Whole Food Recipe: Veggies & Pasta w/White Sauce

This is one of my favorite dishes! Probably because I love broccoli and brown rice pasta, this dish has both! This recipe is from Susan over at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. She has an amazing selection of vegan recipes! She just proves that you can eat vegan and not give up flavor! This was our first dish we tried by Susan...

Pasta and Vegetables with White Sauce

 Recipe by Susan Voisin // Fat Free Vegan Kitchen 

 

1 pound whole wheat rotini pasta (we use brown rice pasta)

1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas, or 1 can rinsed and drained

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets

2 cups plain unsweetened soy milk (we use plain almond milk)

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)

generous grating of black pepper

5 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons cornstarch or potato starch (we use arrow root)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt or salt - free seasoning (or to taste)

 

- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta according to instructions on package.  About a minute before it's done, add the chickpeas and cook briefly to heat them through.  When the pasta is al dente, scoop out and set aside a cup of the cooking water.  Then drain the pasta well and return to the pot or large serving bowl. 

 

- While the pasta is cooking, steam the veggie until just tender.  Add them to the pasta.

 

- While the pasta and veggies are cooking, make the sauce:  Combine in a medium saucepan the soy milk, garlic, herbs and pepper.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes or until the pasta is done.  Add 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and the nutritional yeast.  Stir the starch into 1/4 cup of cool water and add it to the sauce, stirring well.  Increase heat and cook until the sauce boils and thickens slightly.  Check seasonings and add salt to taste.

 

- Pour the sauce over the pasta and vegetables and stir gently to coat.  If the pasta needs more moisture, add a little of the reserved pasta water.  Sprinkle with extra red pepper flakes if desired and serve immediately.

 

*We just put our pasta in a bowl, add the veggies, then pour sauce over our bowl.  That seems to work best for us!  This dish has a spicy KICK to it because of the crushed pepper flakes! 

If you haven't tried Brown Rice Pasta I highly recommend it!
I wish I would of know about this stuff way before I went vegan!  It's the best pasta I have ever had!
Enjoy!

Please visit my WHOLE FOOD PAGE to view all my recipes and read about how easy it is to eat Vegan!