Dinner is served

I realize now how much pregnancy had changed not only my taste buds but my complete desire to cook.  I actually really enjoy cooking and creating new healthy meals for my family.  It's oddly therapeutic (although I could do without the mounding pile of dishes I often create).  Now that I have been freed of the joys of pregnancy and getting back into the swing of things around the house, I find myself in the kitchen more often and adding new recipes to my weekly meal plan.

Sunday night we had lentil sweet potato burgers, gluten free pasta salad, and steamed asparagus.
 

The lentil burger is an adaptation of this recipe. I cut out the dried mango because I didn't have any, added half a cooked sweet potato that I had in the fridge, and modified the spices to our liking.  I cooked them in coconut oil for about 5 minutes per side, basically until they were hot on the inside and topped them with avocado and romaine. I go without a bun to steer clear of the gluten, but Jim had his on a kaiser roll.  YUM!  Riesling was a fan of it as well, particularly when dipped in ketchup.

PASTA SALAD
1 bag of spiral or penne pasta (I used Tinkyada gluten free)
Grape tomatoes
Pitted kalamata olives
orange or yellow pepper
red wine vinegar
olive oil
italian seasoning

Cook pasta according to package directions. 
Rinse in cold water and toss with oil (I used walnut). 
Set aside and let cool completely before adding veggies.
Slice tomatoes and olives in half lengthwise.
Chop pepper.
In a separate bowl toss veggies in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and italian seasoning blend.  I am the worst at measuring (sorry!) but you definitely add more oil than vinegar and just adjust it to your taste. 
Add veggie mix and dressing to cold pasta.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.