healthy recipe : gluten-free & vegan lentil spaghetti

Here’s a simple, easy but very delicious meal that your family will love. Herbivores and Carnivores alike will be thrilled to know this Lentil Spaghetti is leaded with protein and has a real authentic spaghetti-like taste. Yet, it’s lentils. Gotta love’em ;)

To be honest, I was hesitant to post this recipe as I really don’t want my husband to realize how little effort I put into some of our meals. Maybe he won’t read word for word and not realize the simplicity of this 20 minute meal. Yes, sometimes I just get lazy in the kitchen – but still have high expectations for a great meal. For a long time, I didn’t think ….’little effort’ and ‘high expectations’ could even belong in the same sentence. But they sure do, when it comes to most of my cooking ~ especially this Lentil Spaghetti.

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LENTIL SPAGHETTI

{vegan and gluten-free}

Ingredients:

1 package of brown rice spaghetti pasta
1 can of organic lentils
1 jar of organic gluten-free, meatless spaghetti sauce
1 red & 1 green pepper
1 broccoli bunch
1 stem of celery
2-3 small zucchinis
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon died oregano
fresh ground pepper
sea salt to taste + for cooking pasta
olive oil

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it with 1 tbsp of sea salt and cook the brown rice spaghetti pasta as per directions on the package. In a separate large skillet, saute the onion, celery, peppers, garlic and dried spices (if using dried) until softened for about 10 minutes.

At this time, you can go back to your pasta and drain it, it should be done by now. With the rice pastas, I find they’re a little more delicate when hot, so I immediately run the whole colander over with cold water just for a few seconds until it stops cooking. Not too long that the pasta becomes cold. Drizzle it with a bit of olive oil so it doesn’t stick together.

Back to the skillet with all the sauteing veggies, add the broccoli and zucchini, add the spaghetti sauce and can of lentils and cook for another 5 minutes. Season to finish but don’t salt this dish until the end as there is salt in a can of lentils already. You’re done! With prep work this really is a meal made in 20 minutes!

Plate the spaghetti pasta with big spoonfuls of your hearty and protein-rich vegan and gluten-free lentil spaghetti sauce, add fresh chopped basil on top! (missing on my pics – but fresh herbs would be a fantastic way to Spring-up a meal!)

 

So the secret’s out. I’m lazy in the kitchen. But this is one seriously tasty dish that will not reveal your secret – unless you decide to write about it also ;)

This meal brings a new twist to the Spaghetti meal we all, young and old, love. Yes! – to more comfort food! But there’s more reasons why I love this version way more to what I used to make back in the day. It’s Lentils! Lentils are amazing little super-foods – if you will, that are very high in protein, with around 26 percent of their mass being represented by these compounds.

In addition, lentils contain the following vitamins, minerals and nutrition:

• Calcium
• Folic acid (vitamin B9)
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Thiamine (vitamin B1)
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Fibre
• Protein

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Eating organic lentils regularly also aids in:

1. Cholesterol Reduction

2. Regularization of Blood Sugar Levels

3. Digestion Improvement

4. Weight Loss

5. Cancer Prevention

6. Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Here’s more health benefits of lentils.

Do you cook with lentils? How do you like to incorporate them into your meals?