Brown Rice Pasta and Veggie Bowl
A few nights ago I made one of my all-time favorite meals: a brown rice pasta bowl. I mean, who doesn’t love pasta? It is such a versatile and delicious food, and seems to be able to satisfy just about any craving. It can be turned into anything from gooey mac and cheese to a a vegetable bowl. I decided to create the latter. This dish is super easy to prepare and very flexible with whatever vegetables you have in your house!
Ingredients:
- Brown rice pasta
- Zucchini
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Avocado
- Broccolini
- Marinara sauce
- Olive oil
Instructions:
Begin by prepping the vegetables. Wash and cut the zucchini into small slices.
Turn the stove onto medium/low heat, and put a little bit of olive oil into the pan. Wait until the oil heats up before putting the zucchini in. Once the oil noticeably heats up, throw in the zucchini. Occasionally flip them from side to side in order to ensure each side browns evenly. While these are cooking, fill up a pot with water. Put it on the stove on high heat and wait for the water to boil. Once the zucchini are lightly browned on each side, salt and pepper to taste before putting them on a paper-towel covered plate. This will help remove excess oil from the zucchini.
At this point, your water should be boiling. Throw in small baby carrots. Put on a timer for about 10 minutes, or until the carrots are softened. When they are done, strain and rinse them with cold water. However, while you are waiting for those to soften, wash and throw broccolini into the same pan you cooked the zucchini in. You may need to add a little more olive oil into the pan so the broccolini do not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Keep flipping them around so they cook evenly. Once those are softer and beginning to brown, salt and pepper to taste. Put them on a separate paper-towel covered plate.
Then, take either the same pot that you cooked the carrots in, or another pot, and boil water for pasta. While that is boiling, throw a handful of spinach into the same pan you’ve been using to cook all the vegetables. The spinach should wilt pretty quickly, and once it does, salt and pepper to taste. Once the water boils for the pasta, put in the gluten free pasta. Follow the instructions on the back of the pasta bag because each gluten free pasta cooks for a different time. When it is done, strain it and rinse it with cold water to stop it from cooking.
Now, begin to plate! Put in some pasta, topped with the broccolini, carrots and zucchini. I also garnish it with some avocado. If you like nuts, you can also throw some pine nuts into a pan with the heat on medium for a few minutes while they brown and garnish the pasta bowl with them for some crunch. I also put a little marinara sauce on the bowl to top it off (after I took the picture) Side note – make sure to check the label of your marinara sauce. A lot of brands put milk in their sauce!
Specific Brands I Recommend:
- Marinara sauce: Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara Sauce
- Brown rice pasta: Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli