Whole Wheat Pasta w/ Kale Pesto

Once again, I made the Kale Pesto that I found on a blog I follow. It's really simple and tastes delicious. The recipe doesn't call for any basil but I add some bc you just can't have pesto without basil! 

This is one of my go to-basic-no frills-yet healthy meals I make quite often. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to put together....

• One package (about 15 ounces or so) of whole wheat organic pasta. On this night I happened to have shells in the cupboard. I mix it up between penne, shells, rotini, etc. I prefer a pasta that is easy for my kids to handle (as opposed to spaghetti or linguini). 
• Kale Pesto-or sauce. I LOVE tomato sauce but I don't make it very often bc my husband can't eat it; so we usually have pesto. I like to make my own pesto and I usually add some spinach for extra nutrition. I was thrilled to find the recipe for Kale Pesto! 
• Veggies-I have added all kinds of veggies to this dish when I make it. On this night I only had zucchini,  portabello and crimini mushrooms. I used about 2 small/medium zucchini, one portabello and about half a package of criminis. 
• Pine nuts-love them in italian dishes! 
• Garlic-another one of my favs! 

I made the kale pesto and set it aside. While the water was coming to a boil, I washed and cut the veggies and started on some garlic bread. Once the water was boiling and the pasta was cooking, I heated some olive oil in a skillet. I sautéed the veggies for a few minutes and then added the pine nuts and garlic (about 3 cloves, sliced). I let all of that sauté for a few more minutes, until the pasta was done. I drained the pasta and threw it in the skillet along with the kale pesto. Give it a good mix, throw some on a plate, top it with parmesan and enjoy! 
Simple. Tasty. Healthy!