Veggie Alfredo

Tonight's meal was inspired by a little pin on Pinterest. A sorority sister, Emily, pinned a dinner she whipped together one night that looked super tasty to me. Emily and her brother own a restaurant in Baton Rouge called MikeWillie's. Since I live so far away, I have never eaten there...but I have heard amazing things about it! So, Emily must know a little something about cooking, right? That is why I was intrigued by her pin. I added some extras to Emily's recipe based on what I had in my fridge and what the baby wanted to eat. Enough about that, let's get to the meal!

{Veggie Alfredo}

1 onion

1 bell pepper

4 stalks celery

2-3 cloves garlic

1 cup broccoli

1 zucchini

8 oz feta (I used sundried tomato basil flavored)

1/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pesto

2 tomatoes

2 big handfuls fresh spinach

cooked quinoa

Ok, ready for the veggie party? Start by chopping all of your veggies. Saute your onions, celery, and bell pepper in a large skillet. Add in garlic, broccoli, and zucchini after a few minutes. At this point, I put the lid on my skillet for a few minutes. It helps the broccoli get tender faster.

Set the lid aside and add in the feta cheese, stirring until the cheese is melty and amazing. Add in your milk, parmesan, and pesto. You could use half and half if you have it. I stopped buying half and half and whipping cream a loooong time ago in an effort to be more healthy, so I use Hayes's whole milk when a recipe calls for those ingredients:) Let these ingredients simmer for a bit. I put the lid back on at this point for a few minutes.

Now would be a good time to cook some quinoa, or heat up leftover quinoa from the night before if you happen to have that in your fridge. This veggie mixture could also be served over any kind of pasta.

So, we are almost ready for the grand finale! I chose to de-seed my tomatoes. I also sprinkled a little salt on them and let them drain while my veggie mixture was cooking so my final mixture wouldn't be too runny. Once your veggie cheese mixture is all mixed and simmered to perfection, throw in the tomatoes and fresh, chopped spinach. Stir around for a few minutes or until spinach has slightly wilted. Serve hot over quinoa!

You could really do any vegetable combination you wanted to in this dish. For me, the pesto really made the dish...but I am obsessed with pesto so it would make any dish for me. Ryan informed me that if there was meat in it, this would be a top 10 supper for him. What? There's no meat in this veggie alfredo? Sorry honey, must have forgotten it;) I'm not trying to go vegetarian on purpose, I promise.