Spicy "Vodka" Pasta

Happy 2017!

This 5-ingredient, healthy, spicy, "Vodka" pasta is DELICIOUS and provides you with 5 check marks on Dr Greger's Daily Dozen*! I wanted to add flaxseed and white beans for 2 more, but my hubby, said not to change it. Don't tell him, but feel free to add those ingredients :)

Here's a fun link: Top 10 Videos on NutritionFacts.org! Fun fact: I am in the audience in the #1 video! How cool is that?! Can you spot me?

This is SO simple, HEALTHY, and addictingly, delicious! I once read somewhere that in the 70s Vodka Pasta was prepared table-side in a fancy New York City restaurant!

When my hubby and I met, HE was the COOK! This was the first dish he made for me, and we ate it countless times in the almost 2 years that we dated! He even made the night we were engaged! SMILE. Warm, fuzzy memories!

Originally, he made it with HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM, yikes! Over the years, we gradually converted the recipe from NOT healthy, to quite the opposite! It is exactly as DELICIOUS!

No cream, oil, vodka, or salt.

Healthy Spicy Vodka Pasta

Spicy Vodka Pasta
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
½ tsp crushed red pepper
3.5 c crushed tomatoes (28 oz can)
1 lb whole wheat pasta**
1/4 c cashews (or cashew butter)

1 c water or unsweetened plant milk

(to decrease fat content use 2 Tbsp cashews and 1/2 cup water) 

Heat a pan large enough to hold all ingredients. Sauté garlic and pepper in the hot pan with just a little bit of water, adding more when needed. Cook just until garlic turns golden but does not brown, 1 or 2 min. Add crushed tomatoes. Stir to blend, and simmer, uncovered, until sauce begins to thicken (at least 15 min, the longer the better). Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta, add pasta to sauce, and toss. Blend cashews or cashew butter with water (for nuts use high-power blender), then add this cream to pasta. Toss once more. Let rest for a few minutes so pasta can absorb sauce. Leftovers of this dish taste even better, if there are any!

*OK, so regarding Dr Greger's Daily Dozen Check marks, ALL ingredients help you make check marks (other vegetables, nuts, spices, whole grains, and beverages)! That's 5, and if you have a nice side of broccoli, and mix some flaxseed and white beans into your pasta, you can add 3 more!

**Click HERE for some great pasta alternatives!

COMMENTS: Do you remember the first meal you ever ate with your partner? On our first date, Mike introduced me to Indian food! I fell immediately in love with HIM, and Indian food! Isn't it exciting to discover a new food?