Vegetarian Penne Italiano

Sounds fancy, doesn't it? That was the goal. I had an idea for this dish while I was grocery shopping, and I only actually paid about $2 for the ingredients, since I had most of this stuff at home already. The baby decided to enjoy some tummy time on her surfboard playmat while I put this together for about 20 minutes. My husband said it tasted great but could use some meat, so I think next time I make it I'll buy a hard salami and put some chunks of that into the mix.

Ingredients:

1 box Penne pasta, prepared
1 cup onion, sliced lengthwise and then cut in half
3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 roma tomato, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and julienned or thinly sliced
2 small (or 1 large) zucchini, cut into inch long strips
1 small yellow squash, cut into inch long strips
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

Prepare the pasta as indicated on the box, boiling until noodles are cooked but still firm. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on low. Add all chopped vegetables to the pan and stir together well.

Add spices on top of that and mix well, cooking on low for about ten minutes or at least as long as it takes to cook the pasta.

Note that in the video I mistakenly said "bay leaves" when I meant to say "basil leaves".
Drain pasta and pour into a serving bowl, then add cooked vegetable mix on top. Add the Italian dressing and stir all together well.

If you like, mix in 1 cup chopped hard salami. Eat and enjoy! Fair warning, because of the mostly-still-raw garlic and onion, this dish may give you a bit of gas.