This vegetarian Banza pasta with creamy pesto and tempeh comes together quickly, making this dish an easy, healthy weeknight meal that’s easy on your diet too.
I’ve said it a million times, but the thing I missed most at college was cooking. Now that I’m home for the summer with little else to do but play around in the kitchen, I’ve been in a cooking frenzy. And grocery shopping frenzy. My first trip to Trader Joe’s to stock up our kitchen was quite an experience, and I left with about five thousand recipe ideas.
While there, I found Banza pasta, tempeh, and this vegan pesto. (as well as some more things – recipes to come!) Yum yum yum.
Banza pasta with creamy pesto strikes the perfect balance between that #healthy #nosugar lifestyle I’m aiming for and that slightly-indulgent-this-is-damn-good-food that makes eating fun. The creamy pesto is achieved by adding a couple tablespoons of cream cheese in with your veggies and pesto. It’s just creamy enough to be delicious, but not so creamy that you’re over-doing it.
Banza pasta is magic, full of protein, low in sugar, and still tasting just like normal pasta, and it makes it easy to make any pasta dish just that much healthier. I love any substitution that makes a classic healthy, so Banza will be making its way into my standard food rotation very quickly.
I recommend keeping it in your pantry so you can whip it out next time you don’t want to spend ages making dinner. This whole dish comes together as quickly as it takes to boil pasta!
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This vegetarian pasta dish comes together quickly and is perfect for a healthy weeknight meal when you’re in a rush.
Ingredients
1 box Banza penne pasta
2 cups shaved brussel sprouts
1 onion
8 oz tempeh
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons vegan pesto (I got mine from Trader Joe’s)
2 –3 tablespoons cream cheese
Instructions
- Boil water and cook Banza pasta until done.
- While cooking the pasta, dice onions and cut up tempeh. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add sliced onions and brussel sprouts. After two minutes, add the tempeh. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned.
- Once cooked, reduce heat and add water, cream cheese, and pesto. Stir until well mixed.
- Add pasta and mix until everything is incorporated and pasta is covered in pesto.
- Enjoy while still warm!
