Spaghetti with Beans and Tomato Sauce

What's your favorite pasta sauce? For me, I tend to like tomato-based sauces more than, say, the creamy or oily types. At the very least, tomato sauces are what I like on my spaghetti.

Spaghetti with beans #tomato_sauce.  Click For Recipe

I don't mind buying off-the-shelf brands like Ragu, Prego, or Newman's. But from time to time, I get the urge to make my own sauce. I don't really have a set recipe. Most of the time, I just go by feel and taste, mixing up whatever herbs and spices I could find in the cupboard and vegetable in the refrigerator. The way I see it, as long as I have a can of tomato soup, tomato paste, olive oil, and cheese, I'll be able to whip up some sort of tomato sauce for spaghetti.

This sauce, if I recall, served 4 and was made with the following:
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 tomatoes (cut up in chunks)
  • 1 cup beans
  • 1/2 cup good olive oil
  • 1 can tomato soup, undiluted
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 cup water
  • paprika and other seasoning of choice
Directions are simple:  Saute onion and garlic in 3 tsps olive oil until translucent. Then, add the rest of the ingredients and season to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Much like most of my meals in the past few years, this one is vegetarian. I'm not saying that I don't eat meat because I still do, e.g. bbq ribs. It's just that I like to keep an eye to eating healthier meals. Instead of meatballs, I keep beans in mind as a good alternative for meat and a source of protein. Some sources even say that beans also provide our body's much needed dietary fiber whereas meat do not. Couple that with the Vitamin C and antioxidants you get from the tomatoes, I'd say that this sauce is pretty healthy.

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