GF, Vegan Roasted Red Pepper & Kale Pesto!

Sooo, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet lasted almost 12 hours. I was strong until it was 10 o’clock and it was time for my daily Oatmeal Raisin Meringue.

I couldn't resist my oatmeal raisin meringue...can you blame me??

I’ve been doing more research, and brown rice is extremely easy to digest. So, brown rice pasta is ok — which is what we’ve been eating all along.

creamy, rich roasted red pepper pesto!

Anyhoo, here’s the amazing meal I made last night! It was SO good and so nutritious! I made Roasted Red Pepper and Kale Pesto with Broiled Cod. This pasta sauce was so ridiculously tasty — and GF and Vegan!

yum!

Here’s what you need:

2 red peppers, fire roasted, chopped
7-8 mushrooms, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 stalks of kale, chopped and steamed
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
6 kalamata olives
1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh basil
dried basil and oregano
1/4 cup white wine
reserved pasta water
Raw goat milk cheese — grated ***optional***

This sauce is a bit involved.

Lets start with roasting your peppers — First, you can totally use jarred roasted red peppers. But, there’s no substitute for fresh, roasted red peppers in both flavor and quality of ingredients. Also, there aren’t any preservatives or additives and stabilizers found in jarred, canned, and processed foods. OK, I’m off my soap box…lets get cooking!

Place your red pepper directly on the flame of your gas burner. (Place the pepper on the grates, and THEN turn the flame on low.) Roast them, turning with tongs every 3 minutes, until charred on all sides. Then, immediately place the hot peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to trap the steam. Allow the peppers to steam for about 15 minutes (while you prepare your other veggies). Then, the charred skin will literally peel right off the pepper. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds. Roughly chop, and place in your food processor.  If you do not have a gas burner, you can roast them under your broiler.

Ok, those are squared away. Now, steam your kale for about 2-3 minutes, until tender and set aside. Also, toast your pine nuts. In a large pan, saute your onion in 1 tsp EVOO with salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp dried oregano and dried basil. Allow that to soften, and then add your mushrooms. Let them cook down and release their moisture — about 5-6 minutes. {{When you let mushrooms brown, arrange them in a layer, and then don’t touch them for about 3 minutes. Then, flip them and put them in another layer and don’t touch them for 3 more minutes. Then they will be browned and beautiful!}} After your mushrooms have browned, stir in your garlic and steamed kale. Stir for a minute, and then take off heat to cool for a minute. Then, put your veggies in the food processor  with the peppers, pine nuts, olives and salt. Whirl that together until smooth. Then, at the last minute, add your basil, to reserve its flavor. (It will lose some potency due to the heat of the veggies). Combine your sauce with your cooked noodles and about 1/4 cup pasta water. YUMMO! Top with goat cheese if you’d like:)

gorgeous, wild caught cod!

Finally, I served this delicious pesto pasta with broiled cod. Lobsta Bakes’ wild, ocean-caught cod is so spectacular — flakey, sweet, moist, tender. Absolutely wonderful. I broiled it with 1 tsp EVOO, salt, pepper, lemon zest and juice, and fresh dill. Delish.

beautiful dill crust!

This meal was terrific. The sauce on the pasta had a flavor unlike any pasta sauce I’ve made before! The roasted red peppers provided this deep, smokey-sweet flavor that permeated through the entire sauce! That, with the earthy mushrooms, and deep kale was so yummy. And it was highlighted by the fresh, bright basil, buttery pine nuts, and salty olives. It was punctuated perfectly with the addition of the raw goat milk cheese sprinkled on top. ((Ok, I may have gone a little heavy on the cheese:) ))

beautiful pile of pesto pasta!

It was creamy and slurpy, rich and flavorful. Truly fabulous!

a little overboard on the goat cheese...i was just so excited!

It always amazes me how blended and pureed veggies can pack such a punch! Flavor city!

so heathy!

Happy Tummies!

This pesto was made possible by made appliance "baby" - my food processor. It has it's own place of honor on my counter. I love it and highly recommend my Prep 7....here's where you can find one:

what a bite!