One of my favorite things about summer is the amazing fresh vegetables available at farmers markets around the country. Walking around the farmers market on Saturday morning by yourself, with your significant other, with your family – it is the quintessential activity of summer, and enjoyable for all.

Another way that I get my vegetables is through a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture. As a CSA member, I pay a flat fee at the beginning of the season, and a box of fresh vegetables is delivered to me each week. These veggies come directly from the farm, and in some cases are fully organic depending on which CSA you choose. I love the freshness of the vegetables as well as the variety. You really never know what you are going to get, and it allows for creativity in your recipes.

Sometimes, you do get more than you can use that week and end up with an array of unused vegetables at the end of the week. This is precisely what happened last week. So rather than let them spoil, I usually find a dish that uses tons of veggies and just pile them in. This week I went with pasta primavera and a side salad and it was all delish!

The veggies above are what I had leftover – lettuce, cucumber, rainbow beets, green pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, snow peas, kale and onions. Phew, that’s a lot.

I started with the side salad. I took the lettuce, chopped and washed it and added the green pepper, cucumber and beets. Have you ever had raw beets? I shave them super thin and they provide an amazing sweet crunch. And how beautiful are these? The vibrant colors add so much to the salad too!

Now for the main event – the pasta primavera. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add in your pasta and allow to cook until al dente. Then I started with olive oil, minced garlic and a little red pepper flake (adjusted for your favorite spice level.) Tip: start with the oil and garlic and red pepper flake in a cold pan and heat them all up together over medium-low heat. This allows the oil to soak up the flavor of the garlic and pepper and really flavor the sauce. Saute for 1 minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.

Raise the heat to medium high and add in your chopped vegetables – as I mentioned I used this as a kitchen sink meal this week, so I added whatever I had: onion, yellow squash, snow peas, zucchini and green peppers. Admittedly not the most colorful dish, wish I had some red bell pepper, but delicious nonetheless. Add salt and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften and begin to brown.

When the pasta is cooked, transfer directly into the pan with the vegetables. I like this method rather than draining because the bring some of the cooking water with it which add some salt and starch to the dish, helping to create the sauce. Mix the pasta with the vegetables and then add in the chopped kale. Mix it in and the kale will wilt with the heat of the pasta.

Once the kale has wilted, squeeze in half a lemon, add in a handful of parmesan and a ladle of pasta water. The pasta water helps create a sauce that will stick to the spaghetti. Mix it all together. Serve hot and sprinkle with a little extra parmesan. An easy and delicious way to use up all those summer vegetables!