Roasted Vegetable Pasta and Squash Bread

This must have been a good year for squash and vegetables in my area, because a number of my friends gave me a large amount of extras from their gardens. I didn't want anything to go to waste so I tried to come up with a menu plan which incorporated a large amount of the fresh vegetables I had available. I make zuchinni bread relatively often, so instead of relying on my old standby, I decided to make bread with yellow squash. For the remainder of the fresh veggies I made a roasted vegetable pasta.

For the pasta I used white eggplant, zuchinni, yellow squash, red onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and olive oil. I roasted all of the vegetables in the oven at 400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. After the vegetables were roasted I placed them in a saucepan and added al dente whole wheat pasta, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

For the bread I peeled and shredded 2 cups of yellow squash. I then added

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 teaspons vanilla 
• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg

After combining the ingredients I poured the batter into a 9 by 13 inch pan and baked it at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Wait until the bread cools before slicing.

These two recipes worked well to use the abundance of fresh vegetables from my fridge and my two boys loved both of the dishes. The sugar in the bread can be reduced if you are watching your intake and the nutmeg and cinnamon can be modified depending on your tastes.