite marinated shrimp, chicken or steak.
- 8 ounces whole wheat capellini
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons ginger, grated or minced
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup rice wine or rice wine vinegar
- 2 cups edamame, frozen shelled
- 2 scallions, sliced
- Sesame seeds, optional garnish
- Cilantro, optional garnish
- Prepare capellini according to package directions. Heat a large wok over medium-high heat and add sesame oil. Add broccoli, red pepper and onion and cook until vegetables are soft and translucent.
- Add ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add hoisin sauce and rice wine or vinegar. Let liquids evaporate, and then add edamame. Toss with capellini and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds. Serve hot or at room temperature -- leftovers are great cold, too.
