Vegetarians- this one goes out to you.

Hey there bloggerz.

I am approaching crunch time for the end of my summer classes, so obviously procrastinating by adding a new post was my top priority. I'm still backed up by about 4 posts, but just bought a NEW CAMERA. YES. So this should help with motivating me to add the recipes that have just been sitting in my blog document..resenting me for not being shared with the world.

So this camera business. I've had my current camera for a solid three years. It's not broken, and it still takes OK pictures (despite some water marks). This has induced feelings of guilt over the purchase of a new camera...and also resulted in poor Steve hanging out at Best Buy with me for an hour while I was trying to make the decision (if you know me, you know how greaaat I am at making decisions). But, I

really liked this camera, it was a decent price, and best of all...it has a Cuisine setting. WHAT!? Yes.

In conclusion, I hope to be much better about blogging as my classes will be over, I only have one job now, and will be Papprazzi (spelling?) with my new camera.

Now I know that I do not always make the most vegetarian friendly meals. I have some thrown in there, but I'd like to increase the amount of meals I make sans meat. There are times that I consider going vegetarian, but then...I don't? I think about it often, but then end up eating some chicken. Or a burger. While I'm thinking about it. Not a good situation. But many of my friends are vegetarian, and I like to make things that most people will enjoy :)

Basil Pesto Pasta

What ya need:

Whole wheat penne pasta (however much you want, I shared this with Steve so I believe we split a box with plenty of leftovers. This took much self-restraint, as I have an addiction problem with pasta).

1 tbl olive oil

1 cup chopped onion (we used white)

3 garlic cloves

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 cup frozen edamame

**this recipe called for tomatoes, but I pulled a Cathy Reynolds and left them at the store. Like mother, like daughter.

Basil sauce:

1 cup packed fresh basil

1 avocado

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, to taste (I used lots of red pepper flakes so it had a nice kick to it)

What ya do:

*Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

*Sautee onion, olive oil, and garlic in a large skillet for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add in chopped vegetables and edamame. Sauté for 10 minutes.

*Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for the amount of time recommended on the box (I usually do 10 minutes). It's ok to make it a little al dente. Drain and set aside.

*In a food processor, make the basil cream sauce by processing the basil, water, olive oil, lemon juice, avocado, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes until smooth (or just about).

*Add pasta to the vegetables in the skillet. Now, pour on the basil cream sauce and stir until combined. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste. Garnish with basil leaves.

SO DELISH! Adapted from one of my favorite blogs, ohsheglows.com. Happy eating :)