Sauteed Kale Penne with Toasted Walnuts & Fresh Parmesan

I like to grab life by the cajones, real nice and tight like a nice supportive pair of boxer briefs.

You know, only less hot. Err, creepy. Err, creepy hot….?

When it comes to new experiences, I’m a total yay sayer. Give ’em hell and go get ’em!

Wanna go for a hike up that poorly marked back-country trail? Yes.

Wanna spontaneously drive down to Nevada and get lost in the desert? Oh yes.

Wanna hole up in that shack over there, chow down for the next 5 hours and drink our weight in whiskey? Helllllllla yes.

There’s not a lot of things I won’t do in this life if given the opportunity. I want to experience it all. And I figure we only get so much time to do all the things before someone calls us home. And by home, I mean a land where the cheese never stands alone, carbs never off-load on my ass, and everyone around me looks like Christ Pratt. 

Come to mama.

So, I figure, welcome to 2017 – let’s do all the things!

That being said, there are things I’m resistant to. Things I avoid. Things that I stop, drop (my drink) and run from.

…Okay, let’s be honest. I never drop my drink. Or run. But you get the idea.

Like lying about my age. In fact, I’m proudly turning 36 again this October. Amazing, right?

Or wait. For anything. Impatience is one of my many virtues.

Or stealing fruit off a neighbour’s tree… Okay, I’ve totally done that.

And I emphatically resist any kind of fad diet. Or diet, period. I believe we should move our bodies more than we watch TV so we can eat whole foods, as unprocessed as possible, and make time to sit down with a good glass of vino, good company and enjoy our meals.

…You know, after we roll the pasta by hand, pick the herbs from our roof top garden and milk the cows back in the pasture. Which I love doing, by the way. There’s something so nourishing about living off the land. Something real. Something fulfilling. Something whole.

Unfortunately life doesn’t always play out like a scene from the 1800’s in pastoral England (wouldn’t that be just the best?!). At least not in my 480 square feet of the world. I run a full time business, have a cookbook being released world-wide in just under a month, work as an actress, am writing a science-fiction novel, go to the gym 5 days a week and am attempting to read no less than 42 books this year. Oh yeah, and friends and family. Apparently I’m supposed to see them too.

So when I get the chance to try a product that makes my life easier and faster – without sacrificing my principals about quality ingredients – I get pretty damn excited.

Let’s keep it real here: I love making pasta by hand and growing my own vegetables, but that just ain’t happening on a Monday night for me.

What is happening on a Monday night though is Chickapea Pasta. A gluten-free pasta (you heard it here first folks, I’m eating gluten-free pasta and enjoying it) made from only 2 ingredients: Organic chickpeas and lentils. Bam.

It’s also Non-GMO, vegan and kosher friendly, has no preservatives, nothing artificial, no added sugar and it tastes shockingly good. If you’re the kind of person who cares about nutritional facts, a single serving also has 23 grams of protein, 40% of our daily iron intake and 40% of our daily recommended fibre.

Mouth-wise, it’s a touch chewier than wheat pasta, nutty in flavour, and I’m completely hooked. Which is why I’ve partnered with Chickapea and a group of pretty talented and delicious bloggers over the coming months to create delicious, seasonal, healthful recipes for you. And also so I can take in more calories from wine. That’s legit, right?

If my body doesn’t try to kill me and I have any say in the matter, I’ll likely never be meat-free (again), dairy-free, fat-free (just ask my hips), sugar-free, or gluten-free. But I can still appreciate the healthiness and deliciousness of this pasta. No word of a lie – I’m keeping a couple reserve boxes on hand in the cupboard for quick, healthy, delicious weeknight meals.

I’m a firm believer in the place where everyone looks like Chris Pratt; I’ve seen it in my dreams! And I’m also a firm believer that when you’re cooking, the finished dish is entirely dependent on the yum factor of the whole ingredients you use. Because of that, most of my recipes on the blog take a bit of time to prepare. That ain’t the case with this one.

This recipe for sauteed kale Chickapea penne with bright lemon, toasted walnuts & fresh grated parmesan cheese is ready in less than 20 minutes and has all the awe-inspiring health benefits I listed above. If you want to off-set those though, just enjoy the entire box of penne to yourself and drink 4 glasses of Chardonnay – that should even things out.

Either way, it tastes fantastic and fresh.

Kind of like how life’s cajones feel in my hot little hands.

Go get ’em, tiger.

Disclosure of Material Connection: ChickaPea Pasta did provide me test and review product at no cost and I was compensated for the work I did developing a recipe and taking the pictures & video for this post. Thank you Chickapea for supporting my blog! Regardless, I only recommend, giveaway or share products or services I love, use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions, words and information here are entirely accurate and a reflection of my true experience and were not influenced, in any way, by the above mentioned products or companies. Opinions and views are my own. Because that’s how I roll, yo. I’ve never been one to shut my mouth – I’m not going to start now.

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Kristy Gardner
Lascivious lover of good, “ethical” food & wine.

http://gastronomicalsovereignty.blogspot.com

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