Ages ago when I first started to change the way I ate, I turned to Food Network for lessons on cooking, picking out the best quality food and even nutrition. It wasn’t a complete education but it gave me the tools I needed to keep moving forward. And it worked. Back then I was still shoveling animal products down my throat but there was a lot less food on my plate and it was a better quality.
Making the switch to plant based eating meant I needed to re-learn some things, such as how to make a meal complete without meat. Most days I don’t mind spending an hour in the kitchen to whip up a good and healthy meal for us and he doesn’t either, but some days I just don’t have the time. Or the energy.
Enter, quick but satisfying vegan meals in 30 minutes.
Normally I prefer whole wheat pasta, the darker the better. But I found this adorable pasta at Kaufland and it was so big and fat that it called out to me, and like any good vegan, the first thing I did was flip it over to make sure the manufacturer hadn’t snuck in some milk (lactic acid) or cheese. They didn’t.
They don’t look like much in the photo but that is a life-size image on the right so imagine how big they will get while cooking. Because I was cooking for 3 people, I used 250 grams instead of 200 just to be sure everyone got a proper serving. Before you gasp at the amount, keep reading.
One of the keys to making a meal quick and delicious is the ingredients. For this particular pasta dish I kept it simple:
Onion
Bell pepper
Garlic
Crimini mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Leftover pesto(from the creamy pesto)
Add the onion and bell pepper to a skillet–with or without oil–and saute for a few minutes before adding garlic. Then tomatoes and then tomato sauce. You’ll want to add some herbs & spices for seasoning, including oregano, basil, thyme or rosemary.
Add the tomato sauce and stir, adding seasoning as you go until the flavors are delicious without being too salty.
I added about a tablespoon of pesto to each serving because the pop of color and freshness made the pasta even more delicious.
And it only took 30 minutes!
If you prep everything first, meaning chop all the veggies and put the herbs & spices together, you’ll save even more time.
Make it yourself and the next time someone tells you that eating healthy is too time consuming, give them a knowing smile…
and then prove them wrong.
Guten appetit!
the-spicy-spatula.com 