Pasta with Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli
12 oz. radiatore, pasta shells or rigatoni pasta
(we like rigatoni best but any chunky pasta will do)
3 cup 3/4-inch pieces peeled red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)
3 cup broccoli florets
2 Tbls. olive oil (pref. extra virgin)
3 garlic cloves minced
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese substitute
Cook pasta in large pot boiling salted water 5 min. Add sweet potatoes and cook 5 min. more. Add broccoli and cook unitl pasta and vegetables are tender about 3 min. longer. Ladle 1 cup cooking liquid into small bowl and reserve. Drain pasta and vegetables.
Heat oil in same pot over med. heat. Add garlic; stir 1 min. Add pasta and vegetables to pot and stir to coat with oil mixture. Add reserved cup of pasta cooking liquid and toss until mixture is heated through. Stir in Nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl. Sprinkle with vegan cheese substitute.
This dish also contains loads of beta-carotene (broccoli and yams)!
This dish is wonderfully subtle but hearty comfort food. The Nutmeg is different but goes very well with the yams. Try this with a nice crusty loaf of vegan bread! A household favorite.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Unusual, but delicious! I added some dried tomatoes, chopped finely, with the broccoli. My mom and I debated putting onions in the pasta next time, but decided it's best to keep this dish simple. Also - I added some baked tofu sprinkled with garlic and onion powder for extra protein.
My boyfriend made this for us tonight because I was coming home late from work. Seemed pretty easy and was very delicious. Tasted like fall, for sure... probably the nutmeg.
This definitely needed a little something. We didn't have any "cheese," that definitely would've worked. I used sea salt which kind of worked... the sun dried tomatoes sound like they'd be a delicious addition. Maybe some pesto? I definitely could've used some more garlic but I'm a big garlic fan.
Overall, this was a great unexpected combination, and I look forward to eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Delicious and easy! Even my picky kids ate it up