Double-Bean Pasta With Tomatoes

Submitted by Whats Cooking

"On Sundays I cook with weekday lunches in mind, favoring big pots of tasty dishes that reheat well in the microwave at work. This low-fat, whole grain, high-fiber and vegan pasta dish is full of some of my favorite foods - Green beans, chickpeas and pasta. Mmm. Nutritional yeast adds B-12 and other vitamins and a slightly cheesy taste, though folks who love cheese can try parmesan or Romano instead. Bob's Red Mill and Red Star brands of nutritional yeast are both gluten-free. I use a Tinkyada's Gluten-Free Spirals, but you can use regular rotelle / fusilli if you prefer."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 cups fusilli (spiral shaped pasta) or 2 cups gluten-free pasta (spiral shaped pasta)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1⁄2 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1 (16 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1⁄2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced
• 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 -2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

directions

1. Cook pasta in salted water until done, according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and set aside.
2. In the same pot, steam green bean pieces until tender but still crisp. Add to colander with pasta.
3. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or deep frying pan over medium heat. Add red pepper flakes, dried parsley and dried basil and shallot. Sauté until the shallot has become translucent. Add bell pepper and garlic and cook until vegetables are soft, stirring often. Add tomatoes and garbanzo beans and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in pasta and green beans, nutritional yeast, and balsamic vinegar.
5. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

Reviews

[jessymroberts]

I LOVED this dish. It was fragrant and flavorful and healthy and FILLING! I made the recipe as written, using whole wheat rotini, except I omitted the crushed red pepper flakes (small children). I actually wasn't expecting to like this as well as I did... and my 15-month-old twins gobbled up their pasta and loved the green beans.

 

[Elisabetta47]

We really enjoyed this but I want to comment without stars. We're serious "spicers", but the crushed red pepper flakes overpower any of the delicate flavors in this. Fresh basil is lost in the wake of all that fire. I WILL make this again because it's tasty and low-fat, but next time I'll just put a pinch of crpf or cayenne. Thanks for creating such a healthy dish.

 

[Michelle from Central Time]

Changes: We skipped the shallots since we didn't have any, and used extra green beans. I forgot to double the canned items when I doubled the recipe, but I think the chickpeas were better this way, while the tomatoes would've been better at full proportion. I missed the sea salt and pepper since the instructions printed onto a second page and I was following that instead of looking at the ingredients list. Where *do* you add those in, anyway? Results: We both thought it was very good. Scanting the pepper flakes so they didn't overwhelm was a prudent move. I used the minimum on the vinegar, and that was about right for me after giving it time to "off-gas" since I am pretty sensitive to the smell of vinegar. I have never used nutritional yeast on anything but popcorn before, but it worked beautifully to make just a light tangy coating. Quantity: I would guess that doubling the recipe gave the two of us enough for maybe four meals as we don't tend to eat additional sides with pasta dishes.

 

[Cilantro in Canada]

I loved this dish, and it was easy to make. I was out of red pepper so I added frozen green peas and used a can of stewed tomatoes. I adjusted the seasonings for our tastes(less basil and red pepper flakes). I served it with pasta and later had it without the pasta as a snack. Both ways it tasted wonderful. Great meatless dinner. Thanks for the recipe.