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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 05 July 2025

Light 'n' easy

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PREAH NARANG A Light And Balanced Meal Is Sure To Pep You Up On A Sultry Evening Published 20.05.06, 12:00 AM

Come summer and one is looking for some light and healthy food that is both easy to prepare and delicious as well. And you just can’t go wrong with a plate of pasta and grilled veggies.

Pasta is generally perceived as being heavy. But there are lighter pastas that one can toss up. For instance, you can use whole-wheat pasta and dress it up with some grilled veggies, chicken and fresh herbs for a balanced summer meal.

Olive oil is an essential ingredient in most pasta recipes, but you can tone it down by using some of the water in which the pasta has been boiled, to make a light creamy sauce. Another option is to pur?e the grilled vegetables for a classic sauce.

The best vegetables to use for pastas are those that are moist and yet retain their shape like aubergines, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini, spring onions, onions, asparagus and peppers. The vegetables need to be grilled till they’re slightly soft and show light grill marks. Vegetables are best when grilled on medium to high heat. Perfectly cooked vegetables mean that they should be cooked evenly with nice grill marks on all sides.

PENNE WITH GRILLED CHICKEN, PEPPERS AND ONIONS

Ingredients: 5 portabella mushrooms (4-5” in diameter); 11/2 lb boneless chicken breasts; 16 scallions, trimmed; 7 large half-inch slices Italian/French bread; 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil; salt and pepper; 1/4 cup finely-chopped parsley; 3 large cloves of garlic, chopped; 1/2 lb penne; grated Parmesan cheese

Method: Heat grill for 20 mins on high. Brush peppers, chicken, onions and bread liberally with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, stir parsley, garlic, and 3 tbs of olive oil together. Grill peppers until golden-brown, the chicken until streaked golden-brown but still moist inside, the onions until slightly blackened, and the bread until golden-brown, turning everything as you grill.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and add pasta. Cook until al dente; drain, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta liquid for tossing with the pasta. Slice grilled peppers and chicken and the onions thinly to about the same size as the penne. Crumble the toasted bread. Add the pasta, chicken, and scallions to the dressing in the bowl and toss. Add 1/4-cup olive oil and about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to moisten the pasta. Finally, add the peppers and the crumbled toasted bread. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

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