Roy Green Southwestern Pasta

When I was 18 and I went away to college, two things happened. I started cooking for myself for the first time and I started cycling. And so I started thinking more about the food I was eating. I read a book called Eat to Win and one thing I remember was a bit about eating a variety of foods and eating lots of different colored vegetables. Or ROY Green. That is Red, Orange, Yellow and Green vegetables. So that's where the name comes from.

The recipe is actually adapted from a book called Vegetarian Southwest by Lon Walters, which is a collection of recipes from restaurants in the Southwest. This idea was inspired by a recipe in said book from Randy's Restaurant and Bar in Durango, Colorado. And it was also inspired by the vegan iron chef challenge in this thread on the Post Punk Kitchen forums. So here it is - it came out quite delicious.

8 oz. penne
1/4 c. olive oil
1 small red onion, quartered and sliced
3 Tbs. minced shallots
5-6 stalks asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 medium carrot, diced
1 small yellow squash, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 dried chipotle pepper, reconstituted in boiling water then drained and finely minced
1 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. chopped fresh chives
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/2 c. vegetable broth
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. agave nectar
3 Tbs. chopped pumpkin seeds

Cook penne in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and shallots and a pinch of salt and cook for a minute or two. Then add asparagus, bell pepper, carrot and squash and saute for several minutes more until vegetables are starting to get soft. Add garlic, chipotle, oregano, chives and salt and cook for another minute, then deglaze the pan with the vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer, then add the penne and mix well. Toss in the vinegar and agave and turn off the heat. Serve sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. (And I found a chive flower in our herb garden so I just had to throw it on there as a garnish.)