Part of the Thanksgiving comedown; I totally OD’d on meat and carbs, so none of that for a few days. Here’s what I whipped up for dinner last night, and it turned out really well.
The recipe for the sauce came from Health.com and is described as a pasta sauce, but in searching Google for a “pasta alternative,” I discovered that sautéed cabbage with onion is recommended. I had kale, which I figured was close enough. Also, usually when I cook onions, I throw some bean sprouts in there because 1) they’re hardcore filled with vitamins [A, B, B1, B6, C, & K] and minerals [iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, etc.], 2) they’re texturally similar to onions, and 3) they have little flavor of their own, so they’re like a magic super food flavor vehicle.
This kale mixture combined with the tomato sauce is my new favorite vegetarian meal for its ease of preparation as well as the ensuing mouthgasm.
No-Cook Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, sliced or chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, optional
- Freshly ground black pepper
**Note: I always triple or quadruple garlic. The 1 clove is from the original recipe, but I actually made it with four cloves and it was delicious.
Directions:
In a bowl, toss tomatoes, olive oil, basil, oregano, garlic and salt. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
**Optional: If you don’t dig the kale pasta replacement, 10 ounces of short pasta noodles (such as cavatelli, penne or rigatoni) will pair well with this sauce.
Kale-based Pasta Alternative
Ingredients:
- 4 cups fatly chopped or shredded kale
- 2/3 cup onion, chopped
- 2/3 cup bean sprouts
- Coarse sea salt to taste
Directions:
Throw the kale, onion, and bean sprouts in a non-stick, lightly oiled wok over medium heat. Toss while cooking, sprinkling with a couple of pinches of salt. Sauté until the kale is reduced to half its size and the bean sprouts are slightly browned.
All together now: Serve the no-cook sauce over a bed of kale mixture with Parmesan cheese and freshly ground pepper sprinkled over the top.
Apologies for the lack of photos of the finished product. It was gobbled down in its entirety before the camera could warm up.