Dinnertime Blues

For this post, I'm putting on my stay-home-mom hat.

I'm partial to hats. The goofier, the better.

We've known for many years that my son has reactive hypoglycemia. He's not going to faint on anyone. He just burns through calories quickly and then gets cranky. Sounds a lot like... hmmm... his father, maybe?


I won't share the story of how I discovered my husband's similar low-blood sugar issues on Day 2 of our honeymoon.


Twenty years plus of marriage later, Mr. Shovan is on a health kick. He noticed carbs made him feel worse, so we cut back on them and gluten products in particular. (No luck trying this with our teenage son yet.) My guy loves to cook, which is great, especially on the weekends. But dinner is my task most weeknights.


"You have to find me new recipes," I told him. My old in-a-pinch meals -- turkey lasagna, shepherd's pie (turkey), pasta with meat sauce (you guessed it -- I don't eat red meat) -- didn't cut it. I've had the dinnertime blues.


But my slump is (I hope) over. I put together a fabulous summertime pasta salad designed for the glycemically sensitive and gluten free. It features quinoa pasta -- the only gluten free pasta my family, even the picky teen, will eat.

The picky teen "shows off" the hat I knitted for him.
Many teenage boys are allergic to moms with cameras.

Laura's Quinoa Pasta Salad with Arugula
Prep time -- about as long as it takes to get a large pot of water boiling and to cook the pasta.


Ingredients:

• 1 box quinoa pasta, rotelle type, cooked
• 2 cups arugula, loosely chopped
• 3 Roma or plums tomatoes, diced
• 3 tbsp. basil, chopped
• 1 summer squash, diced (I found yellow zukes at the organic market -- gorgeous. Be aware that winter squash can trigger a glycemic response. Summer squash is a better choice.)
• 1/2 can black soy beans
• 3/4 cup fat free feta cheese
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Boil the pasta while you prepare the vegetables. Reserve some pasta for the picky teen. (Note: unlike traditional pasta, quinoa pasta should not be cooked al dente or it will taste slightly bitter.)


Put the chopped vegetables in a large pasta bowl. Add the beans and olive oil. Toss.


Drain the pasta and add to the vegetables.

Add feta cheese, salt and pepper. Toss again. Enjoy the deliciousness. I'm serving turkey (natch) kielbasa on the side.