How to make a delicious protein-packed dinner in under 15 minutes.
Sometimes when I get back from traveling, I have limited ingredients, or I am not in the mood to cook a big, fancy dinner, I usually go with pasta. Pasta is super simple to make, all you need is one pot and a few ingredients. After living in Ticino, anything other than pasta at restaurants is rare to come by- sorta exaggerating, but not really- so I got a little tired of eating it. So spicing up some quick and easy pasta is quite an interest of mine.
I usually try to get some protein during dinner, especially after a day packed with movement and activity. I recently came across red lentil pasta and it is a perfect gluten-free substitute for pasta and tastes fairly similar to regular pasta. Red lentil pasta is actually pretty common in grocery stores, among other substitutes- barley pasta, chickpea pasta, sweet potato pasta, rice pasta, etc.
Ingredients: For 1 Person
- 50g any kind of pasta (I used Red lentil pasta)
- 1/2 clove of Garlic (I use 1 clove- I love garlic)
- Coconut oil or Olive oil or Avocado oil (whichever you prefer)
- 5 Cherry Tomatoes
- Handful of Pine nuts
- 3 Basil leaves
- Salt and Pepper
How to Cook:
- Prepare a pot of water to boil
- Wash ingredients
- Dice garlic and cut the cherry tomatoes in half
- Put in pasta when water boils, for about 4 minutes (if you are using red lentil pasta), and strain when cooked al dente.
- Put your choice of oil in the pot and throw garlic, tomatoes, pine nuts, salt, pepper, and basil to simmer on low to medium for about 4 minutes.
- Place pasta back into the pot and mix in ingredients
(On a side note, these types of pastas cook rather quickly in a boiling pot- so keep an eye on it!)
Gluten-free pastas completely shifted my perspective of the traditional Italian meal. I can see it now as a source for protein rather than a carb-filled meal with little nutritional value. Also, this is just one variation of gluten-free vegan pasta dishes that I've experimented with- so try your own version!
Some other variations with similar ingredients:
• Asian styled: with coconut milk, veggies, soy sauce
• Italian styled: pesto with tomatoes or veggies, plain with some olive oil
• Pasta salad: olives, veggies, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, olive oil, balsamic
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