Vegan Pasta Primavera with Garlic Cashew Sauce

If you love pasta, then you will definitely love this! This delicious recipe is loaded with a variety of veggies, including broccoli, zucchini, red onion, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. I also used red lentil penne pasta instead of regular. Below are a few nutrient highlights of these veggies:

Below, you will find a recipe that I love so much, and I hope you will too! This recipe was inspired and adapted from Ambitious Kitchen. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 ounces red lentil penne pasta (or sub any kind of pasta you’d like)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced lengthwise

• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks

• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

• 2 cups small broccoli florets

• 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered OR cut into thin strips

• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning

• For the sauce:

• ¾ cup raw cashews

• ½ cup water

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

• Freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. First make your sauce: soak the cashews in 2 cups of warm water for at least 2 hours; otherwise I've found that you can easily speed up the process by adding the raw cashews to a pot with water and placing over high heat. Bring water to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat; let the cashews sit for about 30 minutes in the hot water, then drain.

2. Once the cashews have finished soaking you'll be ready to make the sauce: add drained cashews, ½ cup fresh water, fresh lemon juice, garlic salt, onion powder and black pepper to a blender. Blend on high until sauce comes together. If you want a bit of a thinner sauce, add 1-2 tablespoons more water. Set aside until ready to use.

3. Next, cook your pasta until al dente, according to the directions on the package.

4. While your pasta boils, you can cook your vegetables. Add olive oil to a large pot and place over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion, carrot, red bell pepper and broccoli; saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add in the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes, or until all the veggies are tender, but still have a little crisp to them. Finally stir in the tomatoes and italian seasoning and cook for 1 minute more.

5. Finally, add cooked pasta and cashew sauce to the pot with the veggies and stir to combine. Serve with red pepper flakes, if desired.