High Protein Mediterranean Pasta Primavera

This is one of my favorite meals to use for meal-prepping – it has a ton of flavor, protein and packs in a lot of veggies as well! I like to make this during the weekend, and then take it for lunch every day. Sometimes, I’ll even make a double batch. The goal is to cook as little as possible, but still eat delicious foods! This can be pre-portioned out and frozen until you’re ready to eat it too! Just don’t forget to cut it ahead of time. I did this once, and didn’t realize until I was headed out to work that I was going to struggle hard to get a portion out from a massive frozen chunk. Just my pro-tip LOL.

I think this is also a great recipe to get you into a plant-based diet, and would be an excellent Meatless Monday dinner to make for the whole family! This is a very cheesy-tasting meal that you won’t even notice is vegan – great for the dairy-intolerant folks!

These are the veggies that I like in this Pasta Primavera, because I think it ends up with a nice Mediterranean flavor, but feel free to use whichever veggies you love best and remove the ones you might not like as much. I also used vegan chick’n which I sometimes like to use for extra protein and texture. If this is not your vibe, feel free to omit this or sub it out for tofu or seitan! I also use vegan cheese, which I know those more focused on a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet typically do not use. If this is you, you could definitely leave out the vegan cheeses; the creamy sauce is cheesy enough without them; I just really like the crunchy texture and extra flavor they add to the dish.

Ingredients

Pasta Sauce

• Extra Firm Silken Tofu – I use extra firm, silken tofu for this, but there are a couple of different silken tofu options you could use. The brand Mori-Nu that I use is a shelf stable silken tofu that you can find at the most grocery stores near the international food aisle. There are also refrigerated silken tofu varieties that would work equally well. If you can’t find either in the store, you could also purchase the shelf-stable variety online.
• Cashews – you need to use raw, unsalted cashews for this recipe. Do not used roasted cashews, because it will be gross. You can usually find the unsalted raw cashews near the bakery or the produce section; for some reason they aren’t next to the other nuts usually.
• Soy Milk – since this is a high-protein pasta, I like to use soy milk as it has the highest protein per calorie ratio of the nondairy milks. You could use a different non-dairy milk, but you should focus on ones that are thicker, such as oat milk. Know that your calories and macros may change if you substitute.
• Nutritional yeast – affectionately known as Nooch – this is a shelf stable ingredient that can be found in most grocery stores. We really like to use this ingredient in plant-based dishes because it adds a nice cheesy taste. It also has a surprising amount of protein. If you can’t find this at your grocery store, you can also find this online. My favorite brands are Bob’s Red Mill, Frontier, and Braggs.
• Red onion – I like to use red onion for this because it is a Mediterranean flavored Pasta Primavera. Also, I read the book “How Not to Die” and the author mentioned that red onions are way more healthy for you than other kinds of onions, so I try to do that, because that guy said so!
• Roma tomatoes – I have no idea why I always pick Roma tomatoes, probably because they’re tiny and cute. You can use any tomatoes you want for this; these are just my favorite.
• Garlic paste – I used garlic paste for this, because it gives it that fresh garlic taste, and I don’t have to peel garlic. You could also use fresh garlic or you could just add more garlic powder.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – I really like Apple Cider Vinegar in this, but you could use any subtle vinegar for this recipe. If I were going to substitute this, I would use some thing like white wine vinegar, or rice vinegar. I do think you need a vinegar for this because it gives that sharp taste you get from dairy cheese.
• Onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt – these are the seasonings I use for the sauce. If there are some here that you don’t like, or if you want to add your own seasonings, feel free. This is what I did, and it tasted great.

