I’m all for simple, easy-to-make, and family-friendly recipes, and this trio of ways to serve protein-packed vegan pasta is a total crowd-pleaser1!
Picture this: Wednesday night, you’re halfway through a hectic working week and already wiped out. Your small children are halfway through their school or nursery week, and also pretty wiped out at this stage. It’s 6PM by the time you all make it home, bedtime is at 7PM, and your ‘quality time’ with your little family is about to consist of trying to cook a nutritious dinner, get everyone sat at the table, convince your children to eat (“I’ll buy you a pony if you eat one chickpea”, or something like that), the food ends up all over the floor anyway, your kids go to bed (but obvs don’t sleep), and you fall face first into bed to watch an episode of Stranger Things before going to sleep. Sound familiar? Sames.
I always swore I’d never be the parent to cook twelve different dinners, and my kids would obviously love all the whole food meals I cook… lol. Truth is, mostly sometimes they just don’t want to eat what you eat. Consequently, balancing mealtimes into something that meets everyone’s nutritional and emotional needs is, erm, a challenge. Enter ZENB and their range of yellow pea pasta and condiments!
Why I Love Protein Packed Vegan Pasta
Most people like pasta. It’s filling. It is an excellent vehicle for sauce. What could you possibly dislike. ZENB have given the whole concept an extra boost by making their protein packed vegan pasta 100% out of yellow peas, which boosts the protein content. The flavour is slightly different to wheat-based pasta, but personally I actually prefer it – I find it gives a little more depth to your dishes. It’s also speedy to cook, and if you’re in a proper hurry, the brand have recently added their agile product to the range – which cooks in as little as two minutes.
There’s also the question of sustainability – and yellow peas really deliver. Using less water than traditional wheat while also benefitting the soil they grow in by supporting nitrogen levels, they make an excellent crop. Plus, ZenB’s pasta packaging is completely plastic-free – no cellophane window in sight. Protein packed vegan pasta that benefits the environment as well, I’m pretty sold!
Three Speedy Pasta Dishes to Suit the Whole Family
Back to our Wednesday night. Like I said, I never wanted to be the mum that cooks everyone different meals, but I’ve had to manage my own expectations and relax that approach a little. Instead of making different things, I like to think of it as customising. So we cook the pasta, and then have a few different serving options to add choice. To me, the important thing about adding choices is that it doesn’t add more time to the cooking, nobody’s got the energy to deal with that. So today, I’m sharing our recipes for protein packed vegan pasta – three ways to suit the whole family! Feel free to make them all, or just one or two, or adapt to make it work for your household. And if you enjoy it, don’t forget to let me know on instagram!
1Protein supports the growth of muscle mass.
Protein Packed Vegan Pasta – Three Ways
Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 knife
- 1 high-speed blender I use a vitamix, but a good food processor will do the trick too!
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 1 packet ZENB pasta I used penne this time
For the simple tomato pasta
- 1 packet ZENB pasta sauce I used Cherry tomato
- 1 small handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 sprinkle nutritional yeast
For the warm pasta salad
- 50 g vegan feta cubed, I love Violife!
- 1 small handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 splash balsamic vinegar
For the quick green pesto
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch basil
- 4 tbsp ground almonds
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp vegan cream cheese again, it's Violife for me!
- 1 small avocado
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside
- Mix 1/3 of pasta with ZENB pasta sauce, and top with nutritional yeast, cherry tomato halves and a few basil leaves
- Mix 1/3 of pasta with vegan feta cubes, cherry tomatoes, and a splash of balsamic vinegar
- Place all pesto ingredients in a high-speed blender and pulse until smooth. Stir through final 1/3 of pasta
- Get everything served up and dig in!
This is such a great post, I love the idea of protein pasta. I am vegetarian, but often eat vegan meals, so I’ll give this go.
Thanks for writing this.
Pippa
I have GOT to try this! I find regular pasta makes me feel bloated but this sounds like a better, more nutritious option. Thanks for sharing!
B x