Curried Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Carrots with Penne

Ingredients
1 lb. Penne, whole wheat or other whole grain
1 large or 2 small Green Bell Peppers, diced
3 Onions, medium sized, diced or chopped
6 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 lb. Carrots, thinly sliced
1 large Sweet Potato (3/4 to 1 lb. size), cubed into bite sized pieces
1 Tbsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. Turmeric
1 Tbsp. Paprika
1-½ Tsp. Cinnamon, ground
¼ to ½ Tsp. Cayenne Pepper or Hot Pepper Sauce, to taste
1-28 oz. can crushed Tomatoes
1 lb. Peas, frozen
¾ C Raisins
¾ C Walnut pieces
 
Preparation
Our pasta recipes are prepared in what many people would consider a non-traditional quick method.  We prepare the veggies and sauce in either a large covered ceramic dish in our microwave oven or in a wok.  If cooking in a wok, stir fry the veggies in a little water at 375 degrees F. and reduce the heat to simmer when the sauce is added.

Preheat the water so that while the veggies and sauce are cooking, you can cook the pasta.  We cook our pasta on the stove top either in a regular pot or in a pasta pot.  When cooking pasta in a conventional pot on the stove top, we often found that the pasta would stick to the bottom of the pot.  Then we would pour the boiling water and cooked pasta into a colander to drain off the water. 

With the pasta pot, the pasta never sticks to the bottom of the pot, and when it's cooked, all that is necessary is to lift out the inner pot and the water drains out.  Do not cook the pasta with the lid on the pot or the water will boil out between the inner and outer pot.  When cooking spaghetti in the pasta pot, be sure to stir the pasta when it begins to soften, in order to make sure that none is sticking through the holes of the inner pot.

Wash, peel and prepare the vegetables
Place diced Green Bell Pepper, Onion pieces, crushed Garlic Cloves, Carrot pieces, Sweet Potato pieces and all the Seasonings into a large ceramic ovenproof dish with cover or in a wok. Mix and cook covered in a microwave oven on “high” setting until the vegetables are tender but slightly chewy, or stir-fry in a little water in the wok.
 
Remove the covered dish from the oven and add Walnut pieces, Raisins, frozen Peas, and crushed Tomatoes. Cook until hot. If cooking in a wok, and these additional ingredients and reduce the heat to simmer.

If you need to extend the Curry Sauce or if the Curry Sauce starts to dry out, add a little Apple Juice and mix.
Cook the Penne until it is “al dente.” Be careful not to over-cook. Do not rinse the cooked pasta. If the Penne is cooked before the curry is done, add a little olive oil to the cooked Penne and mix to keep from sticking.
 
Combine the Curry Sauce with the cooked Pasta and mix. We like this dish with a large tossed salad.