Mung Beans Pasta

I usually avoid eating pasta because without the addition of meat and cheese, most pasta dishes have too much carbohydrate and too little protein. That is until I discovered mung beans pasta. These gems are gluten free and are made with organic green mung beans and give 20 gms of protein for one serving. Unbelievable for a vegetarian pasta dish. The texture is a little different from wheat pasta but they soak up sauce nicely and with the addition of a lot of vegetables, they taste as good as a conventional pasta.

Mung Beans Pasta - 1 cup or 3 oz, ( I used Organic Gluten Free Mung Beans Fettuchini)
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Ginger - 1 inch, cut into juliennes
Garlic - 4 cloves, thinly sliced
Carrot - 1, cut into 2 inch long thin strips
Green beans - 10, cut into 2 inch long thin strips
Broccoli florets - a handful, cut into thin long florets
Frozen Green Peas - a handful
Tomato Sauce / Ketchup - 1 tbsp
Low Sodium Gluten Free Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp
Red Chili Flakes - 1/2 tsp
Serves 2

Mix tomato sauce, soy sauce and red chili flakes together and keep aside. Alternatively, instead of a tomato based sauce we can make a sauce by mixing 1 tbsp of tahini and 1 tbsp of soy sauce and chili flakes.

Add the pasta to 4 cups of boiling water (add a little salt just before adding the pasta) and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes until they are cooked through.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a wok. It is ideal to time the cooking in this way so that the vegetables are crisply cooked just when the pasta is done. Then the pasta can be directly mixed to the vegetables instead of draining it and keeping it aside for sometime which may turn it mushy.

 Add a tbsp of olive oil to the heated wok and immediately add the ginger and garlic. Cook for a few seconds and add  the rest of the vegetables. Add a little salt and saute on high flame till the vegetables are just cooked but still crisp.

Using a skimmer, remove the pasta from the boiling water and add directly to the wok. Pour the tomato soy sauce mixture on top and mix well. Cook for a minute and remove from heat.

Serve immediately.

Sending this recipe to My Legume Love Affair hosted by Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook.