Quick Weeknight Meal: Penne with Shrimp and Broccoli

I typically cook dinner 4-5 times a week. I don't always have a lot of time to prepare a meal so having a few quick meals in my arsenal is key. For the most part, I like fresh and healthy foods. As a general rule, I stay away from processed foods (I do have a weakness for pasta and rice) and foods with a high sugar or salt content. Since I'm the one doing the cooking, by default, Jimmy and Carter eat like I do; except, Carter doesn't really like sauces or foods that are mixed together and Jimmy has a threshold on how many green veggies he'll eat. So when Jimmy is traveling I take the opportunity to enjoy all the veggies he doesn't like.

Today, I decided to make Penne with Shrimp and Broccoli. Carter loves pasta but he doesn't like sauce so I made whole grain penne and mixed in some olive oil, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. Part one of the meal done. While the pasta was cooking, I steamed some fresh broccoli. Part two of the meal done. For part three of the meal, I decided to sauté shrimp. Usually, I use fresh uncooked shrimp but because it takes a lot of time to take the shell off, clean and devein I have started keeping frozen cooked shrimp in the freezer for quick meals like this one. I first thawed out the shrimp and then sautéed them with a little butter, salt, pepper, fresh lime juice, and tangerine balsamic vinegar. The entire meal took about 30 minutes to cook and that's only because it took time for the pasta water to boil. Quick and healthy (a little butter never hurt anyone). I served mine with a little parmesan cheese on top and it looked like this:

Carter doesn't like his food all mixed up so I served his like this (and he asked for seconds and thirds - score!):

After we ate, I decided to do something different with the leftover broccoli and pasta. One of my favorite quick pasta recipes comes from "Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook" and it's called Supreme Green Spaghetti. Here's the recipe:

8 oz uncooked spaghetti or other pasta
1 lb frozen chopped spinach or broccoli (I always use fresh spinach or broccoli and steam it)
1/2 cup skim milk (or heavy cream if you like your sauces creamy)(or soft tofu if you don't do dairy)
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp melted butter (or olive oil if you don't want the butter)
Salt to taste
4 tsp grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Prepare pasta as indicated on the package. Cook spinach or broccoli as directed on package or steam if you're using fresh veggies. Transfer all ingredients except the pasta to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour sauce over the drained and hot pasta. Stir to combine and sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese.

Now, this is the normal recipe and it comes out delicious with a very simple but savory taste. However, tonight, I wanted to mix it up a little bit. This is how my ingredients differed:

Whole Grain Penne pasta (leftover from dinner)
1 1/2 cups steamed fresh broccoli
1/4 cup 2% milk
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
3 small fresh basil leaves (would be delicious with fresh mint as well)
2 tsp tangerine balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

I put everything, except the pasta, in a blender and pureed until smooth. I poured the sauce over the pasta remaining in the pot and then warmed up the dish on the stove on low heat for a few minutes. It was so yummy I ate dinner twice tonight. Here's what it looked like:

I can't wait to eat some more for lunch tomorrow.