Marisa's Healthy Kitchen

Last night was Pasta Night at our house. There is nothing quite as comforting as a big plate of spaghetti as far as I am concerned.

We made cooked Vegan Summer Garden Pasta and Raw Zucchini Noodles with Pesto and Sun-dried Tomatoes. My husband and I were both really happy with the turnout.

Raw Zucchini Noodles with Pesto and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Noodles:

• Zucchini (count on 1 per person)

You can use a spiralizer or veggie peeler to make long strands of zucchini for your noodles.

Basil-Pistachio Pesto:

I love the Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagna featured in Raw Food Real World It is pretty much my favorite raw food recipe ever! For my pasta last night I used the Basil-Pistachio Pesto from the lasagna recipe.

• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 1/2 cup pistachios
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• pinch of freshly ground pepper

Place the pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined but still slightly chunky.

I then cut up some sun-dried tomatoes. I took the tomatoes and the pesto and poured over my pasta. I then enjoyed it very much 🙂

Vegan Summer Garden Pasta

This recipe was adapted from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch (a super fun vegan cookbook by the authors of Skinny Bitch) It is a gorgeous and colorful nutritious take on pasta. And as if there was not enough veggies in the pasta dish, I served this with steamed asparagus. If you are going to eat something like pasta, the best thing to do is load up on the veggies too.  I also made a point to serve whole wheat pasta for a more nutritious meal.

Serves 4 (or 3 servings for my husband)

• 3 quarts of water
• 5 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 8 ounces whole wheat linguine, spaghetti or fettuccine
• ¼ cup refined coconut oil
• 6 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow squash, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 28 ounce can of Organic diced tomatoes
• ½ cup thinly slices fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a 4-6 quart stockpot over high heat, combine water and about 1 ½ tablespoons of salt. Bring the water to boil, add the pasta, and cook according to the package directions

Meanwhile, heat coconut oil in a 10-12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, squash, garlic, pepper and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and cook stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomatoes, basil and oregano, stirring until the tomatoes are heated through, about 2 minutes.

When the pasta is done, drain it and transfer to plates or platter and top with tomato mixture and serve.

Add salt to taste.