One of my favorite sides to a pasta dish is broccoli, sauteed in a little olive oil, with garlic (my preference) or without.

Lori

I like Broccoli Rabe w/garlic and evooo or grilled zucchini drizzled with evoo s&p

I found a recipe for a RAW beet salad online. I like beets but I just can't get my mind on the idea of eating them raw. They were marinated in a vinagrette, and served with the greens. I guess I could do the same thing with my beets except cook them, then marinate, and serve them atop the salad then sautee the greens to go with the pasta. Marninated beets are a favorite salad topper for me, but I like this with goat cheese which I am not going to serve since the pasta already has cheese in it. Maybe I can throw in a couple of hard boiled eggs in the salad.

Anyone here do raw beet salads? Maybe I'll just add some beets into the traditional orange/onion/olive salad, I have some oranges languishing in my fridge too.

I almost always use marinated veggies (carrots, cauliflower and celery) as a side to pasta. However, I'll never give up a home-made piece of Italian bread!

Beachlily you are killing me!
:)
I do so love my crusty italian bread too! I'm trying to ration myself with it though. I can't hardly keep it in the house I eat it up so fast.

This marinated carrot recipe keeps well in the fridge - a tried and true recipe:

Marinated Spiced Carrots

1 lb. carrots, peel, cut into 3" long sticks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 TB mustard seed
3 whole cloves
1 3" stick of cinnamon, broken

Blanch carrots in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain, cool, drain again and put in a bowl. In a saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over carrots, cool. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Drain carrots with a slotted spoon when serving, put do not discard marinade until all the carrots are gone.

One of my go-to sides is just simple green beans. I have home canned ones, so I just heat in the microwave for an easy side.
Broccoli is always a favorite here.
Roasted veggies would be good. Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, onions, squash, etc.
I agree that some of the bolder flavors are needed to stand up to the tomato-y sauces.

For me, just the pasta and a green salad would be fine. I do that pretty often just making sure there's enough protein in the pasta dish. If not, serve some protein as a side to the main dish pasta. I am trying to change my thinking from the meat always being the main thing. It's hard, I love meat and grew up raising beef so it seems like "there's nothing for dinner" if I don't have meat thawed! LOL

I love that crusty bread too, but usually serve with hearty soups, heavy on the veggies (and meat for me!!).
I made Coq au Vin last night and served with big slices of San Fransisco Sourdough that a neighbor gave us. Yum!

Deanna

I'm going to dissent here. Crusty garlic bread is a natural with pasta - how often do you have pasta that you can't have bread with it, especially if you like it? For us, pasta doesn't get a side dish, just bread and a green or tomato salad either before or after the pasta, and BREAD!

But, ahem, I may be gaining a little weight, too. As an Italian girl, I gotta have that bread! I bake a couple loaves of Italian bread every week.

Sherry

I also like broccoli with pasta, or roasted asparagus. I like roasted cauliflower too, but it's a lot of "white" for a single meal if you use regular pasta, if it's whole wheat you're still fine.

I also like roasted butternut squash with pasta and I like just plain old beets nearly any way I can get them. My favorite way is to just boil them until the skins slip and then eat them, nothing but salt and pepper required.

Annie

I too frequently like green beans with pasta for some reason. All the other veggie ideas sound good, too. Salads are a natural, but I understand why you want something different or in addition to the salad. Of course, the crusty bread is great...with pasta and pretty much everything else!

Sally

I am another that likes Broccoli with Pasta. I like mine with cheese sauce though.

Stacie

I fall into the camp of no sides except salad with pasta dishes unless the pasta dish is a side in itself. Pasta, salad, bread -- that's a complete meal, IMHO.

But try an Italian-influenced veggie saute. Zucchini, mushrooms, a bit of bell pepper and onion, all sauted in EVOO and some various herbs.

Being of modest means and vegetarian, I eat pasta almost once a day. I also eat bread for at least one meal every day, often two times a day,so I'm trying to cut down on the carbs, carbs, carbs. That's the easy, unhealthy trap of vegetarianism, that and cheese, cheese, cheese.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, lol! But I am trying to loose all this weight I have put on in the past couple of years.

