roasted red pepper + kale pili pesto

do you remember early release days from school; weren't those the greatest?

friday was an early release day for me; originally i was suppose to take anna to the groomers

but our groomer was out sick on friday

so what was a girl to do with an extra 4 hours on a friday

make a pretty rad pesto- that's what

i am absolutely head over heals in love with this pesto

the taste, texture and color can't be beat

to top off my adventurous friday afternoon, i tossed my pesto with tofu noodles

after hearing the good, the bad & the ugly about these odd smelling noodles i decided to try them out for myself; after getting over the smell <insert gag noise>

 and preparing them according to the directions , they actually were pretty tasty

organic red kale

(which i call purple kale, maybe the farmer was color blind when naming this variety of kale)

raw Polynesian pili nuts

&

California roasted red peppers

are combined with a bit of salt into a lovely pesto

the pili nuts, in case you are curious were found on the raw food world site; I am sure you could substitute any type of nut that you fancy or have on hand

since i have a mini food processor i made mine in 3 batches

if you have a big boy throw it all in there and go to town

from start to finish you will have yourself a great little lunch in about 10 minutes

for a little added freshness i topped my tofu pasta pesto mix with some sprouts

super tasty



trust me, you won't be disappointed if you make this

you could also add a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice

you know what, i am thinking that would be pretty good next time around

note to self; squeeze of lemon juice= brilliant idea

this recipe makes about 3 cups worth of pesto

perfect for batch cooking as this pesto freezes well

for those of you growing a garden this year, definitely keep this recipe in your back pocket for when you have literally a ton of kale and peppers that you don't know what to do with

so the tofu noodles, i have heard about them & seen them but just kinda passed by them in the grocery store - i have seen a few different reviews online and on other blogs; some good, some terrible. so while at sunflower picking up my red kale they caught my eye

i figured what better day than my half day to try these out

honestly i a super glad that i had read online that these were a bit funky smelling; the package refers to it as the authentic aroma; yeah, authentic all right, they are down right stinky

once you get over the smell, rinse really well and parboil for 2-3 minutes they are pretty awesome; they are super low in calories and have a similar texture as pasta; i the brand i used / bought was

House Foods Tofu Shirataki Noodles, i will be definitely cooking with these again

have any of you had an experience with the tofu noodles? how do you get over that smell- do you prepare them in a different way other than what is outlined on the package?



this is the type of lunch that i could never get away with serving justin

he would look at me like i had four heads if i served him tofu noodles with sprouts

that boy would think i had gone and got all crazy on him

reason number 42 way why this was a perfect early release lunch



so go on, grab a bunch of kale the size of your face as peas & carrots would say and get to work on making your very own roasted red pepper & kale pili pesto

Roasted Red Pepper & Kale Pili Pesto

makes 3 cups

you will need:

2 cups jarred roasted red peppers with the juice & oil

1 bunch of kale

1/2 cup pili nuts

2 tsp salt

optional: 1 package tofu noodles fettuccine style

sprouts for topping

assembly:

place all ingredients in a food processor and process until desired consistency is reached

if using a small processor, create pesto in 3 smaller batches

if making the pasta lunch:

prepare tofu noodles according to package directions

or boil regular noodles

drain &  toss  pasta/noodles with 1/2  to 1 cup of prepared pesto

top with 1/3 cup of sprouts

use remaining pesto within 2-3 days or a week if a thin layer of olive oil is added to the top of the prepared pesto

or freeze to use at a later date

enjoy!

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