Whether you are looking to adopt a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet or are just trying to find healthier alternatives to some of your favorite dishes, we have great recipes on our site to suit your tastes! Some of our recipes can look a little intimidating, though. That’s why we created a weekly segment called RecipEASY — to make healthy eating easier. We (Kate and Kayla) make a recipe from our site and break it down to give you helpful tips and modifications. Since neither of us are professional chefs, we are always looking for ways to simplify healthy recipes!
This week we made…
Spaghetti with Tomato, Zucchini, Mushrooms and Sweet Basil Sauce
Who doesn’t love a good pasta dish?! This recipe, however, is packed with nutrient-dense veggies and uses a healthier pasta option than your typical spaghetti!
Our shopping list included: brown rice spaghetti (which was easier to find at Giant than I anticipated), red onions, green peppers, red peppers, garlic, zucchini, mushrooms, oregano, basil, tomato sauce, and pine nuts. To find the full measurements, click here.
We had a TON of veggies (especially since we doubled the recipe)! We were (rightly) worried that we wouldn’t be able to fit two batches of pasta and veggies in our wok, so we bought an extra pot just in case. It took us all of 5 minutes into chopping the onions and peppers to realize we’d max all of our pans.
While water was boiling for the brown rice pasta, we worked on chopping the peppers, onions, and garlic and split the vegetables between our two pans. Since we only have two burners in our kitchen, we added the pasta to the boiling water and let it cook while we chopped the remaining veggies (mushrooms and zucchini) and basil.
After the pasta finished cooking, we set it aside and water sauteed the peppers, onions, and garlic. It took longer than 2 minutes for the vegetables to be tender, so we left them on the stove until the onion was translucent. Next, we tossed in the zucchini, mushrooms, basil, and oregano and sauteed for two minutes (we didn’t want the zucchini to get mushy, so we stuck to two minutes). When all the veggies were the right consistency, we stirred in the tomato sauce and simmered for two minutes.
In the meantime, we put the pine nuts in the toaster for 3-5 minutes at 325 degrees (the nuts in the back of the toaster may have gotten a little dark…).
Finally, we stirred the pasta into the sauce and vegetable combo and topped with our toasted pine nuts!
Try this recipe for yourself and let us know what you think! Share in the comments below.
For healthy eating tips, popular recipes, and weekly blog posts, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
