Pasta with White Bean Sauce and Spinach

I have seen a few recipes on the internet lately that use white beans as a base for pasta sauce. There is a great one here and another here. I have mixed beans and pasta before, but loved the idea of blending the beans into a sauce.

Here is my version. Between the beans and the spinach, and the whole grain pasta....you have a very healthy meal.

Pasta with White Sauce and Spinach

Ingredients:

16 oz whole grain pasta

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

1 15.8 oz can can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup plain unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Wash and chop the spinach.

Put the spinach at the bottom of a colander and drain the cooked pasta over it to wilt the spinach. Then rinse the pasta and spinach with cold water to stop the cooking.

To make the sauce, put all the sauce ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. This is the beans, soy milk, nutritional yeast, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic powder and salt.

Return the pasta and the sauce to the pan that you boiled the pasta in, and stir to combine. Heat over low until it is warmed through.

For 8 servings. Nutritional information from caloriecount.about.com.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 146 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 287 Calories from Fat 39

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 4.3g 7%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 351mg 15%

Potassium 297mg 8%

Total Carbohydrates 53.4g 18%

Dietary Fiber 5.7g 23%

Sugars 1.6g

Protein 10.1g

Vitamin A 14% • Vitamin C 4% Calcium 3% • Iron 34%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet