Veggie Spaghetti

 

I have not been in the mood for any fancy food lately.  I've gone minimalist with my cooking.  On Sunday night, I just cook a big pot of quinoa, bake a pan of tofu, and steam a bunch of kale.  Then all week I mix and match these basic ingredients by adding avocados, or red pepper hummus, or wrapping it in a tortilla, etc.  It's been greatly efficient, but not so inspiring for my blog.  But then my friend Supriya reminded me that sometimes people want simple and practical recipes.  Not everyone has the time to make a fruit tart from scratch.  And not everyone wants to go looking for hard-to-find ingredients.  So this weekend I wanted to make an easy and delicious dish.  Pasta, what is easier than that? The great thing about pasta is that you can put anything in it you like.  For this dish, I sliced up some creamy avocados, chopped up some salty olives, steamed some hearty kale and added sweet green pees.  The variety of fresh vegetables gave the dish a depth of flavor.  Also, I love Tinkyada brand gluten free pasta- it really is the best.   This dish took no time to make - maybe 25 minutes.  Ok, ready, spaghetti?

Ingredients

• One package of Tinkyada Brown Rice Spaghetti
• 1 avocado sliced into chunks
• 1/2 bag of frozen green peas
• 1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped finely
• 1 clove of garlic, minced.
• 1 small jar of tomato sauce (The canned Muir Glen tomato sauce is sugar/gluten/dairy free)
• Olive oil, salt, and pepper

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water and a pinch of salt to a boil.
2. Pour the frozen peas into the colander you're going to use to strain the pasta later.  Rinse with some warm water, but then just leave in there until the pasta is done.
3. When pasta is cooked (follow directions on package) strain right over the peas in the colander-and your peas will be perfectly steamed!
4. In the pot you used to cook the pasta, coat the bottom with olive oil and saute the garlic on medium heat for a moment and add the kale.  Saute for about 5 minutes until kale is bright green and soft. 
5. Add the tomato sauce and heat for a few more minutes.  
6. Add the pasta and peas into the pot and stir. 
7. Add salt, pepper, and avocado and enjoy!