Spinach Pesto & Cauliflower Pasta

9/3/2019

Creamy cauliflower and spinach pesto pasta with mushrooms, red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, basil, etc! One-pot!

This is a GREAT recipe as it does not use any heavy cream or loads of cheese or even nuts! Perfect for healthy weight and light dinner time. It is also great dish to impress your guests.

This recipe makes a lot of pesto so if you want less pesto, then reduce cauliflower to half. I would say you can even add the remaining cauliflower along with veggie mix. Why keep fresh cauliflower in the fridge unnecessarily? Try to avoid this habit and use your veggies asap when you get them. I made a lot for me and even for my dogs..:) They loved it!

Ingredients for Veggie-Mix -

1. 2 organic medium or large onions
2. 2 Organic tomatoes
3. 1 box organic mushrooms
4. Garlic - 1 whole.
5. Organic spinach - 1 cup added at end.
6. Organic red bell pepper - 1

Simple Pesto -

1. 1 small to medium organic cauliflower (see pics)
2. Organic spinach -1/2 - 1 cup (no rules! the more, the better)
3. Organic basil - 1 bunch
4. 1 whole garlic (lots of garlic!! Do it!!)
5. Olive oil - 1/3 cup
6. Optional - organic/vegan parmesan (plz. be ethical - your choice makes a difference; either an animal suffers or lives like you want to live)

Spices and oils -

1. Organic coconut oil - 4 tablespoons.
2. Himalayan sea salt - Per taste.
3. Cayenne and thyme - 1/3 teaspoon each first. Then taste and you can adjust.

Top with -

1. Oregano - sprinkle at end
2. Lemon juice - 1 whole fresh squeezed lemon juice
3. Black pepper - per taste, sprinkle

Simple steps - Follow exactly to get done fast & reduce wastage

1. In steel pan, add cauliflower florets and boil in some water till very soft. Take the cauliflower out, drain well and put in food processor. In same water, make your pasta. Once done, keep aside in a bowl that you can use to eat later or a plate (thus reducing washing more dishes).

2. In same steel pan, add coconut oil and saute onions, tomatoes, red bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic. Add cayenne, thyme and sea salt per wish.

3. In food processor, once cauliflower has cooled, add RAW spinach - 1/2 cup, add garlic, basil and olive oil. Mix and puree till creamy.

4. Mix the pasta now with the veggies and add the pesto.

5. Let food cool down a bit - wait for 20 mins. Now, add the remaining spinach. Done! Sprinkle oregano, black pepper and lemon juice. Mix and serve.

For my dogs -

1. On side, as you can see in photos, I sauteed the UN-used cauliflower parts along with carrots and mushrooms - all in heaping spoonfuls of coconut oil. Then added pasta and little bit of fresh pesto. I also added bit of veggies from mine later. Add few drops of fresh lemon juice. Done. Proudly..:) And they ate it so happily.

Imagine the difference between this food and that of some crap that comes in plastic bag; doesn't decay for years and is called 'food' in America!!! Yuckkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!

Proud to be giving fresh, off the stove food to my doggy darlings...:) Hope your dogs get to enjoy it too. You can mix this with some boiled brown rice IF your dog is just starting on home-made food; this way, you won't have stomach issues.