I am eagerly anticipating spring. I do miss the luxury of walking out into the garden to pick our fresh herbs and veggies for the day as I describe in this post, The Garden Bounty. Until then, I rely on some hardy herbs that survived the snow, local farmer’s markets, and organic produce from the grocery store.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, nutrient density is my priority when feeding the kids and myself! Every bite that you take can either build you up or break you down.
These are noodles are a high-quality source of fiber and protein with only one ingredient, organic red lentil flour.
I consider the noodles in this dish to be a delivery method for the real star of the show, the veggie sauce! I do consider it to be the best delivery method possible for the kiddos.
One of the ways I am able to consistently deliver nutrient-dense meals to my family is by planning and sourcing the highest quality ingredients, preparing all at home, and stretching them using leftovers as I describe here, How to use your leftovers!
In fact, I even used leftover veggies to build the sauce: I had leftover tomato, red beet, celery, and bell pepper from salad prep from the day before.
How to build the sauce:
Fresh herbs add a big punch of polyphenols and nutrients. Adding fresh herbs to a sauce also helps develop broad palates, which is super helpful for picky eaters.
I use 1/2 steamed (above) and 1/2 steamed (below) veggies for this sauce. It is cold and flu season so I added A LOT of garlic and red onion. The raw lemon also adds a bit of vitamin C.
I added the veggies in batches along with some of the cooking liquid to my Vitamix.
Each batch had 1/2 raw and 1/2 cooked veggies. I reserved some of the extra steamed veggies for salad toppers for the week. Remember from this post, Mommy Hack: Make the most of your time in the kitchen (3 recipes) always make the most of your time in the kitchen.
Add each batch to a large bowl and then stir well to combine. While the veggies are steaming, cook your noodles. When the noodles are cooked, rinse them with cold water until completely cool.
To assemble for school lunches
I heat the sauce in the morning in a small saucepan along with the noodles. Use a good quality thermos and it should stay warm all day. Sometimes I add ground organ meat, pastured pork, or even wild-caught tuna. I added ground venison to this batch. But, it is just as yummy plain.
I hope you enjoy this fabulous garden sauce. A couple more months and I will be sharing more garden-inspired recipes!