If your childhood was like mine, you might remember spaghetti in a can! I gobbled it up. And when my mom made Spaghetti from scratch, down the hatch! But those were my pre-veggie days. My mom did serve veggies and I loved them all.
She used to say I was destined to be a vegetarian. I was the only one of her 5 kids who loved every vegetable. But veggies weren’t a major force in mom’s cooking. It wasn’t until I hit my senior year in college that I discovered plant-based cooking and I was hooked for life.
A few years ago, I started revving up my pasta dishes with more whole plant foods. Now there are veggie burgers on the market and those can be a good starter when you’re taking the plunge into vegetarian cooking. But they can be pricey and low in fiber. A better way to add power to pasta is by adding more veggies and beans. They give you staying power! They crank up your immune system and I’ve found they’re a great plus in helping me lose some weight.
Think of pasta dishes like Ratatouille Spaghetti as an upgrade for your family because you’ll be getting a whole lot more. Except the fat .
This recipe is also quick and easy if your life is crazy busy like mine. So pull up a chair and enjoy a pasta dinner that’s bursting with flavor and plant-strong goodness!
Focus on Tomatoes: Red is a heart-healthy color. Red foods like tomatoes, watermelon, red bell peppers, pink grapefruit, and papaya—all contain a powerful heart-healthy carotenoid called lycopene. According to an article by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, “You Say Tomato—We Say Lycopene,” 85% of lycopene in the American diet comes from tomatoes. And while fresh tomatoes are packed with lycopene, tomato sauce or tomato paste has even more because the cooking process removes much of the water, so the lycopene is more concentrated. Plus, cooking the tomatoes releases lycopene from the cell walls of the tomato, making it more available for your heart. Because lycopene prevents oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the bad guy), it keeps plaques from forming. It also improves blood flow in as little as 2 weeks!
Ratatouille Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1-2 T vegetable broth
- 1/2 white onion diced
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 14 ounce can garbanzos
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 T chopped basil or 1 tsp dried basil
- 2 T nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tsp salt or salt substitute
- 1 cup sliced baby mushrooms
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1 med zucchini, chopped (or 2 small zucchinis)
- Whole-grain spaghetti
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring the water to boil for the pasta. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the vegetable broth in a nonstick frying pan. Add the onions, garlic and zucchini, mushrooms, and peppers. Cook for a few minutes on a medium-high heat until the onions are translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and lemon juice. Cook until the sauce thickens. Stir in the chickpeas and chopped basil (or dried). Add additional salt and basil to taste, if needed. Add the nutritional yeast flakes.
- Mix the sauce with the spaghetti. Serve and enjoy!
- CHEF’S NOTE: For quicker preparation, try 2 cups canned diced tomatoes in place of fresh.
