Cue those cozy weekend lunch vibes! I made a vegan Kale Basil Almond pesto, liberally tossed it into ‘EatBanza’ chickpeas pasta, and added steamed edamame into it.
If you can find Eat Banza near you, do try. They’re a healthier alternative to regular pasta, still comforting like regular pasta, just more nutritiously balanced.
Delightfully healthful comfort food with no compromise on taste! Give this pesto pasta a try.
Ingredients for the Pesto:
1 cup kale (I use just the regular curly kale)
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup roasted unsalted almonds
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
a few tbsps water (if necessary to make the pesto thinner)
Method:
Place the kale, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Grind until smooth, use 1-2 tbsp water if necessary to loosen the mixture.
Add the measured almonds, and extra virgin olive oil. Pulse or grind until it’s a coarse puree. You still want to retain some of the crunch of the almonds, and not make it too smooth.
The pesto is ready to serve. You can toss it with pasta, drizzle as a salad dressing, use as a sandwich spread, serve with crackers, mix it into soups, I mean the uses are limitless! 🙂
Today, I used it in a simple pasta dish.
Ingredients for the pasta:
serves 4
1 box ‘eat banza’ pasta
1 cup prepared kale basil pesto (recipe above)
2-3 tbsps nutritional yeast (this provides a cheese flavor while keeping it vegan. You could use vegetarian parmesan, to make this dish vegetarian)
1/2 cup edamame (I used frozen shelled edamame, thawed to room temperature)
1 tsp olive oil
a pinch of salt
Method:
Bring a large pasta pot filled with water to a rolling boil, over high heat. Salt the water, and add the pasta in. Cook the pasta per box instructions, ~4-6 minutes. Remember to stir the pasta a few times while cooking. Drain and set aside.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat with 1 tsp olive oil. Toss the thawed edamame in with a pinch of salt, and saute for 3-4 minutes until cooked. Set the edamame aside. Alternatively, you could also simply steam the edamame.
In a large mixing bowl, place a cup of kale basil pesto. Add the cooked pasta. Add the cooked edamame. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast (to make it vegetarian, use vegetarian parmesan cheese).
Toss this all together thoroughly.
This beautiful pasta is ready to serve!
1 comment
Great post 😊