Garlic and Bell Pepper Farfalle

Make the bell peppers ahead of time, if you like, and this recipe will come together in a snap for a weeknight dinner.

Cut 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, and 1 orange bell pepper in half, and discard the seeds and stems. Press the halves flat with your palm on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, and broil until blackened - the original recipe said 8 minutes, but I always need closer to 15. Place in ziplock bags for 5 minutes, then peel off the skins and chop.

Cook 2 cups of farfalle (bowtie) pasta according to package directions - I used the 100% whole wheat farfalle from Whole Foods' brand.

While the pasta cooks, chop 2 slices of vegan bacon (such as LightLife). Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray; cook the 'bacon' for 3 minutes, until crisp. In the original recipe, regular bacon would have been removed from the pan while you add one minced garlic clove and cook it for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, but for the vegan bacon it seemed fine just to leave it in the pan while I added the garlic.

Next add the chopped bell peppers from earlier, 3/4 cup chopped plum tomato, 1/4 cup pitted and thinly sliced kalamata olives (I just chopped mine, rather than slicing because I misread the ingredient list!), 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Cook for 3 minutes.

Toss the pasta and the bell pepper mixture together, and sprinkle evenly with 3 tablespoons shredded vegan cheese in place of Parmesan (I used the vegan mozzarella from Galaxy Foods) and 2 tablespoons chopped basil.

1 and 1/3 cups of pasta is 290 calories; you'll have 3 servings.

Cost:
red bell pepper $1.26
yellow bell pepper $1.88
orange bell pepper $1.64
farfalle pasta $1.99
vegan bacon $3.39
plum tomato $1.09
kalamata olives $4.49
vegan cheese $3.39
basil $3.29