It’s taken me a while to feel inspired to cook spring recipes due to the move/renos and the on-again, off-again spring weather (ahem, fresh blanket of snow last week), but now I can say it finally feels like spring. Today also happens to be Earth Day which is even more reason to eat some plants. I love this time of the year and it’s been fun experiencing spring with a backyard again! Oh how I missed having a backyard. The tulips and daffodils are coming up, the frisky red squirrel is trying its best to take down our bird feeder, and Sketchie is sniffing the spring air through the screen door while the birds, bunnies, and squirrels drive him insane. It’s a good time of year.
Now that we’re starting to get settled into the new house, I’m finding my way back to the kitchen and away from the Indian food take-out menu (at least some of the time). The kitchen is slowly starting to feel like home, complete with fresh tea and vanilla extract stains on the laminate countertops (those were not designed for an avid cook, I tell you! ahhh) and the padded chef’s mat underneath my feet. Every time I cook in there, I get a bit more familiar with my new space and I find myself cursing less and less as I search for misplaced kitchen tools. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.
This recipe is an ultra-fresh take on pasta primavera – a spring vegetable pasta dish. Rather than relying on heavy pasta for a spring recipe, I decided to lighten things up with a fresh carrot “pasta”, which is simply julienned carrots. Obviously, the carrot pasta tastes nothing like actual pasta, but I promise you won’t miss it one bit! You’ll be feeling light and energized after eating this rather than sleepy and sluggish. I plan on making a seasonal summer version and a fall version to follow so keep your eyes peeled for those recipes later this year.
So what’s in this delightful spring dish? As per my usual style, it’s loaded with fresh vegetables. Leek, garlic, asparagus, and peas are sautéed with some pink salt, pepper, and olive oil. Ignore the snap peas in the photo above, I opted not to include them in this dish (but feel free to improvise if you’d like). Then I whipped up an incredible batch of pesto – my nut-free Sun-dried Tomato Basil Hemp Pesto adapted from the pesto in my cookbook. Kale can be used instead of basil if you prefer. It’s packed with protein thanks to the hemp seeds and it’s completely nut- and dairy-free without giving up that creamy, luxurious texture that makes pesto so great.
Once the vegetables are tender, I stir in the pesto. This is when things go from good to mind-blowing; a simple spring veggie sauté is transformed into something decadent. It’s one of those I-can’t-stop-eating-this-straight-from-the-skillet dishes. Hold me back! If you can share, it’s the perfect amount for two veggie-loving people – decadent but light, simple to make, and packed with veggies. I swear I felt the baby bust out a flutter kick dance recital after I ate it.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Glowing Green "Pasta" Primavera
Yield
2 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is my take on a lightened-up version of pasta primavera - a spring vegetable pasta dish. Rather than using pasta, I opted for fresh carrot pasta which is simply carrots that are julienned into very thin strand-like noodles. This is the julienne peeler that I use. The vegetables are coated with a decadent, but nut- and diary-free sun-dried tomato hemp pesto and it transforms this dish into something decadent and special.
Ingredients
FOR THE PRIMAVERA:
- 2-3 large carrots, peeled and julienned
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 leek, thinly sliced into rounds and rinsed off
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bunch asparagus, ends broken off and chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas.
SUN-DRIED TOMATO BASIL-HEMP PESTO:
- 1 small clove garlic
- 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1⁄4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1⁄4 cup hulled hemp seeds
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- Scant 1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt or pink Himalayan sea salt, or to taste
Directions
- With a julienne peeler, peel the carrots into thin, spaghetti-like strands. Cover with a damp tea towel or damp paper towel to avoid it drying out.
- Add oil to a large skillet or wok, and preheat over medium. Add sliced leek and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add a couple pinches of salt and several grounds of pepper.
- Add the asparagus to the skillet and saute for around 8 minutes more, until tender. Increase heat if necessary. Finally, stir in the peas and cook until heated throughout.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto. Add the garlic into a food processor and process until minced. Now add in the basil and sun-dried tomatoes and process again until smooth. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients and process again until combined and smooth.
- Stir all the pesto into the vegetable skillet mixture and cook until heated throughout. Season to taste.
- Serve the vegetable pesto mixture on top of the carrot pasta.
Tip:
Note: If you'd like to add more protein to this dish, I recommend French green lentils. Edamame would work nicely too.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Lastly, I’d like to pass on some new cookbook reviews and interviews from these lovely bloggers:
Kim @ Our Fresh Kitchen (interview)
Valerie @ Vbouv (multiple recipe reviews)
Melissa @ It’s Got Vegan In It (review)
Ari @ Abe’s Market (interview)
Bianca @ Vegan Crunk (review, recipe)
Lauren @ Lauren Lives Healthy (review)
Alex @ Vegetarian Snob (review, recipe, giveaway)
Jess @ The Wellness Warrior (interview)
Richa @ Vegan Richa (review, recipe)
If I missed any of your reviews please let me know and I’ll be sure to add them to my book page.
