Vegan Hummus and Vegetable Pasta

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A quick meal with protein-rich pasta, seasonal vegetables, and creamy hummus. Roast your vegetables ahead of time for this dish to come together in a flash.

Vegan Hummus and Vegetable Pasta

We go through a lot of hummus. Like a lot of it. I’m not sure who thought small containers of hummus should be a thing because let’s be real, that’s enough hummus for like four carrots.

If you’re ever tired of red sauce, hummus makes a fun alternative in this seasonal pasta dish. I might judge you if you can’t have another night of marinara, but I get it. It’s good to switch things up a bit.

I suggest roasting a huge batch of vegetables for the week so that all you have to do is boil the pasta. I love Trader Joe’s lentil spaghetti, but any protein-rich pasta would be great.

Once your pasta is cooked to your liking, drain the pasta, reserving about half a cup of pasta water. Add the pasta back to the pot, add the juice of one lemon (or less if you don’t want a lot of tang), about 8 oz of hummus (more or less depending on how creamy you want it), and your roasted veggies. Give it a nice big stir. Top with pine nuts, parsley, basil, or red pepper flakes.

What’s fun about this meal is that you can switch up all the variables. Change your vegetables, pasta shape, and hummus flavor. This go-round, I used cherry tomatoes, asparagus, red onion, and brocoletti. Zucchini and yellow squash would also be a great combo.

Let me know if you try it!

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Vegan Hummus and Vegetable Pasta

A quick meal with protein-rich pasta, seasonal vegetables, and creamy hummus. Roast your vegetables ahead of time for this dish to come together in a flash.

Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Keyword 30-Minute Meal, Dinner, Quick Meal

Ingredients

  • Roasted Vegetables Pick whatever you want!
  • Pasta I used Trader Joe’s lentil spaghetti
  • 1/3 cup Reserved Pasta Water
  • 8 oz Hummus
  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice More or less depending on how tangy you want it
  • Pine nuts, red pepper flakes, fresh herbs Optional

Instructions

  1. Roast your vegetables at 400. I chose red onion, asparagus, brocoletti, and cherry tomatoes.

  2. Cook pasta according to package instructions. I used Trader Joe’s lentil spaghetti, but you can use any high-protein pasta you desire. Reserve about 1/2 cup of your pasta water to help make your sauce extra creamy.

  3. Dump the cooked pasta back into the pot. Add the reserved pasta water, lemon juice, hummus, and roasted vegetables. Stir until everything is combined.

  4. Top with pine nuts, red pepper flakes, or fresh herbs.

Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash

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Another easy throw-together meal where proportions really don’t matter. I used acorn squash, but this stuffing would also be great with butternut or kabocha squash.

Before I launch into this dish, can we please talk about how early the sun sets these days? It’s making picture-taking quite difficult for this amateur blogger, so please excuse the dark photos. However, I’m not here to show you National Geographic-level food pictures; I’m here to deliver delicious recipes that I promise taste better than they sometimes look.

So, with my apologies for less-than-stellar food photos, I’m beyond excited to share this one with you. Like a lot of my dishes, this one came together based off of what I knew I already had. Since my parents were in town,I knew it was the perfect time to use up the four Imperfect Produce acorn squashes I had hibernating in my pantry. Between the pomegranate seeds, toasted pine nuts, and tarragon, all the flavors blend together to make this one extremely tasty dish. Everyone went back for seconds, and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers!

As you know from a lot of my recipes, I don’t actually measure my ingredients. When I’m making something like this where you can’t go wrong with proportions, I just dump everything together. The other added bonus of making a vegan dish is that you can taste as you go. Did that spoonful not have a single pomegranate seed? Can’t find a pine nut? Great, add some more.

I knew I wanted a good chewy grain as the substance of my stuffing. While scoping out my grain options at Trader Joes, I landed on theBrown Rice Medley, which is a blend of long grain brown rice, black barley, and radish seeds. With the crucial rice decision out of the way, I knew I had some leftoverInstant Pot chickpeas, pomegranate seeds, sautéed onion, spinach, and tarragon.This recipe is extremely customizable, so look at some substitution ideas in the recipe below. Don’t be afraid to make this dish just because you’re missing a listed ingredient.

