This dish has all the flavor components to spell “yummy”: whole grain pasta, fresh tomatoes, kale, peas and beans! Vary the amounts of peas and beans to your liking.  With a little bit of prep work, it comes together very quickly. I like it for dinner, but it’s also very tasty as a pasta salad for lunch  the next day.

Serves 3-4

Prep Time: 25 minutes   Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups dry whole grain pasta (I recommend rotini)

2 cups (tightly) packed kale, stripped of its’ thick stems and chopped into bite sized pieces (I recommend lacinato kale)

2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 Tbsp. sun-dried tomatoes (NOT packed in oil, no-sulfites added), cut into ½ “ pieces (kitchen scissors work very well), soaked in warm water

1 shallot, minced

1/8 tsp. hot pepper flakes

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

½ tsp. of dried basil

½ cup of frozen peas, thawed (or more to taste)

½ cup of cooked cannellini beans (or more to taste)

1-2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinegar

¼ cup of fresh parsley, minced

Fresh pepper to taste

Directions

• Soak sun-dried tomatoes in warm water until plump. Drain, but save soaking water.
• In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions. Do not rinse
• While pasta is cooking, steam kale until “al dente”. Depending on your steaming method, this can take anywhere from 4 to 8 minutes. (I use my electric pressure cooker and steam for 4 minutes, with quick pressure release)
• Heat a large sauté pan to medium-high. Add shallots and hot pepper flakes and dry sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add a little (soaking) water, if shallots start to stick too much.
• Add garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
• Add fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and dried basil. Cook until the fresh tomatoes start to break up and resemble a very chunky sauce , approx. 4-5 minutes.
• Add 1-2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinegar, cook until liquid is slightly reduced.
• Add kale, beans and peas, combine well.
• Add pasta, stir to combine and let cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
• Add parsley and fresh pepper, stir to combine and serve. Enjoy!

 Notes

To save time , you can steam the kale ahead of cooking the dish, as well as  soaking the sun-dried tomatoes.