One Pot Pasta Primavera

12 ounce penne pasta*                                                           5 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, thinly sliced                                                               4 scallions, minced
2 cups broccoli florets                                                           ¼ cup veggie broth (or water)
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into ¼ inch slices
1 ½ cups grape tomatoes, halved                                       ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
3 Tbsp water

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, follow package instructions.  About three minutes before pasta is done, add carrots, broccoli, and zucchini to the pot.  Drain pasta and veggies and set aside. 
return pot to stove and saute garlic and scallions over medium heat til soft, about 1 minute.  Add broth and cook 30 seconds.
Return pasta and veggies to pot.
Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper to taste. 
Cook, tossing gently to combine and heat through.  Serve immediately  Serves 4

*I like to use various gluten free pastas.  Rice and quinoa pasta seems to hold up better than corn or just rice pasta.  You can also use red lentil pasta, chick pea pasta or edamame pasta. 

This recipe calls for finishing with a drizzle of olive oil.  I choose to cook oil free.  Heating any oil turns it into a transfat which your body does not know what to do with.  Adding oil for richness after the cooking is done is fine but remember every tablespoon of oil is 125 useless calories!   No nutritional value.