This is officially my favorite vegan recipe! I never thought I would like a recipe with JUST veggies!! (Especially carrots as the “pasta”)
The taste is just so delicious, I’m so happy I found this! Definitely a keeper!
I added garlic into the pesto, mmmm mmmm mmmmm!
Thank you so much for sharing and I can’t wait to try other recipes from this website!
I made this dish for my wife last night, and it was amazeballs!!! Seriously though.. Not to build it up too much, but we were thoroughly impressed, and I almost didn’t want to tell her how easy it was to prepare. It’s a keeper.
So happy to hear that Todd!
This was amazing! I loved the complexity of the green veggies together, and that pesto mixed in. Yum! I used a grater on my carrot and did a quick boil to heat them, but keep a crunch, and we loved it. Thanks for a great recipe.
I love this recipe so much and have made it for friends and family. l love to mix it up abit and add my favorites
Made a double batch of this recipe for the sis in law and my four year old niece, there were no leftovers! My niece loved having carrot “noodles” and claimed it was one of the best things she has eaten. I loved it as well, the sun-dried tomato basil hemp pesto was definitely my favorite part, oh and the leeks, so delicious! Will definitely make it again and recommend it to some of my friends, thanks Angela! :)
I was very surprised with the flavour of this dish. The pesto was truly delicious!! I am continually in awe of your creativity Angela, you are a genius!
I just put this into cronometer and it provides 15.2g of protein per serving (as well as being mega-rich in vitamins and minerals), which is just over 1/3 of the RDA for women in one very light meal. So no need to fret. Protein comes automatically. But if you can’t resist, I reckon green broad beans would be more Italian than edamame and just as delish.
Great recipe by the way. I’m a beginner learning to cook healthy meals for my parents, who are convenience food vegans. This site is a great resource for nutritious whole-foods meals.
I’ll probably serve this over normal pasta and cook the carrots slightly to soften them. Any tips on how to reduce the garlic? They are both haters. Is it essential to the flavour? What about keeping the garlic in the pesto, omitting the it from the primavera and replacing it with a small onion and some more Italian herbs like parsley or oregano?
Amazing! Love the addition of hemp seeds to the pesto.
I made it with buckwheat noodles. Was hoping for leftovers, unfortunately that didn’t happen.
Hi my fiancé is allergic to hemp seed. Can I replace it with something else?
Thanks for these wonderful recipes.
I tried the Glowing Green Pasta Primavera and everybody loved it. Easy to prepare and will make this again.
I could not find hemp seeds so I used roasted unsalted sunflower seeds for the pesto. And I added chopped fresh mushrooms to the primavera. It was delicious.
I just made this and had to come on here and post something about it. IT WAS AMAZING!! I didn’t even use a blender for the sauce, just added the ingredients at the end… sans the hemp seeds, was fresh out of hemp. But it still came out so amazing. The taste… And the colors… And the…EVERYTHING!
Even my husband, a very non-vegan was amazed at the taste. I had to give him mine and came another for me.
I cut the veggies in half for a single portion but made the sauce with the amount it called for… Worked out great!
Such a good dish, I’ve made it now three times and without fail! Today am trying it with frozen corn as there was a shortage at the grocery store. Putting it on quinoa with some baked yams… yum!
This mock-pasta is my favorite of all of your recipe! I have probably made it a dozen times. It’s pretty much perfect.
Even though it is packed full of fresh veggie goodness it comes together quickly with little prep work and cooks up in a flash. It works very well with seasonal substitutions of pretty much any kind. The pesto can be made ahead of time and freezes well for an even quicker fix.
This dish leaves me feeling sated but not too full or gross and pleases even the meat eaters in my life. Hubs used to fry himself a sausage on the side with it, but now he says this is perfect as is.
I made this last night. The flavors were out of this world!! I had a carrot juice for breakfast so decided to use this bag of black bean pasta instead. The pasta got in the way of the sauce though. Next time I’ll use the carrots or zucchini. Sauce was amazing! I will double the recipe so I’ll have leftovers. Thanks!!!
I really liked this, well everyone did. I didn’t use spiralized veggies I used real pasta and it was awesome. I made it exactly as written.
I just discovered your website last week while browsing for a recipe for raw energy balls. I have been browsing your website ever since! I fed my kids & my sister the crispy quinoa cakes and it was popular. I had to make a second batch!
I started 2015 with a cleanse and a decision to move towards a plant based diet. Being new to this, what’s the difference between hemp hearts and hulled hemp seeds?
I also wanted to add that I am so happy to see that you are Canadian! “Canadian girls kick a–!”
Thanks for your website.
A
I used hulled hemp seeds. It was the only thing that my local health food store carried.
Just made this for the first time. Could not get enough of that pesto! It’s amazing and super easy! Thank you!
Absolutely Ah-May-Zing! I loved it and so did my carnivore husband. So delicious!
This is an amazing veg dish – I make it without the “pasta” and since I can’t eat peas, I sub in brussel sprouts (about 1/2 lb) which I cook with the leek and garlic. So great! Love the pesto recipe too!