Vegan/Gluten Free Pasta w Veggies

This is my second Veggie Valentine's post. If any of you have read my recent post about It's time for a change, you'll know I'm some what interested in changing my diet. Right now about the only meat I am eating is chicken. I've been doing my research and reading books about living a healthy life style. I enjoy reading other woman's healthy blogs too. Some people get it, some don't. It's just a choice I've decided I want to make, and yes I know it will take time. I'm the kind of girl that used to eat fast food, junk, chips, and processed crap all the time. Oh, and lots of sugar, with hardly any vegetables or fruits in my diet. I decided I have to put that behind me and start caring about my body. Don't try and steer me to thinking other wise, this is something I am very strongly opinionated on. If you care and have read what I have you'd probably feel the same. It's just nasty what goes into certain foods and how they are grown. It sickens me. This is for me and my future children! :) Anyways, I'm rambling again..it's easy to do when I'm talking about food. So on to my first ever vegan/gluten free recipe. I found this recipe over at Clean Eating Chelsey . If you haven't checked out her blog before, you need to do it now. She's from Chicago like me and most of her recipes are vegan/gluten free, unless other wise noted. She's got some amazing recipes from breakfast to dinner, and snacks in between. She also has an amazing blogroll of all the blogs she loves, which I've also found a lot of blogs I can follow through her. She's part of my inspiration to leading a healthier lifestyle. With all those options and all those recipes! So on to the recipe. I have changed a few things from her. I'll give you my version and make sure to check hers out as well!

Vegan/GF Pasta

1 1/2 C of Brown rice pasta (I use a brand called Tinkyada, I can't even tell it's gf!, I have found this at whole foods)
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
1 batch of cream sauce this is over at Chelsey's site..check it out it's yummy!
1/2 Zucchini, sliced
1/2 Green pepper
1/2 Red pepper
Broccoli (use as much as you'd like!)
1 Carrot
Basil
S+P to taste
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
Boil your salt water. I always put a small handful of kosher or sea salt in my pasta for flavor. Cook your pasta according to directions. When cooking gluten free pasta, be sure not to over cook or it gets soggy quick. I've also noticed that these Tinkyada noodles stick easily, so make sure you stir them right away and quite a bit. I really have found that these Tinkyada brand noodles are the best gluten free noodles out there. You can find them at whole foods..I haven't purchased them anywhere else yet so I'm not sure who carries them and who doesn't. I've had gluten free noodles before and some can be very unappetizing. Tinkyada is good. While your pasta is cooking saute veggies until soft in a heated saute pan with 1tblsp olive oil. I just sauteed mine for about 5-10 minutes. My peppers still had a bit of a crunch, but I didn't want to saute them to death. Set veggies aside and prepare cream sauce. I'm not a huge fan of dijon mustard, so instead I used ground mustard. I also never measure my seasonings, I just add them to taste! Nutritional Yeast can be found at Whole Foods as well, I've also only bought this at Whole Foods. It comes in a pretty big container, and it also has some vitamins in it. You can look it up online if you are confused about anything. It's just a powder vegans use to add a cheesy/nutty flavor. After you're pasta is done cooking, drain and add to veggies, add your cream sauce and throw together. Heat it up before serving. Add fresh cut basil to the top and enjoy! I really enjoyed my first vegan gluten free dish!

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