Ingredients

These quantities yield two generously sized bowls of pasta, potentially with leftovers.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for helpful shopping tips

• 3 cups red lentil pasta (any shape)
• 2 tsp avocado oil (or olive oil)
• 1 small red onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 bunch broccolini (or 3 cups broccoli florets)
• 1 medium zucchini
• 3.5 ounces shiitake mushrooms (or any variety)
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp salt, or to taste
• ⅛ tsp black pepper, or to taste
• 1 cup tomato sauce (meat free and dairy free, low oil if possible)
• 2 Tbsp pine nuts
• 2 small handfuls of microgreens (optional but recommended)

Note that you can use any vegetables you enjoy and/or have on hand, making this a great catch-all meal when you have extra veggies to use up.

Remember that frozen vegetables are a convenient option as well!

Instructions 

In a medium saucepan, heat the water to cook the red lentil pasta according to package instructions.

While you wait for the cooking water to come to a boil, this is a great time to prep your veggies.

Wash the fresh produce and pat it dry.

Dice the onion, mushroom, zucchini, and pepper. Chop the broccolini (or broccoli) into florets.

Once the water is boiling, add the dry red lentil pasta.

Stir the pasta immediately after adding it to the boiling water, and continue stirring occasionally until it's done.

Pay careful attention to the cooking time and avoid over-cooking, because red lentil pasta goes from "al dente" to "mushy" quite quickly.

Once the pasta is in the water, this is a good time to begin sautéing your vegetables.

Heat the avocado oil (or olive oil) in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.

Add the diced onion to the pan first. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and stir frequently until the onion begins to soften.

Next add the diced bell pepper. Sauté for a 2-3 minutes more.

Finally add the zucchini, broccolini, and mushrooms. Sprinkle again lightly with salt and stir until the vegetables become vibrant in color and begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Taste the pasta to make sure it's done, then pour the contents of the saucepan through a strainer to drain the pasta.

Working quickly, while the pasta is still in the strainer, add your tomato sauce to the hot saucepan, so that the heat of the pan will warm the sauce.

Transfer the cooked, drained pasta back to the saucepan, and immediately stir the pasta to coat it in the warmed sauce.

Cover the pot to keep the pasta warm for a few minutes.

By now, your vegetables should have reached an al dente texture themselves.

Sprinkle the veggies with the garlic powder, dried basil, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat.

Taste the vegetables and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Use a pasta scoop to transfer the red lentil pasta with tomato sauce to your serving bowls.

Scoop the sautéed vegetables on top of the pasta.

Sprinkle each bowl with pine nuts, and add a small handful of microgreens, if using.

Microgreens are optional but highly recommended, because they add a lot of nutrition and flavor, and they really finish the dish nicely. Scroll to the bottom of the page for more details.

Serve and enjoy!

Scroll to the bottom of the page for ingredient notes and shopping tips!

Shopping Tips & Ingredient Notes

Some of these ingredients may be new to you.
Here's what to look for at the grocery store.

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means if you purchase through them, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Red Lentil Pasta

Red lentil pasta is widely available at most mainstream grocery stores these days, in addition to health-forward supermarkets like WholeFoods and Trader Joes.

If you don't see it in the regular pasta aisle, ask for a gluten-free aisle, as sometimes it's stocked alongside other gluten-free foods.

Be prepared for it to cost substantially more than regular pasta -- it's a much higher-quality food. Think of it as more as a replacement for your protein, rather than for your traditional pasta.

Any shape will work, and there are many varieties available.

If you need to order online, here are a few suggestions (these are clickable links):

• Barilla Red Lentil Rotini from Amazon
• Barilla Red Lentil Penne from Amazon
• Ancient Harvest Red Lentil Rotini from Vitacost
• Tolerant Red Lentil Penne from Vitacost

Avocado Oil

When cooking with oil, this is arguably the most healthful choice. That's because avocado oil has a high smoke point, and therefore it's less likely to turn to trans fat when you heat it. Still, be careful not to let it get too hot while cooking.

If you don't have avocado oil, you can use olive oil instead, but in this case be extra vigilant about the heat.

Tomato Sauce (meat free, dairy free, low oil, little or no added sugar)

Always check the label on your jar of tomato sauce, as many brands sneak in a lot of oil and/or sugar. This is less than ideal for your health.

For reference, my preferred tomato sauce from Trader Joe's (Trader Giotto's Organic Tomato Basil Marinara) contains 1g of fat (indicating low added oil), and 0g of added sugars (check under the Total Carbohydrate section of the nutrition label for the quantity of "added sugars" before buying).

Of course, there are no animal products, including cheese or other dairy products, in my tomato sauce either.

Pine Nuts

You should be able to find these in just about any supermarket.

They can seem pricey, but a little go a long way, and what they add in flavor and crunch is entirely worth it.

This is what I use in place of cheese on many of my Italian dishes, and I find it does the trick. I don't miss the cheese at all.

Microgreens

These may be tougher to find in mainstream supermarkets, but check the refrigerated fresh produce section.

If you don't see them where you usually shop, check your local farmers market, as they can often be found for sale by local growers.

Microgreens are the seedling sprouts of larger edible plants, like leafy greens, vegetables, and herbs, and contain much of the nutrients and flavor possessed by their adult counterparts, yet in a smaller, more delicate package.

Some research has shown that microgreens contain up to 40 times more vitamin and mineral nutrients than mature vegetables, so it's a great idea to use them on soups, sandwiches, pasta dishes and more, whenever possible. They also blend easily into smoothies.

So pick some up for yourself next time you see them... or learn to grow your own!