My stepmother always served sliced cucumbers when she made spaghetti with meat sauce, and now I've got a thing for them too. Off season, I try to buy the pickling type because I prefer to leave the peel on, just sliced and sprinkled with salt or dressed with some sort of tangy vinaigrette.

If not cukes, I like something with some crunch to it, to compliment the soft texture of the meal and a crisp tang to cut through the richness of the sauce. If I can get good green beans, I like a salad of green beans (cooked, but still firm) sliced beets and red onion rings with a vinaigrette.

Sometimes, a plate of mixed crudites, with a flavored salt or herb sprinkle...or again, a vinaigrette.

I too have always gravitated toward broccoli as a side as well as brussell sprouts and cauliflower. I find that for me steamed or toaster oven roasted vegetables is easier to put together than a salad so I don't usually have that.
If you are looking to get that "starchy" side feel without the bread you might try some sort of bean - I think some people like roasted? garbanzo beans or maybe a cold bean salad ala three bean salad that has the kidney and garbanzo beans. You could even maybe do a pasta less sort of anti-pasto side with beans, artichoke hearts and bits of dried italian sausage or pepperoni.

Here is a recipe I love for marinated veggies to go with pasta:

RICCARDOÂS MARINATED VEGETABLES
1 lb. vegetables--carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, celery or veggies of your choice.
4 small cloves garlic, lightly crushed with a heavy knife and peeled
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon oregano (or 1 teaspoon Italian Herb mix)
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Olive oil

Peel and cut vegetables and steam them until tender but quite firm because the marinade will continue to soften them. My notes are to steam celery/zucchini for 2 minutes and carrots/ cauliflower for 3 minutes. My favorite mix is equal amounts of cauliflower, carrots and celery.

Drain the vegetables and place in a deep ziplock container with a lid. Bury the garlic in the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add oregano, vinegar and 1 to 2" of olive oil. Refrigerate and allow vegetables to marinate at least overnight, turning the contained upside down occasionally to make sure all the vegetables are covered in oil. Remove the garlic after 24 hours. Serve at room temperature.

This vegetable recipe is very good when the vegetables are chopped fine and added to a pasta salad that is dressed with Italian salad dressing instead of mayonnaise.

Thanks fo posting the marinated veggies,Beachlily.Sounds AWESOME.Cant wait to make it!

Shelley

I just have never been able to get my head around pasta with a veggie side. Mind you I like pasta as a side but usually with seafood or meat which I know is not an option.

How about serving an eggplant parmigiana with your pasta as the side?

Last night I fixed (southern term) Pasta Primavera with Walnuts for dinner. (Recipe from Cooking Club of America magazine.) Obviously it has veggies in it. I served it with garlic bread and cantaloupe...period. But...since it made A LOT I was thinking about having it again with guests (probably family) and wondering if I needed to serve something else with it.

Pasta Primavera with Walnuts

Note:Once you cut the vegetables, this quintesential spring dish comes together quickly. Cook the pasta and vegetables in the same pot to save time, remembering to ladle out about 1/4 cup (I saved a good 1/2 cup)of the pasta cooking water before draining the pasta. The starchy salted water will keep the final dish moist without adding extra oil.

8 oz. gemelli or penne pasta
1 C. diagonally sliced thin carrots (1/4 inch)
2 C. diagonally sliced asparagus (1/4 inch)
1/2 C frozen small peas
1 (14 oz.) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
3 T. butter
3 T. EVOO
2 1/2 teas. minced garlic
1 C. chopped walnuts
1/4 C. torn fresh basil
1/2 teas. coarse salt
1/4 teas. pepper
2/3 C plua 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions, adding carrots during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Add asparagus and peas during the last 3 minutes. Add artichoke hearts during last 1 minute. Drain, reserving 1/4 C. pasta cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, cook butter, oil and garlic in medium skillet over medium heat 30 seconds or until butter melts and garlic begins to sizzle. Add walnuts, reduce to low. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until walnuts are lightly toasted.

