Tonight I made this recipe for a healthy and light dinner, because last night we had leftover pasta with “beef” and wine…again. It’s full of veggies, and the lentils and mushrooms are packed with protein to leave you feeling satisfied. I used my Spiralizer for the first time to make the noodles, hooray no more buying them for $5 a container! I got my Spiralizer on Amazon for $13 and you can make as many veggie noodles as your heart desires. As a carbo-head, of course they’re not as delicious as pasta, but it saves you a lot of calories and it didn’t take long to make them. They were super long, so it made eating them a Lady and the Tramp experience, so next time I will be cutting them and squeezing out some of the water because they got a little watery when I added the sauce. I cooked them on a plate with some spray olive oil and microwaved them for 2 minutes or you can have them raw.

Lentil and Mushroom Bolognese Recipe

serves 4-5

1 tbsp evoo

4 zucchini, spiralized

10 oz. baby Bella mushrooms, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp tomato paste

28 oz can San Marzano peeled tomatoes

3 splashes of Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried basil

8 oz steamed lentils (TJ’s refrigerated section)

salt and pepper to taste

vegan parmesan (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan and add onion. While onion sautés, dice mushrooms about the same size as the onion and add to the pan.
2. Add the garlic and salt and pepper then stir until vegetables are cooked and the water from the mushrooms has released and started to evaporate.
3. Add the tomato paste and Worcestershire and cook for a minute or two, then add the spices to the pan and sauté until fragrant.
4. Dump the can of tomatoes into the pan and use your fingers to crush the tomatoes until you have a sauce.
5. Add half of the 1 lb package of steamed lentils into the pot and stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.
6. Spiralize the zucchini, spray with olive oil, and microwave for 2 minutes on high, squeeze out water so they’re not runny.
7. Top the zoodles with lentil bolognese and sprinkle with vegan parmesan.