If you ever really want to annoy a vegan, ask them if they miss bacon, or if they get sick of salads… or just tell them they can’t possibly get enough protein in their diet. (I do not advise actually doing this.)

Granted, it is possible for a vegan diet to be a very unhealthy diet. But this applies to nonvegans equally. Anybody who eats nothing but Oreos is going to lack essential nutrients. That said, the mindful vegans that I know have more variety and nutrition in their diet than the average bear… or the average American anyway.

Case in point…

This simple pasta dish can be thrown together in minutes and is packed with protein, vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin A, B, C, E, K, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, omegas, fiber, and B12!

As for it being “rabbit food”… perish the thought! This is a warm creamy bowl of comfort. My son ate this without realizing it had no dairy, and said it was better than my bechamel. I was simultaneously pleased and insulted. It takes some time and love to make a good bechamel and only minutes to throw together this sauce. In my defense, my son likes his bechamel thinner than I do. But I digress…

Whether you are vegan or not, this is a great busy night easy dinner to have in your repertoire.  If you don’t eat grains, try this with cauliflower and other vegetables.

Quick and Easy Creamy Vegan Pasta Sauce

In a bowl or right in a sauce pan, combine hummus and almond milk.

Keep this super nutritious, as well as delicious and time-saving, by using a good clean organic hummus. Or you can make your own. I am using this one today… Classic Organic Hommus by Hannah. Really yummy!

You can make your own almond milk in only seconds by blending raw almonds with water and straining out the pulp. I make my own almond milk as needed; it is SO GOOD and it keeps out unwanted ingredients.

Homemade Almond Milk with no additives. Mmmmm

Stir in nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. Salt and pepper, to taste. Heat. If the sauce is too think, add more almond milk or water (or a little of your pasta cooking water). If you would like a stronger garlic flavor, or more nutritional yeast for cheesy nuttiness, add more of those in.

At this point, we have already achieved yumminess… you can put this sauce on just about anything.

Stir in pasta. Your sauce is already gluten-free. You can easily keep this entire dish gluten free by using brown rice pasta.

Stir in tender-crisp steamed broccoli.

Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve hot or eat cold.

This is comfort in a bowl. So yummy!

If you want to make a very good thing even better, sprinkle crunchy slivered almonds over the top.

…red corn chips garnish. Mmmmm

Easy Creamy Vegan Pasta Sauce with Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup prepared hummus
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 t nutritional yeast
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1 cup cooked pasta (for gluten free, I used brown rice pasta)
• 1 cup steamed broccoli
• salt and pepper, to taste
• optional: slivered almonds for a crunchy garnish
• optional: broken corn chips add a crunchy delicious layer of flavor

Method

In a bowl or right in a sauce pan, combine hummus, almond milk, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. Salt and pepper, to taste. Heat. If the sauce is too think, add more almond milk or water (or a little of your pasta cooking water). If you would like a stronger garlic flavor, or more nutritional yeast for cheesy nuttiness, add those in.

Stir in pasta and broccoli. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve hot or eat cold.

Enjoy!

If you like this, please Pin, Share, and Like

[pinterest]

[fblike]

[tweet]