GET YOUR VEG ON KIDDIE STYLE

      After a morning spent playing outside in the foggy rain, and crafting "Little Red Riding Hood" puppets, my little boy was hungry!  My favorite food to make lately when I want a fast, nutritious lunch is alphabet pasta with vegetables and browned butter.  Who says you can only use vegetable alphabets in soup?  This dish actually reminds me of hilopites, a greek square shaped pasta.  Every now and then my family in Greece sends a batch of homemade hilopites to my mother, and if I am really lucky, she shares her stash with me.  As a nutritious substitute, we love to use Vegetable Alphabets pasta from Eden Organic.  They are made from 60% organic whole grains and are vegetable dyed lovely hues with beets, spinach, carrots and annatto.  The trick to this meal is chopping or grating whatever vegetables you have on hand, so they are in easy to eat little bits.  The "sauce" is simply butter that is melted to the point of just browning, which give this pasta a lovely nutty, buttery flavour.  We can't get enough of this dish in us, so be sure to make lots...we always do!

VEGETABLE ALPHABETS with Browned Butter

1/2 pound Eden Organc vegetable alphabets

1/4-1/2 cup organic butter

1 cup organic butternut squash, grated

1 organic carrot, grated

3 handfuls organic spinach, torn

Other great additions:  peas, broccoli, rutabaga, red peppers

freshly grated romano cheese

sea salt

Method:  Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Stir in 1/2 Tbsp sea salt into the water, along with the pasta.  While it cooks, heat a small saucepan over medium low heat and heat the butter until it starts to brown slightly, about 5 minutes.  When the pasta is almost ready, stir in the veggies.  Strain the pasta when it is tender and pour the browned butter over top.  Top with lots of cheese.