Squash Pasta and Watermelon Salad | Making It Grow

Clemson’s Health and Nutrition Agent Angela Forbes visited Sumter with ideas of adding more fresh produce and color to our meals.

Ingredients

• Honey
• ¼ cup of red or white wine  vinegar
• Squash
• Pasta
• Basil
• Basil Pesto with parmesan
• Wide noodles 
• Seedless watermelon
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 medium sized purple onion
• ½ cucumber
• 1 Zsa Zsa  orange sweet pepper
• ½ cup blueberries
• Balsamic vinegar honey olive oil white wine vinegar with grape must 
• Lime
• Mint leaves 
• Baby spinach. Marinate and on top of spinach or lettuce
• 8 ounces wide pasta noodles
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 zucchini and 2 yellow crook neck squash cut into small cubes
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• Jar basil pesto with parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

1. For Salad: In a small measuring cup or bowl, whisk together salt, pepper, vinegar and honey.
2. Gradually whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Add mint. Set aside.
3. Thinly slice red onion and cucumbers and add to a large bowl. On the show they use a large glass bowl to showcase the bright colors of the salad.
4. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Core, seed and remove the white pith from the orange pepper and cut into ½ in bits. Add to bowl.
5. Cut open the watermelon, slice the watermelon, setting aside the rind. Coarsely cut melon into ½ to 3/4 inch cubes and add to bowl.
6. Add blueberries to the mix and carefully stir. Squeeze in the lime if desired.
7. Add the dressing mixture and gently stir. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to marinate
8. Serve on top of a bed of baby spinach or arugula or mix the greens in with the salad and serve
9. For Squash Pasta - In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook the noodles according to package directions. Amanda recommends using wide pasta for this recipe.
10. While the pasta is boiling, put some olive oil in a pan and sauté the squash and garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Do not add any water because the squash is full of water and will release it during the process of cooking. 
11. Season with salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon of each to start). Cook the zucchini and squash until tender.
12. Off the heat, stir in the cooked pasta, Parmesan cheese, and basil. Top with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired and serve immediately. (Note: Amanda says that you can use a jar of basil pesto which has, as one of its ingredients, parmesan cheese.)

🌱 Making It Grow is an award-winning program produced by SCETV and Clemson University. Host Amanda McNulty from Clemson Extension along with Clemson Extension Master Gardener State Coordinator Agent Terasa Lott plus other Extension Agents and featured guests offer research-based information on a variety of gardening, agricultural, and environmental topics, while also highlighting interesting places and products from around South Carolina.

🍽️ For more recipes like the one above, visit SCETV Food.