Kale Pesto and Tomato Linguine {Gluten Free, Easily Vegan}

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Until a few short years ago, I thought of kale as a garnish. I remember eating restaurant grilled cheese as a kid and asking my mom if I could eat the green stuff underneath my fruit cup. “No honey, that’s just to look at. It’s for color, but you don’t eat it.” Since I was told not to eat it, I ate it anyway. I didn’t particularly enjoy the stringy and bitter leaf, but at least I felt adventurous.

Now that I’ve figured out how to cook it, I know that kale can be a delicious addition to many meals. I’ve already mentioned my love for kale chips, but kale is also is great in soup, stir fry recipes, and (can you guess where I’m going with this?) pasta. If you eat it raw, you may notice a slight bitter taste, but why eat it raw and unseasoned unless you’re a [harmlessly] rebellious kid?

Speaking of things I’ve learned to love (and things we’ll be using in a recipe shortly), my brief (okay VERY brief) gluten-free phase showed me that tasty gluten free pasta DOES exist. Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Pasta is made with organic corn and quinoa, cooks up just like normal pasta, and most importantly does NOT have the mushy-yet-somehow-undercooked taste of brown rice pasta. FYI – I have no connection with the company at all, so this is really just me wanting you to understand the greatness of this pasta. I buy it frequently even though I’m no longer gluten free. If you’re gluten intolerant or just trying to lower your gluten intake, get at it.

Side note: Please ignore my zombie hand. My blood doesn’t circulate, nbd.

This past Friday, some twenty years after my time of eating raw garnish leafs, a friend texted me saying, “I want to like kale. I really do. Do you have a recipe that might help me get there?” I immediately directed her to kale chips, which I fell in love with just a few short months ago, but then I realized that I barely have any recipes on this blog that involve kale, and none that make it the star of the show. Since I cook with it frequently, I decided I needed to share some of my kale love with all of yous.

Not to get too annoying here, but do you even know how good kale is for you? It’s packed with vitamin K, vitamin A, and vitamin C, has glucosinolates that have been shown to help prevent cancer, and it just generally helps your whole body detox…which is a great idea after a week of eating peanut butter cup pretzel cookies, am I right?

This is a perfect recipe if you’re easing into kale consumption. Blanching the kale lowers the level of bitterness, and you don’t need to worry about the “stringy” factor because you puree the blanched kale with basil, lemon, and garlic to make a super delicious pesto. This pesto would go perfectly in many pasta recipes, but I chose to pair it simply with my favorite gluten free linguine, grape tomatoes, and kalamata olives. The result? Fresh and flavorful gluten-free awesomeness. If you want to make the pesto, but aren’t in a pasta mood, the spread goes great as a dip for crackers and veggies or as a spread on sandwiches. Tasty, versatile, and PACKED with nutrition – win!
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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Cookies

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I just can’t even deal right now.

For over a year I’ve been thinking about this recipe that I found on Pinterest. All my life I’ve loved peanut butter cups in a big, bad way, but I rarely buy them because 1) I usually prefer baked goods to candy and 2) Reese’s didn’t make the dark chocolate variety until fairly recently. In fact, before Reese’s started making dark chocolate peanut butter cups, I threatened frequently (like probably once a week) to write in requesting the dark chocolate variety. Well, now I’ve made dark chocolate peanut butter cups, but in a cookie and with PRETZELS. WHAT.

A few weeks ago I saw these Salted Chocolate-Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies on Oh, Ladycakes, and I haven’t been able to get the idea of “pretzel flour” out of my head since. Eventually I started thinking about how great it would be to roll cookie dough in this pretzel flour…and then I remembered the peanut butter stuffed cookies. Let’s just say that things got crazy.

I knew I wanted to incorporate melted unsweetened chocolate, because it’s so much richer and more satisfying than cocoa powder alone could ever be. That being said, I still added cocoa powder and chocolate chips for even more chocolate flavor (overachiever, I know). Then I fluffed peanut butter and powdered sugar together, stuffed it all in a cookie, and rolled it in pulverized pretzel crumbs…and then I died of joy.

I could chalk this combination of ridiculousness up to hormones. Or the fact that The Beast was out of town and I could make the kitchen as messy as I wanted without judgment or guilt (and boy-oh-boy did it ever get messy). It’s my nature to make excuses, but really…take my weakness for salty sweet things and make it your strength, because if you have dark chocolate peanut butter cup pretzel cookies in your hands, is there anything you can’t accomplish right now?

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Roasted Asparagus Grilled Cheese with Artichoke & Arugula Pesto

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Spring might be my favorite season. Well maybe fall is too, but let’s focus on spring for now. Not only is it warm, bright, and colorful, but the whole atmosphere seems to change. People have lightness in their steps, smiles on their faces, and are generally happier. In Minnesota, where the weather has been playing games with our hearts for months, there’s been a clear shift in the air now that the sun is out and our breaths are no longer visible outside. It’s nice.

Apart from the color and general happiness of those around me, I also love the produce that comes with spring. The farmer’s markets have started to to open up, our co-op’s selection of items has widened, and all I want to do lately is eat the short-season green stuff before it goes away.

Roasted Asparagus Grilled Cheese with Artichoke Arugula Pesto

During a particularly strong case of spring fever this week, I decided to dress up a grilled cheese to make it scream spring in every way. First I blended together pistachios, garlic, arugula, parsley, lemon and artichokes for a super seasonal pesto. Luckily, you really only need a few tablespoons of the pesto for the sandwich, so you’ll have bonus pesto to eat with pretzels, crackers, vegetables, etc. I actually dipped an artichoke heart in the artichoke pesto, but I’m also kind of insane and have been known to eat tomatoes with ketchup, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

For the inside of the springtime sandwich, I roasted up some deliciously fresh and bright asparagus, then stacked the sandwich with the pesto on both sides, two layers of cheese, and the roasted asparagus. As if that weren’t enough, I also mixed together some softened butter and parmesan to spread gently on the outsides for a crisp parmesan crust.

I knew the sandwich would be delicious, but it surprised me with its uniqueness. Between the buttery parmesan crust, the roasted asparagus, and the smoky gouda, you could nearly get overloaded on richness, but the creamy and fresh pesto brightens up the whole sandwich. There’s just a hint of lemon in every bite, but it’s enough to heighten all of the other flavors, and give the sandwich an addictive quality…

…So addictive, in fact, that I had a hard time photographing all the yumminess, since one bite turned into six bites REAL quick, and once you chomp down six bites of a sandwich it ain’t a pretty-looking thing.
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Veggie and the Beast

A Story of Food, Love, and Compromise

Kale Pesto and Tomato Linguine {Gluten Free, Easily Vegan}

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Cookies

Roasted Asparagus Grilled Cheese with Artichoke & Arugula Pesto