3. Toss walnut mixture, basil, salt, pepper and 1/2 C. of the cheese with pasta. Top with remaining 1/4 C. cheese.

5 (1 1/4 C.) servings.

per serving: 625 calories, 37g total fat(10.5 g saturated fat), 22 g protein, 56 g carbohydrate, 30 mg cholestrol, 1085 mg sodium, 11 g fiber

If you all only knew how I labored over typing this you would try it just out of sympathy for me. LOL I don't know how to copy something to this forum or much of anything else to be honest, but this recipe was so good I wanted to share it. Next time, if it's just DH and me I will cut it in half.

jude

Pinky:
A Chef's Salad goes great.
I throw in everything I can think of, to make it.

Pieces of Sharp Provolone, Pepperoni, Ham ,cut up Tomatoes,
Onions and whatever you like.

Sprinkle on some EVOO, Parmesan, Garlic Powder,a pinch of Oregano, etc.
and a little tomato juice.
If you like Anchovies add them too.
Lou

I usually just make a side salad to go with my pasta. But hubby and little man, they have to have their bread. Dough boys they are! :-)

Lpink, I am with you. I have two books on eating raw; got tons of recipes on marinated veggies. But I can't imagine myself eating raw beets. If you do try it please let me know how you like it. Maybe you will give me enough courage to try it too! LOL

Al

I went to a pot-luck this week where the main dish was Chicken Tettrazini. I took a huge bowl of Nappa Cabbage Salad and it disappeared fast. I'm sure you all know the one where you use the dry noodles, almonds, seeds and soy sauce.

If it doesn't look right to put veggies on the plate with pasta, the best thing to do is to serve the veggies as an antipasti.

Maybe I'm a lazy cook (ok, I'm almost definitely a lazy cook), but if you've got protein, fiber, and veggies in the pasta, and you're putting them in the right ratio, you've pretty much got your nutritional bases covered. I'd probably just eat enough of it to get full.

Jude, the pasta sounds great, but I never have liked Pasta Primavera reheated...there's no way to keep the veggies from being overcooked. I would probably make a sort of kugel/quiche/frittata type dish out of it. Mixing the leftover pasta with a basic, egg+milk custard and baking it with or without a crust.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basic frittata recipe

I can't seem to get around a veggie as a "side" to pasta either, but I do need something to fill me up. It's not the bread itself that is bad, it's the BUTTER. Bread with pasta was fine back in the day when people were doing mostly manual labor and could use those carbs for fuel. I eat pasta with either tofu, cheese sauce, fake meat or beans. Most often I would say beans. I do like marinated chopped salad with pasta, which is great when veggies are fresh and cheap. I think I just need to train myself to eat a salad first, as the antipasta, to help fill me up. I even have a hard time eating salad without bread too. Last night I was at my friends house and they made a big delicious salad bar and they were eating bread with it and I just had to stop myself and have another plate of salad. Not that I hadn't had my share of bread that day, both for breakfast and lunch. I'm not anti bread, in fact I'm way too pro bread, that's the problem! All things in moderation. I have to curb myself or I would just eat bread, bread, bread all day long. I inherited it from my dad, he's one of those guys who eats bread with everything.

This topic interests me too but then I would just serve more meat ;-) which we need to cut way back on because of dh's and dads health issues.
I find I am particular about food combos as a cook but as a guest I like having variety even if it doesn't go together.
I like vegetables à la Grecque (with leeks best, olive garnish) as an addition to a green salad and also humble cucumbers and onions.
I often serve tomatoes and mozzarella with a green salad and the rest of the meal. And I like really simple things like a bowl of edamame, some toasted nuts, green olives, radishes with salt, cheese.

I like the antipasta idea before the pasta . Tomato slices alternated with fresh moz slices and drizzled with EVOO and topped with torn fresh basil is divine!

Chase, Caprese Salad is one of my all time favorites!

Rachellen, there's enough of the pasta for 2 more meals for us. I may take half of it and reheat it in the top of a double boiler and see how that works....then maybe try your suggestion for the frittata with what's left. I'll definitely make it again, cutting the recipe in half...and an added bonus, it's so pretty!

I just bought 3 basil plants on Saturday. Yea!

jude