I suggest roasting the squash halves before you stuff them just to speed up cooking time. Any extra stuffing can fit snuggly around the squash in the casserole dish. If you try out these squash, leave a comment letting me know what you thought!

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Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash

Another easy throw-together meal where proportions really don’t matter. I used acorn squash, but this stuffing would also be great with butternut or kabocha squash.
Course Dinner, Main Course
Keyword Chickpea, Dinner, Quick Meal, Stuffed Squash

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • Acorn squash can also use butternut or kabocha
  • Chickpeas cannellini or lentils would also be good
  • Brown rice medley or any other grain
  • Fresh spinach cut
  • Onion diced and sautéed
  • Pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries
  • Fresh tarragon cut (can substitute fresh/dry basil or thyme)
  • Pine nuts toasted
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: balsamic glaze drizzle

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut the squash in half and discard the seeds. You can roast those separately if you want. 

  2. Line a cookie sheet with foil or a silpat mat. Lightly oil the lined cookie sheet with oil. Place the squash halves cut side down.

  3. Bake for about 30 minutes or until you can poke the squash with a fork.

  4. Combine all the other ingredients (except for the balsamic glaze) in a bowl. 

  5. Once the squash is done cooking, move them to a casserole. Stuff them, letting the extra stuffing fall around the squash. 

  6. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until everything is heated through.

  7. Once cooked, drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Quinoa and Lentil Buddha Bowl with Lemon Tahini Sauce

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Throw together this super simple bowl for weekday lunches. The combination of sweet and tangy keeps you coming back for more!

Do you ever have a meal that just exceeds all expectations? Like you knew it was going to be edible, but maybe not anything to write home about? And then it turns out to be love at first bite and you cry a little when you realize your bowl is empty? This bowl is one of those meals. When I took inventory of my fridge, I had cauliflower and broccoletti from my Imperfect Produce box that I needed to use up and some cooked quinoa and lentils that I had to either eat or freeze. The Imperfect pomegranate seeds staring back at me helped bring my vision to light.

Lentils are one of my favorite sources of protein. They’re versatile, soak up any sauce, and provide excellent sources of fiber, iron, protein, potassium, and B vitamins. I suggest buying Trader Joe’s pre-cooked lentils for the convenience factor, but you can also boil your own. While we’re talking about convenience, splurge on the $4 pomegranate seeds. You won’t regret it for two reasons: 1) even using tricks to make de-seeding a pomegranate supposedly painless, it’s never a pleasant experience; and 2) pomegranate seeds take this dish to a whole new level. I’m usually all for substitutions, but do not leave out these little sour bursts of flavor.

This is one of those meals that works great to just book a big batch of everything, and then freeze what you don’t eat. Roast your vegetables, cook your quinoa, and cook your lentils if you’re making those from scratch. While everything is roasting and cooking away, stir together the three sauce ingredients. You may need to add a tiny bit of water to thin it out, but be careful not to add too much. No one likes a watery sauce. Taste as you go. You might want to add a dash of salt, more lemon juice, or more maple syrup to get the sauce exactly to your liking.

Once everything is prepped, start throwing your ingredients in a bowl. Top with those special red seeds and cilantro, and dig in! Comment below if you try making this!

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Quinoa and Lentil Buddha Bowl with Lemon Tahini Sauce

Throw together this super simple bowl for weekday lunches. The combination of sweet and tangy keeps you coming back for more!
Course Dinner, lunch, Main Course
Keyword 30-Minute Meal, Lentil, Quick Meal, Quinoa, Vegan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • Broccoletti
  • Cauliflower
  • Lentils
  • Quinoa
  • Pomegranate seeds
  • Cilantro

Lemon Tahini Sauce:

  • 4 T tahini
  • 1 T maple syrup
  • 1 lemon juiced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375oF. Cut your broccoletti and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet with a silpat mat or foil. Roast for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.

  2. Prepare your quinoa by following the instructions on the back of the package. If you are preparing lentils, do the same.

  3. Stir together all ingredients for the sauce. Add water to thin. Add salt or additional syrup or lemon juice to achieve your desired taste.

  4. Combine the vegetables, lentils, and quinoa in a bowl. Top with the sauce, pomegranate seeds, and cilantro. 

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