The zucchini at the store was pretty sad, but I bought some anyway just because I love zucchini. I knew I had to cook one for lunch today or lose it, so I started this lunch before I had completely made up my mind what I was going to make. I took out a small leek and cut a vertical slice about 1.5 inches from the end where I last cut, turned it and cut another slice. Then I made diagonal thin slices, giving myself tiny, 1/4 cuts of leek that I put in the skillet with 1/2 TBSP of olive oil. I cut up about 1/8 of a sweet red pepper and tossed it in. I took my zucchini and sliced it lengthwise twice, quatering it before cutting it on the diagonal. I wanted small chunks, not slices. Tossing that in with the leeks and red pepper, I added some salt and pepper and a tsp of oregano.
I remembered that i got a free bag of tortellini from Schwans and put some water on to boil with a bit of salt in the water. I measured out 1 cup of the tortellini to toss in when the water began to boil.
I cut 1/2 of a medium tomato in chunks and tossed that in with the veggies and put the lid on my skillet. I then picked cilantro leaves off the stems and chopped them up.
Water boiling now, I tossed in the tortelli and turned the heat off on the veggies, adding the cilantro and putting the lid on so the cilantro would wilt a little in the steam, but not get cooked. Four minutes later the tortellini was done, I dished it up with a slotted spoon and tossed the veggies on top.
It had a fresh bright flavor, very light and spring-like. There was just a bit of bite from the leeks, but the overall flavor was a light spring freshness. I thought about adding cheese, but decided it would just make it heavy and take away from its bright flavor and texture. I could have squeeze some fresh lemon juice on it and that would have been tasty, but didn’t think of that until I was done eating it. Next time!
Single Servings 