Asian-Inspired Pasta

I realize that I am not exactly grain-free with my blog posts...as kamut does happen to be a grain, and I have used it in several of my recipes so far. It is, however, the only grain I can tolerate (unsprouted, that is), so sometimes a girl's just gotta use it.

If you are intolerant to all grains, you can swap out the pasta here for zucchini pasta (shred/julienne some zucchini and toss with a little lemon to soften). That's actually what I tried to do, but the spiralizer I bought has to be the most disappointing kitchen gadget ever (Joyce Chen, you robbed me!) and rather than noodles, I ended up with zucchini mush...which I then sauteed up with my other veggies and added to my pasta!

You could also forego the whole pasta idea altogether and just make the veggies and sauce combo to serve over a bed of amaranth (a seed), buckwheat (a grass), quinoa (if you can tolerate it - I can't), or whatever else is good for you.

This is a pretty easy dish that, for me, was comforting when feeling under the weather - and the raw ginger, garlic and cayenne combo is definitely an immune booster!

Asian-Inspired Pasta

enough pasta for 1 person

1 shallot, sliced (or 1/2 a small onion)
handful of green beans, trimmed and cut into longish pieces
1/2 a zuchinni, chopped (or in my case, mushed up by a crappy spiralizer)
2 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 smallish carrot, peeled into strips with a vegetable peeler or julienned on a mandoline
4-5 leaves of swiss chard or other leafy greens, chopped
plus any other veggies you may have on hand that would taste good in an asian-style sauce (cabbage, bok choy, peppers, celery, daikon, etc etc)

Sauce:
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 medium cloves garlic, or more, to taste, chopped and left to sit exposed to the air for a few minutes (this releases the antiviral/antifungal allicin in the garlic!)
2 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 heaping tbsp natural peanut butter
1 tbsp sesame oil
good pinch of pink himalayan salt (or if you can tolerate soy, you could add some soy sauce instead)
pinch of cayenne

black sesame seeds or regular sesame seeds (black ones are higher in antioxidants, but both kinds are very good for you)

Cook pasta till al dente, and drain.

Meanwhile, saute your shallot in a pan with a little grapeseed oil or other cooking oil till starting to soften. Add the green beans and cover, cooking for a minute or two before adding the other veggies. Stir, cover, and cook on low heat till the veggies are tender-crisp.

Mix the sauce ingredients together and adjust the taste to suit you. Remember that once you mix this with the pasta and veggies, the flavor will be less intense.

Once the veggies are done, add the pasta and sauce, and a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds, turn off the heat, and mix everything to coat. Adjust your seasonings, throw it all in a bowl, and enjoy!

Serves 1, or 2 with a side salad.