$5 Friday Recipe - Yellow Squash and Pasta with Parlsey Pesto

Hi Folks,

I am planning on posting a recipe every other Friday featuring a meal that can be made for around or under $5 or $10 that is both delicious and healthy for TWO PEOPLE!  The $5/10 doesn't account for things that most people have around their house (pasta, oil, seasonings).   One thing that I have heard nearly everywhere I go is that eating healthy is too expensive.  What I have found is that several things make the food more expensive:  the portions you dole out for yourself (often way too much), focus on the unhealthier parts of the recipes (elaborate sauces and forgoing simple seasonings) and moving away from simple ingredients among other things.

This week's recipe is for yellow squash and whole wheat pasta with a parsley pesto sauce. We are lucky to have a decent farmers market with lots of great local vendors.  We found out one of the farms was actually only a mile away from our house!  Last weekend we armed ourselves with $5 (and some change) to see what we could find.  Below is what we picked up for a whopping $5.15: a yellow squash, a small onion, a head of garlic (bonus there is extra for other cooking) and a bunch of parsley!  We had a half a box of whole wheat pasta in the cabinet so we threw that in for some extra carbs.  If you are not vegan, for less than $5 a serving you could add chicken or other protein so there is a lot of flexibility here that won't break the bank.

Roasted Squash and Onions
1.  Wash off and dice/slice/cube the squash and small onion depending on your preference.
2.  Place squash and onion on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 20-35 minutes depending on how you cut.

Parsley Pesto Sauce
1.  Clean and take the leaves off the parsley.
2.  Take 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and place with leaves in the food processor.
3.  Slowly drizzle oil oil until the sauce begins to form.
4.  Set aside or refrigerate until ready to toss over pasta.

Boil pasta at the very end and drain thoroughly.  Toss in roasted squash/onions and pour pesto sauce over and mix gently and you're ready to serve.