Green Everything Pasta
An easy meal for when you’ve had a busy week, but are craving complex flavors and a variety of vegetables! Whether it’s a meal prep for your lunches for the week or an easy dinner, this is a great recipe to work into your follicular phase plan.
In my recipes, you will notice that I don’t provide super explicit measurement guidance. I am a big believer in portioning based on what feels right for you, and learning to experiment with your cooking. I don’t measure out spices for example - I season and taste as I go. It has helped me build my cooking confidence, and it will for you too!
Serving size: 4 + leftovers
Total Cook Time: 30 min
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: ~20 min
Ingredients
2 boxes of Banza pasta (I love the Gemetelli or Cavatappi for this)
2 containers of Trader Joe’s vegan kale, cashew and basil pesto (or any other vegan pesto)
1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets
1 zucchini, diced
Vegan mozzarella (Violife or Simple Truth are my recommendations!)
1 bag of frozen peas
Olive oil
Garlic (to taste)
Pinch of salt & pepper
Instructions
Prepare your vegetables! Chop the broccoli into florets and dice the zucchini into fourths or sixths.
Once the vegetables are ready, you will cook them but in two separate pans. In a deep pot, sauté the zucchini in olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper for about 10 minutes or until it has some browning. In a pan/skillet, add the broccoli and a thin layer of water to steam the broccoli.
While the vegetables are cooking, cook the Banza pasta according to instructions. Note: when you strain. the pasta after it has finished cooking be sure to run some luke warm water over top - it will stop the noodles from continually cooking and getting mushy.
Once the zucchini is a couple minutes away from being done, add the frozen peas to the pot. Allow them to defrost as the zucchini finishes cooking.
Once the vegetables are cooked and the pasta is ready, combine it all into the pot and stir in the vegan pesto. Note: I find it is easier to combine all the vegetables first and stir in one whole container of pesto. Then I add in the noodles and continue to top with pesto until the noodles are covered to my liking. Keep the heat on low to keep the vegetables warm and reheat the noodles if they cooled off too much.
Option to top with vegan mozzarella if you are really feeling the pasta vibe!
Eating with your cycle is an empowering way to reclaim your health and food freedom, and I hope this recipe takes you one step farther on that journey.