Other Stuff

• Baby Bella Mushrooms – I really like baby Bella Mushrooms, and I don’t even know why – maybe because it has baby in the name and they’re cute. But, feel free to use any kind of mushrooms here if you have a different favorite.
• Zucchini, yellow squash – I think these are great vegetables to have in a Mediterranean Pasta Primavera, but if you don’t like some of these, feel free to sub them out.
• Artichoke Hearts – I really like to use canned artichokes here, but feel free to use fresh ones. I don’t know what additional preparation you would need if you did that though, because I’m a peasant, and I’ve only use canned artichokes.
• Olives – I think the black olives really add a nice saltiness to the dish and it plays really well with the other Mediterranean flavors that are in here. If you don’t like black olives, what is wrong with you? No, but seriously, if you don’t like black olives, feel free to leave those out, or, if you like a more flavorful olive, you could also use green olives or Kalamata olives
• Plant-Based chicken strips – I like to use the brand Sweet Earth Mindful Chick’n Strips, but there are other great brands as well. You can find these meat alternatives at most grocery stores. I like to add these because they add a little extra protein and a different texture. You could also use cooked Tofu or Seitan instead.
• Red Lentil Pasts – I really like red lentil pasta for this, because the macros are great. You can find us at most grocery stores, but you could also buy online. I used the penne shaped pasta for this specific recipe. If you don’t like red lentil pasta for whatever reason, you could also use chickpea pasta, or you could just use regular pasta. Be sure to note that your calories and macros might change slightly if you do not use red lentil pasta.
• Vegan Feta – Follow Your Heart Vegan Feta is my absolute favorite brand of vegan feta. If you have a different preference, feel free to use that. If you’re trying to eat a more Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet, you could omit this from the recipe if you want to!
• Vegan Parmesan – Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan is my favorite of all of the vegan parms. I’m talking about the one in the little container, not the shaker bottle. There are other great vegan parms you could use as well, but I really like this one, because it browns when it’s cooked it in the oven. Once again, if you are trying to do a more Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet, feel free to omit this from the recipe.

Instructions

• First things first, we need to soften our raw, unsalted cashews. We have two options here – the first option is to soak them overnight in water, or the second option, which is the easier method, is to allow them to sit in a small pot of boiling water for about 10 to 20 minutes. This is an incredibly important step to make sure that your cashews will blend well in your blender; this is especially important if you do not have a high powered blender like a Vitamix.
• While you’re waiting on the cashews to soften, prepare your vegetables. You’re going to dice the red onion and the tomatoes. You will also be slicing the mushrooms into small pieces and dicing the zucchini, yellow squash artichoke hearts. I like to leave the black olives whole, but feel free to cut those in half or quarters if you prefer that!
• In a pan, preferably a nonstick pan, sauté the diced onions for about five minutes until they are translucent and lightly browned. If you are not using a nonstick pan, you probably want to add some oil here. Make sure to stir these regularly so they don’t stick to the pan or burn.
• Add in the diced tomatoes and cook for another three minutes.
• Next, you’ll boil a pot of water and cook the pasta for the package instructions.
• In a blender, blend all of the ingredients, listed under the pasta sauce until well mixed and smooth – silken tofu, cashews, soy milk, nutritional yeast, red onion, Roma, tomatoes, garlic paste, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt.
• In a medium-heat pan, sauté the sliced mushrooms, until the liquid has been fully cooked out of them; this should take 5 to 10 minutes. I like to do this in a nonstick pan, but if you don’t have one, make sure you use some oil, so that nothing sticks to the pan.
• Add in the other veggies and cook them for another 10-ish minutes until most of the liquid has been cooked out. You want to make sure most of the liquid is cooked out of the vegetables, so that your pasta is not wet and gross.
• In a large bowl, mixed together the pasta, the vegan chicken, the vegetables, and the creamy sauce. Once it is well mixed, put it in a casserole dish. You’ll probably need a pretty large casserole dishes. This is a lot of stuff after you combine all the things together.
• Top with the vegan Parm and feta. This step is optional, of course, but I think it has a lot of flavor and also a crunchy texture to the top.
• Cook for 20 minutes. This doesn’t take too long because you’ve kind of already cooked most of the ingredients. The vegan chick’n I use is already pre-cooked, so you basically just need to re-heat it. But if you were going to use something like Seitan or Tofu, make sure that you have cooked it beforehand.
• I like to broil this for a couple minutes at the end to brown the cheese and get it crunchy!

Silly Little Haiku

High Protein Pasta

I could eat this all week long

Great for Meal Prepping