Quick, put down the green food coloring! With all the amazing naturally green foodstuffs out there, there’s no need for that stuff, nuh uh.

Case in point:

Creamy Avocado Kale Pesto Pasta - Only 20 minutes and a short list of ingredients and you have an entirely plant-based, utterly creamy, vibrantly green, and absolutely delicious pasta on your hands. And in your mouth. Vegan; meat option

This Creamy Avocado Kale Pasta is about as green as green can get.

This stuff and a tossed salad and you’ve got a gloriously green dinner for Saint Patrick’s Day. Bonus: It’ll be on the table in 20 minutes. No joke!

Creamy Avocado Kale Pesto Pasta - Only 20 minutes and a short list of ingredients and you have an entirely plant-based, utterly creamy, vibrantly green, and absolutely delicious pasta on your hands. And in your mouth. Vegan; meat option

Have you heard of avocado pasta? Basically, you puree avocado with a few other tasty morsels and bam! The most luxuriously creamy pasta sauce. It’s brilliant and I wish I’d been the first to think of it, but I wasn’t (from what I can tell, it was Angela from Oh She Glows, which makes perfect sense because she’s always one to come up with such innovative recipes.)

This creamy avocado kale pasta is a riff on that one. I removed a couple of ingredients (basil and olive oil) and added to it (lots of kale and a smattering of pine nuts).

The result is an utterly emerald pasta dish that I definitely do not reserve just for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s an all-the-time thing around here.

(Oh, and bonus: This recipe is totally a sneaky way to usher kale into kale-haters’ diets without them even knowing. If, you know, you are into that sort of thing. 😉 )

Creamy Avocado Kale Pesto Pasta - Only 20 minutes and a short list of ingredients and you have an entirely plant-based, utterly creamy, vibrantly green, and absolutely delicious pasta on your hands. And in your mouth. Vegan; meat option

Think green!

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 20 mins

Creamy Avocado Kale Pasta

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Only 20 minutes and a short list of ingredients and you have an entirely plant-based, utterly creamy, vibrantly green, and absolutely delicious pasta on your hands. And in your mouth.
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Ingredients

  • 8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (or another favorite pasta; we also like this with penne)
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts (divided)
  • 1 ripe avocado (pitted and peeled)
  • 2 cups kale leaves (ribs removed and torn into medium pieces)
  • 2 medium cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste

Instructions

  • Cook pasta according to package instructions. RESERVE 1 CUP OF THE WATER YOU COOKED THE PASTA IN.
  • While the pasta cooks, toast the pine nuts. Place in a skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of the toasted pine nuts to a pitcher of a high-powered blender along with the avocado, kale, garlic, lemon juice, crushed red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Puree until completely smooth, adding more water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to keep it moving.
  • Add cooked and drained pasta to your serving bowl. Pour the avocado-kale sauce over the top. Toss to combine. Top with remaining pine nuts. Serve immediately.

Notes

We have found that this recipe does NOT keep well - so be sure to eat it all when you make it! I know - tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Meat option:

Top carnivores' portions with a few slices of grilled chicken breast.

Gluten-free option:

Swap in your favorite gluten-free pasta. I love brown rice pasta.
Adapted from Oh She Glows

Creamy Avocado Kale Pesto Pasta – Only 20 minutes and a short list of ingredients and you have an entirely plant-based, utterly creamy, vibrantly green, and absolutely delicious pasta on your hands. And in your mouth. Vegan; meat option

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