HLife | Healthy Living Redefined

Image by Jesse Wight

In our home you will only find freshly made tomato sauce.  For us, there is no such thing as buying it ready-made. In my mind, that doesn’t exist. I used to be allergic to tomato sauce all the time until I discovered that, it was not the tomato sauce per se, but bottled, pre-made, store bought varieties that gave me allergic reactions, not the homemade sauces. I make every sauce we eat right before we serve it, whether pesto, vegan alfredo, marinara, salad dressings…ALL from scratch. Not only do they actually taste amazing and way better then any bottle or restaurant kind (meaning there is tons of flavor,) but they are also quick to make, healthy and alkaline.  The more alkaline (less acidic) tomatoes you use, the better flavor you will get and the better digestion you will have. That’s why I only buy local, organic heirloom tomatoes. Sorry, but conventional tomatoes taste like anything but what a tomato should taste like. And, please, do yourself and your body a favor and stir clean from anything with the word  “canned” as part of its description. This recipe, with the right, alkaline tomatoes, is DIVINE.

The recipe is gluten-free and takes us as long to make as it takes to boil our noodles  (15 minutes, including waiting for the water to boil first.)  We only use two kinds of pasta: quinoa fettuccine, or a quinoa/brown rice spaghetti combo. Both are organic.  Our favorite spaghetti noodle is the quinoa/brown rice combo by a company called Andean Dream.  We buy it at Whole Foods or Erewhon.

Boil a large pot of filtered water with some sea salt and stir the noodles in. Quinoa noodles will usually cook in 12 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent clusters.  While the noodles cook, let’s make our sauce:  Core the two heirloom tomatoes, cut them in four and put them in a blender.  Add the cashews, water and parsley. If you don’t have parsley and have basil instead, use that.  Blend all these ingredients well at high speed or food processing speed.  Dice the onions and garlic (remember to always take the germ out of the garlic, as that is the part that causes stomach aches.)  Put a large pan under high heat and add the olive oil.  Add the onions and sauté  for 3 minutes or until golden.  Bring the heat down to medium high and add the garlic, salt, and black pepper. Mix and sauté ingredients well until onions are translucent.  Then, add the tomato/cashew blend into the pan and mix well with the rest of the ingredients. Add the cayenne pepper and a little more sea salt, to taste.  Put a lid on the pan and let it simmer for about 4 minutes, then turn the burner off.  For garlic lovers: Add a bit of garlic powder into the sauce. The noodles should be ready by now and you have two options: 1) Grab the noodles with a pair of tongs, put them in the sauce pan, and mix, or 2) Rinse noodles, serve on plate, then pour the sauce on top. Suggestion: Sprinkle chopped parsley or basil on top.  VOILA, ENJOY!

Nutrition: Quinoa is an exceptional grain that contains a complete set of amino acids. For more nutritional information, please refer to our HFood posts on Cashews and Heirloom Tomatoes. For a little kick of flavor and B Vitamins, you may also sprinkle some nutritional yeast.