The inspiration for this recipe was a rainbow pasta salad that I saw. I was inspired by the rainbow concept and wanted to do something healthy that included multicolored vegetables. Because I have type 1 diabetes, my mom encouraged me to think low carb. So I decided to use zucchini pasta instead of regular pasta noodles. The rainbow vegetables make up the sauce. The unique thing about my recipe is that it is vegan and uses lots of fresh herbs and vegetables to make a twist on traditional tomato
1. Using ¼ cup olive oil, sauté onions in a skillet, stirring occasionally until caramelized. Then add 1 teaspoon salt.
2. In a large saucepan add quartered tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt. Cook on medium and mash tomatoes as they cook. Add bay leaf.
3. Cut carrots, celery, beets, bell peppers, mushrooms and spinach in large chunks. Reserve about 1/4 cup of each colored bell pepper and dice finely.
4. De-stem and chop herbs if using fresh herbs.
5. Add carrots, celery, garlic, beetroots, and bell peppers, to caramelized onions. Sauté until softened. Transfer all contents into the tomato pot and stir.
6. In same skillet, sauté mushrooms, chopped spinach, and chopped beet greens (including stems) from the beets (about 2 cups). Transfer into tomato pot.
7. Stir in fresh herbs and allow sauce to simmer until you get desired thickness.
8. Blend sauce using an immersion blender or carefully transfer to blender. Taste. Add additional salt if needed.
9. While sauce simmers, use a spiralizer or knife to prepare zucchini into long shreds resembling noodles.
10. Lightly sauté zucchini in olive oil over medium heat. Then add reserved bell peppers to pan, season with salt and garlic powder to taste. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with Italian herb blend.
11. Spoon sauce over noodles and garnish with grated parmesan cheese (optional).