Pasta: YUM!

I love pasta. I try not to eat it *too* much, but I don't cut it out completely.  When I do serve up some yummy pasta concoction, I always opt for a healthier pasta. Instead of using your traditional white pasta I always choose a whole wheat form of pasta. Once you put a sauce on it, you really can't tell the difference! 90% of the time, I go one step farther than whole wheat pasta and choose brown rice pasta. I stumbled across this one day and it was love at first taste! The best part? This pasta has TWO ingredients: Brown rice and water. That's it! When I understand and recognize all the ingredients on a package I am definitely a happy camper. If you haven't tried it yet, go pick up a package and try it out. I'm pretty sure you can find this at most grocery stores. I know I've even found it at Walmart.

Once you find said pasta, come home and make this recipe:

EVOO Pasta w/Walnuts, Lentils & Red Peppers**

PREP TIME:  10 Minutes          READY IN:  30 Minutes
COOK TIME:  20 Minutes       SERVINGS:  6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Package thin spaghetti (Go get the brown rice pasta!)
• 3/4 Cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 Cups hot salsa (milder if you like less heat)
• 1/3 Cup EVOO
• 3 Tbsp ketchup
• 1/3 Cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 Red pepper - diced
• 1 1/2 Cups spinach
• 1 Cup cooked lentils

 DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, grab a small pot and turn heat to medium. Add chopped walnuts to dry pot and lightly toast for a few minutes.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients (except spinach). Be careful as walnuts will sizzle and may splatter when you add the salsa. Stir well and heat on medium-low for another 7-8 minutes.
3. Place spinach in a colander and rinse. When pasta is cooked, remove from heat and pour into colander (with spinach in it) and rinse lightly. Drain and then add the spinach & pasta into the pot. Now pour the sauce into the pasta and spinach and stir well.

That's it! We call this "Spicy Spaghetti" in our house. Try it out and let me know what you think!

** Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows original recipe