Two Different Pasta Dishes & Homemade Tomato Sauce

pasta with fresh tomato sauce

pasta with fresh vegetables

Soo, I’m still doing the cleanse – first day! For dinner today, I plan on eating a raw salad made from shredded zucchini, carrots, bok choy leaflets, and broccoli. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was as easy as shredding vegetables and mixing together with a little lime juice. However, for a dinner recipe today, I wanted to share the meals I made for the rest of my family, and especially wanted to share the homemade tomato sauce I made. It was really easy and delicious – tasted just like Italian tomato sauce but with more fresh tomatoes! My siblings ate the pasta with tomato sauce only, while my parents enjoyed the pasta with some fresh vegetables. Therefore, I broke down both recipes below. I hope you enjoy! They’re both easy, healthy, and delicious recipes for a simply Italian family dinner.

—————————————————————————————————–

Tomato Sauce Pasta: The Recipe

Yields 2 Servings

Serving Size: 1 cup

5 – 7 medium tomates, sliced

1/4 cup of fresh basil

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp garlic powder or 2 garlic cloves grated 

2 tbsp oregano leaves

Salt and pepper depending on much you want

—————————————————————————————————–

Tomato Sauce Pasta: The Directions

1. Cook the pasta on the side while you make the tomato sauce.

2. Place the olive oil on a saucepan and sauté the garlic cloves in the oil. Then, place the sliced tomatoes on the saucepan as well and cook for ~ 5 minutes, stirring to get them to boil completely. Mash the tomatoes a little as well to make it more saucy.

3. Take your entire mixture and place it into a blender or food processor. Add in the basil, oregano, and salt/pepper. Blend till all of the ingredients create a tomato sauce consistently.

4. Mix into your cooked pasta after you have drained out the water and serve warm with some extra basil on top!

—————————————————————————————————–

Vegetable Pasta (no Tomato Sauce): The Recipe

Yields 2 Servings

Serving Size: 2 cups

2 cups cooked pasta

1/2 squash, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 cup broccoli, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 1/2 cup green beans

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp garlic powder or 1 garlic clove grated

1 tsp – 2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp oregano leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

—————————————————————————————————–

Vegetable Pasta (no Tomato Sauce): The Directions

1. Cook the pasta on the side. Drain out the water when finished.

2. Mix all the chopped vegetables, spices, and olive oil together in a saucepan and sauté.

3. Throw in the pasta once the vegetables are done and serve warm!

Yummy Italian Pasta w/ Tomatoes and Peas

For my siblings today, I made a yummy Italian pasta with fresh tomatoes and green peas. I used traditional Italian spices and fresh vegetables. It tasted delicious – devoured within minutes! I think the best part of this recipe is the fresh tomatoes and the oregano leaves, they really bring out the flavor in the pasta, which is something you don’t usually get from cooking with store-bought tomato sauces. The green peas added some extra flavor and protein to the dish, making it colorful! And, finally, the fresh garlic overpowers any of the other spices because it adds the true Italian taste to the pasta, making it an absolute favorite spice in any Italian dish.. It’s a simple dish that can be made for any meal of the day and it’s easily portable too if you want to pack it for someone special!

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields 2 Servings

Serving Size: 1 bowl

2 cups pasta (I used brown rice pasta, you can use gluten-free, white, etc.)

4 tbsp olive oil

2 freshly grated garlic cloves

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp salt (and pepper if needed)

1 tbsp fresh oregano

1 cup green peas

20 cherry or grape tomatoes, diced

—————————————————————————————————–

Directions

1. Cook the pasta in twice the amount of water till the water is boiling and the pasta is fully cooked (about 20 minutes).

2. Drain the pasta and throw in the peas and tomatoes. Sprinkle with all of the spices and the olive oil. Cook the vegetables till the tomatoes become roasted.

3. Serve warm and with some garlic bread !

Sprouted Lentil Protein Salad

I’m working in the city this summer and instead of torturing my stomach with city food everyday, I make lunch and my snacks from home and take them with me. Today, I made a lentil protein salad that is full of healthy combination of carbohydrates from the lentils, protein from the eggs, vitamins and antioxidants from the vegetables, MUFAs from the avocado, and a dash of sweetness with the fresh strawberries. This lentil salad only took me ten minutes to toss together and its so easy to take on-the-go in an air tight plastic container like above. Yummm, who knew salads could be so tasty and healthy at the same time!

—————————————————————————————————–

The Recipe

Yields 1 Servings

Serving Size: 1 bowl

2 cups sprouted lentils (I used mung beans – click here to learn how to easily sprout your own lentils and beans)

1/2 cup of strawberries, sliced

2 hardboiled egg whites, sliced (I removed the yolks and used the egg whites only)

1 cup raw baby spinach leaves

8 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 ripe avocado, sliced

1 dash of turmeric powder (optional)

1 pinch of salt (optional)