Veggie-Filled Pasta Casserole

Saturdays are filled with promise. The knowledge that an entire weekend awaits is tremendously invigorating, like a shot of good, strong espresso. This particular Saturday, however (yesterday) both Zach and I awoke feeling just not quite right. A little dizzy, a little wishy-washy in the tummy, without really knowing why. We'd had a lovely, light, healthful supper at home the night before, we'd gone to sleep at a reasonable hour for a Friday night - well, OK, we'd headed for sleepy-land at 1:30 in the morning, but I'd said a reasonable hour for a Friday night - and thus there was really no logical reason that we shouldn't be bounding out the door to face the day, but we just... weren't. Thanks to Saturday, however, we had the luxury of starting our day gently... We sipped green tea, checked our email, went through our respective workout routines (mine primarily upper-body weights and stretches for my silly left leg, but the day will come when I can cycle and run again, I know it!), had a light brunch of leftover polenta and roasted green beans, and then finally decided to simply listen to our wise body systems and enjoy the treat of an early afternoon nap. Well, the nap must have magically cured us, because we awakened filled with energy, and decided to visit Trader Joe's!

There, we discovered not only Zach's favorite salsa, but also the best hummus we've ever tasted...

as well as a bounty of vegetable delights... (and a bottle of economical but still delightfully crisp white wine, of course ;-)

By the time we returned from Trader Joe's we were quite damp from a chilly pre-spring rain, but laughing nonetheless with delight over our outing and the wonderful treats we'd discovered. We immediately decided we were in the mood for comfort food with lots of veggies... Healthy, updated, 21st century casserole time!

Veggie-Filled Pasta Casserole

8 oz whole wheat pasta (I used rotini)
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, minced
2 zucchini squash, thinly sliced
2 large potatoes, cooked and cut into small cubes
3 cups packed baby spinach leaves
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
Shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, for garnish

~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat an 9X11" baking pan with cooking spray.
~ Cook the whole wheat pasta according to package directions, and drain well.
~ While the pasta is cooking, saute the onion, garlic, and carrots in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the onion is limp and translucent.
~ Reduce the heat to medium, add the zucchini, and continue to saute until the zucchini is just tender.
~ In a large bowl, gently stir together the zucchini onion mixture, the pasta, the cubed cooked potatoes, the spinach, and the mozzarella cheese.
~ When all of the above is well combined and the cheese is starting to melt, stir in the vegetable broth.
~ Pour the casserole mixture into the baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes - until the cheese is nicely melted and the top of the casserole is just beginning to turn golden brown.
~ Serve warm, garnished with shredded cheddar cheese!

On the blog this time last year... White Chocolate Orange Cookies!