Veggie Kale Pesto Pasta

We have a variety of exciting veggies this week from BaltimOrganic's Farm. I was looking at the list wondering how to make something relatively simple and tasty. If you don't know this already...I follow a vegan diet and recently I have taken out most wheat products (it seemed to just happen that way) but this is another topic. Basically what I'm saying is you can adapt these recipes to your diet and liking.

This is what I came up with for this week, Give it a shot.... You can use whatever shape pasta you like.




What you'll need from your bag:

-Kale (2 cups)
-Garlic (2 cloves)
-Squash (2-3)
-Eggplant (2)

What else you'll need:

-Pine nuts (2/3 cup)
-Nutritional Yeast (if going vegan pesto) (2 Tbsp.)
-Olive Oil (~1/2 cup)
-Lemon (1)
-Pasta (thin noodles like angel hair or bowtie or whatever) You can get all kinds of gluten free pasta!

What's next, prepare the veggies:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Slice the squash and eggplant in half rounds that have some thickness to them but not too chunky
-Combine them in a bowl and spray with olive oil (do you have one of the olive oil sprayers?, they are awesome) or drizzle the oil over the veggies. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to combine
-Place the veggies on a sheet or roasting pan and place in the over at 400 for about 15-20 minutes. Check on them about half way through to see how they are progressing- no burnt squash!

Then...:

-Cook your pasta
-Drain and set aside when done. Spray lightly and toss with olive oil so it doesn't stick together while sitting

Make the pesto...:

-In a food processor or blender combine: 2 cups of kale, 2 garlic cloves, 2 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast, 2/3 cup pine nuts, 3-4 Tbsp. Olive Oil (good stuff), 2 Tsp. lemon juice, salt and pepper, Then puree until smooth. If it's too chunky add more lemon juice or olive oil. NOTE: you may not need to use all the pesto- depending on the quantity of pasta...

Finally:

-Place a large pan over medium heat and add a good amount of pesto.
-Add and stir in the pasta slowly to evenly distribute the pesto- add more pesto if needed
-Once the proper ratio of pasta/pesto has been reached stir in the roasted veggies
-Spruce it up with red chili peppers, more nutritional yeast, tomatoes, pine nuts, or whatever you like...

Enjoy