Kale-a-flower Pasta

I have always hated nuts. Walnuts. Pine nuts. Almonds. Pecans. I dislike the texture. The taste. The way they get stuck in your teeth. I forced myself to buy pine nuts a while back and I survived the few meals I made with them. I threw them in a couple pesto pastas for example and apparently I’ve lived to tell about it. I have been weaning myself off soy milk lately and drinking almond milk instead. The switch has gone well so far and therefore I decided I was ready to eat actual almonds. I bought them at the grocery store today. It was a big step and a long time coming. The kale and cauliflower also looked good at the store today so I decided to whip this together today.

This turned out really well, however, I picked out every single piece of almond that I put in it. Oh, well.

Ingredients:

• 1 box whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1/4 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 red onion
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 Tbsp Earth Balance spread
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 clementine
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cut up the cauliflower into bite-size pieces. Fill a roasting pan with the cauliflower, minced garlic, diced red onion and diced carrot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Coat thoroughly with the olive oil. Roast the veggies for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Boil water and cook the whole wheat pasta until al dente.

4. Finely chop the almonds and add them to a skillet over low heat. Cook for five minutes. Add Earth Balance spread and cook until melted. Add the kale and 2 Tbsp water to the skillet and cook until soft and dark green. Crush clementine slices over the kale for extra flavor.

5. Combine the roasted vegetables with the kale and almond mixture. Add to the pasta and top with dried cranberries.