Tomato Basil Pasta with Walnuts and Kale

Whew! It has been awhile since I’ve sat down at this computer to blog. Life has certainly been busy lately. As you may or may not know, my partner and I just purchased our first home, and between getting ready for the big move, working and simultaneously planning a wedding, I am beyond exhausted. Hopefully though, come May, my post will be regular and timely again. Thanks for bearing with me in the meantime.

Enough small talk. Let’s get on to the delic-i-osity that is this pasta.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb pasta (brown rice or semolina)
• Drizzle olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 7-8 heirloom tomatoes, chopped and crushed with your hands
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• 2/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 2 large handfuls of chopped kale

Directions:

1. First, get your pasta cooking. In the meantime, start on the sauce.
2. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Cover and let simmer for about 8-9 minutes.
3. In the meantime, dry toast your walnuts in a small skillet. When walnuts are nice and toasty, add them to the sauce.
4. Place kale in the bottom of a strainer or colander. Pour our pasta into the strainer, making sure to wet (and therefore soften) kale. Add kale and pasta to the sauce skillet and mix well.
5. Serve warm with a small salad or slice of baguette.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake

I wish I could say I was the type of person who only craves dessert after dinner. Alas, that is almost never the case. A few weeks ago, in fact, I woke up on a Saturday morning with the fiercest craving for cake! What kind of cake goes perfectly with a Saturday morning cup of coffee, you ask? Why, coffee cake, of course!

This is my take on a classic coffee cake with a cinnamon streusel-like topping. There are very few ingredients in it, which is nice on the pocketbook, and it’s relatively easy to put together. If you’re in a time crunch, you can get your topping ready first so that you’re all set to put in top of the cake and throw the whole thing in the oven!

Ingredients (cake):

• 1 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat, all purpose, or buckwheat)
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar (I like coconut)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cup coconut yogurt (cultured coconut milk)
• 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 almond milk (soy or hemp will also do)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients (streusel topping):

• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped roughly

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray or oil an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Set aside
3. Stir together topping ingredients. Set aside
4. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
5. Fold in oil, milk, sour “cream”, and extract.
6. Pour in baking pan and cover with streusel.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!