Lentil Pasta With A Creamy Sauce and Healthy Greens

creamy lentil pasta with goat cheese and greens is the healthy pasta recipe you’ve been searching for! this easy pasta recipe takes just 10 minutes to make and is a low calorie, high protein, vegetarian quick dinner dish for your family or simply cooking for one. (340 calories & 20+ grams of protein)

if there’s one recipe that needs to be on my blog — it’s this one. not because of how glamorous it is (it’s not) but because of how often i consume it. as i mentioned in my previous post, michael and i have been really trying to stick to our budget. it’s not always easy, but it’s definitely fun and always an adventure! it keeps me creative & very resourceful to say the least 😉

we are very much #TeamFrozenVeggies & lately i’ve been on this super bizarre pea kick. i just loveee eating them frozen for a snack. they’re a high protein food and fiber rich food, so it’s a win-win.

isn’t it great when you find a food you love thats healthy, too? such a RARE occurrence.

one of my favorite bloggers, lauryn evarts, would snap chat { this } lentil pasta alllll the time, & since i have a slight (major) obsession with her, i decided i needed this healthy pasta in my life ASAP! man oh man, lauryn was SPOT. ON.

lentil pasta tastes very similar to “regular” pasta but offers much more nutritional value!

& you guys know i’m alllll about finding healthy substitutes for my fav foods!

ONE serving of lentil pasta contains —

13g of protein
3g of fiber
JUST 20 mg of sodium
& JUST .5g of fat!

another thing i love about this particular lentil pasta is that there’s only one ingredient… lentil flour. i always encourage people to look at the ingredients FIRST. calories shouldn’t be as concerning as what ingredients you’re actually putting into your body.

& calories metabolize in such different ways depending on the food. your body recognizes natural, wholesome foods.. but when you feed it ingredients you can’t even pronounce, your body kiiinda freaks out.

when i make this easy lentil pasta recipe i like to cut back on the serving size of lentil pasta and substitute it with a GENEROUS amount of peas. pasta feels heavy in my stomach sometimes, so i usually replace some with a veggie — broccoli, spinach, brussels, cauliflower or peas. the goat cheese creates SUCH a creamy texture you’ll probably be thinking — “this is wayyy to decadent to be healthy…” but i promise you it is! i especially like adding in some roasted red peppers when i’m feelin’ fancy 😉

{just one serving is contains 340 calories & over 20 grams of protein}

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup TJ’s Lentil Pasta
1/2 – 3/4 cup pasta sauce
1 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup peas
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic salt
dash of red pepper flakes & lemon — optional!

Instructions:

fill a saucepan about 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil
add lentil pasta and cook as directed.. i cook mine for an additional 2-3 minutes because it’s a bit more dense than your typical pasta
add sauce and peas to a separate saucepan and heat until peas are fully cooked and sauce it hot
add garlic salt & red pepper flakes to sauce mixture
drain pasta, add to sauce mixture & stir
pour into your serving bowl
top with goat cheese & nutritional yeast!
squeeze a lemon on top – optional!

**all photos were shot on my iphone 6 for this post, so please excuse the lack of clarity or quality!