Pasta with Garlic Cream Sauce

This recipe is EPIC because it is sinful, or what some of us might consider a sinful meal because it's creamy and fatty and full of carbs. But the best part about it is no babies were stolen from their mothers so the milk could be used for the butter and milk in this recipe. It's cruelty-free and, yep, it's high fat but the fat source is coconut and healthy oils so I didn't worry about it as I was noshing. Did I mention my cholesterol numbers are in the super healthy range ever since I went vegan?

I don't usually buy butter at all even though when I make pancakes, I do kinda wish I had some. I don't buy it because I just don't really need it when I have healthy oils around;  Earth Balance buttery spread it just a combination of healthy oils and a couple more ingredients. I bought it for this recipe, though, and it puts such a lovely flavor in the sauce. I saw this recipe on either HuffPo or The New York Times website and since I couldn't remember which, I couldn't use it as a reference (I googled it and still could not find the exact article). It was for a creamy pasta dish that used heavy cream and lemons and butter. It was super easy to veganize so I was all set. I put off getting butter until the last minute and then none of the fruit carts near me had lemons or any good looking lemons so I had to leave the lemon out. Conclusion: I made it into a creamy garlic sauce and it did not disappoint.

The vegan version of heavy cream is full fat coconut milk; it tastes like coconut but it isn't a strong taste so it works. Coconut has medium chain fatty acids and some studies show that these fatty acids are actually good for your cardiovascular system. I have no idea what is up with coconut fat, I have read so many conflicting reports about it, some say coconut is super healthy, others say it needs to be limited and a very small part of your diet. All I know is that I have my cholesterol checked once a year and it never really fluctuates. Once year I ate alot of coconut for weeks before I had my blood test and expected my cholesterol to be high and it wasn't. I would say, though, everything in moderation does a body good. I stopped buying canned coconut milk for a few months and now I purchased a few cans over the last few days. Life is about balance. What have you heard about coconut? Do you try to limit your consumption?

I haven't cooked alot of pasta dishes lately at all because it's kind of a trigger food. I don't (won't?) measure it out and therefore consume too much. I usually eat too much olive oil with it and I add a ton of spices and then I'm bloated and full. I eat more whole grains like brown rice, instead. This dish was a treat and it was great, check it out!

1 cup of pasta, cooked
2 tbsp of vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
1/2 cup of light coconut milk
2 tsp of sea salt
2 tsp of lemon pepper
2 cloves of fresh garlic

Cook the pasta, I used spaghetti, regular spaghetti, no gluten-free or whole wheat. Chop the fresh garlic into tiny pieces and add it along with the butter to a small pan and turn the heat on low-medium low. The butter should crackle a little bit and the garlic should be tender and a little brown. DON'T put the heat on high, cook the butter and garlic slowly! Add the milk, sea salt and lemon pepper and stir. Once the pasta is done, drain it and transfer to a bowl. Pour the garlic cream sauce over the pasta and serve immediately.

Notes: add juice from two lemons to give it a citrus kick. Add nutritional yeast or vegan parm for extra flavor.

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