Pasta with Squash and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

Tonight's dinner: roasted cauliflower from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (my personal favorite cookbook) with some baby carrots thrown in for good measure, and my own concoction I call Pasta with Squash and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce. The sauce is very thick, but it really coats the pasta well. (For almost all recipes I will post on this blog, measurements are not exact and mostly to taste. I don't measure when I cook - I just dump things together that sound interesting and sometimes I end up with something great.) I make this pasta recipe all the time - it makes for great leftovers.

Pasta with Squash and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
1/2 box whole wheat penne pasta
1 pkg. frozen butternut squash puree
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
1 tbsp. jarred minced garlic
2 tsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
black pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package. While pasta cooks, in a small electric chopper pulse together the sun-dried tomatoes (with a little of their oil) and garlic. In a microwave-proof bowl, thaw the squash in the microwave. When the squash is thawed, microwave another minute or two until hot. Then stir in the sun-dried tomato mixture, maple syrup, lemon juice, Italian seasoning and pepper. When the pasta is done, drain and add to the squash mixture. Toss well to coat.

I've switched up this recipe quite a bit, depending on what's in the fridge. I've stirred in drained capers for some extra saltiness. I've also added some jarred fire-roasted red bell peppers into the chopper along with the tomatoes and garlic.

(I had a very good vegan day...until about 7:30 tonight. I made the kids some microwave popcorn and just couldn't resist it. You know, it didn't even taste that great, but something about the salt of it made me keep eating. I ate most of the bag. Now I feel sick...)