Life has been crazy for me over the past few of months!! I decided to apply for the Masters in Education program in April and shortly thereafter I made a transition from full-time employee to full-time student with no free time (or life) to speak of! I absolutely LOVE my classes and I’m so excited about becoming a teacher, but it’s still hard to sacrifice free-time for homework, especially when the boys are out having fun and I’m stuck behind a book or computer screen :/
I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that when I become super-busy, one of the first things to fall to the wayside is food preparation. Suddenly, I don’t have time to waste in the kitchen preparing 2 or 3-course meals and planning out what I will eat for the entire day (something I loved to do before). Instead, I opt for whatever I can pick up on my way home or throw together in minutes. I try to still keep it healthy, of course, but that’s pretty hard to do when someone else is preparing your food and you don’t know what ingredients went into it.
So, my goal lately has been to come up with (or find) healthy recipes that are easy and quick to prepare, but keep me on my healthy-eating track. This pasta was one of the first attempts and it was absolutely amazing! Not to mention, it took no more than 15 minutes to get everything ready. And if you have lots of hungry mouths to feed, this would be a great recipe for the entire family!
*I know it’s hard to see, but I promise there are noodles under all that kale. What can I say, I love kale 
- 5 ounces gluten-free organic brown rice pasta (or whole wheat pasta)
- 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch kale, stems removes and leaves roughly torn (about 6 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pint (or a couple large handfuls) grape tomatoes, halved
- salt and pepper
- red pepper flakes
- optional topping: almond slices
- Cook the pasta according to package directions and reserve about ¼ cup of the cooking water.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and prepare the veggies. Add the onion and garlic (and a sprinkling of salt and pepper) to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic begins to brown and the onions become translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the kale and cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for only a couple minutes more, stirring often.
- Plate the noodles and pour the kale mixture, along with the reserved cooking water, on top.
- Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (and almonds, if you choose to use them).
- Serve and enjoy!
Adapted from Real Simple
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