Healthy and delicious Fettuccini with Kale, Chickpeas, and Tomatoes lightly flavored with garlic, pepper flakes, and lemon juice.
As the school year starts winding down, days are fraught with exams and academic year-end activities. Weeknights are reserved for revision, homework, and music practice. Weekends are filled with recitals, fund-raisers, and graduation parties. With all these activities going on, one-pot meals are quick and attractive options so that everyone can have dinner and move on with their activities. However, the dish must still be balanced and healthy and kale is as healthy a vegetable as they come.
Kale finally made its way to our dining table with the introduction of Caldo Verde last summer. The family loves this Portuguese green soup with its spicy sausage, potatoes, and brightly colored kale. I made this soup twice in the past week and had to add in extra kale to satisfy everyone. Since it is only 99 cents a bunch at the stores right now, it is a good time to incorporate this nutritious and attractive vegetable into other dishes. This vegetarian pasta dish is packed with protein, antioxidants, vitamins A, C, and K, and dietary fiber. This healthful Fettuccini with Kale, Chickpeas, and Tomatoes is delicious, colorful, and attractive to boot! Best of all, it can be prepared in under 30 minutes!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb fettuccini (450g)
- 1 bunch kale (stem removed and finely sliced( (12 oz/340g)
- 1 cup chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
- 12 cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (60ml)
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Boil pasta in lightly salted water for 8 to 10 minutes or according to packaging instruction.
- While pasta is boiling, heat a large pan with olive oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté till garlic turns translucent.
- Add kale and chickpeas, followed by tomatoes. Cook until kale is wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Drain pasta and add it to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
- Turn off heat and stir in lemon juice.
- Serve immediately.
NUTRITION
We enjoyed this Fettuccini with Kale, Chickpeas, and Tomatoes very much. I think you will too. Do give it a try.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Looks SO HEALTHY! I know my kids won’t probably eat it but I’d love to try this. I’ve never cooked kale before although I’ve seen that in farmer’s market and stores. How’s the taste? Wow you are a busy mom! But I’m very proud of you cooking everyday for the family despite your busy schedule!
Thanks Nami! You are always so sweet. 🙂 Yes, things get really busy with teenagers and their activities. Our evenings are busy and quick and healthy meals are the way to go.
Kale has a mild taste even though it has such a bright green color. It is quite soft and smooth after cooking and is delicious. Do give it a try. I think you will like it. 🙂
Thanks Biren for letting me know. I like vegetables in general, and I think I have a higher tolerance for weird taste too. Haha. So mild taste is a nice surprise. Oh boy… having teenagers and still busy. I guess we won’t be able to relax until kids go to college??? 15 more years to go for me. >_<
Teenagers keep you on your toes but I think we will always be fussing no matter how old they are. We can never resign from being a parent. 15 years go by very quickly, sometimes too quickly…..
Certainly looks delicious enough although my boys would complain because there aren’t any meat in it:P
My son would complain too because of the kale and no meat, but I think the rest of us would enjoy this dish. Looks delicious and I love kale very much, although my experience so far has only to cook it chinese style with oyster sauce, garlic, onion and ginger.
Boys are such carnivores. Give him a side of sausages. That’s what I would do with my boys. 🙂
I do love kale and will be featuring more dishes with kale in the coming days.
I am impressed…all this going on and you still cook and blog about it. 😀 My daughter would love this, I’ve been sneaking spinach in pasta, rice, potatoes and things for awhile now. So she is used to it, and Kale is a piece of cake! One pot meals are great and yours looks so colorful and delicious! I will have to make the sopu too!
My hubby and I eat a lot of vegetables and I am a big believer in introducing greens to the kids at a young age. Hopefully the “habit” will stick with them. My boys are not big on salads but they do love stir fries.
Makes me feel hungry…awesome presentation..:)
Tasty Appetite
Your photos look great! I love the idea of kale, tomatoes and pasta mingling together. Great creation!
This looks really fantastic, Biren! I love kale and this is a great new way to make it!
What a hearty and fresh-looking pasta dish. I love kale. 🙂
Such a healthy and satisfying meal! Have a lovely weekend, Biren!
Looks so healthy and pretty all at the same time! I love every ingredient incorporated into this dish.
Oh I have kale in my garden and I never know what to do with it…this is so healthy and gorgeous Biren 🙂
Great colours and very healthy too! It looks like you’ve got the texture of the pasta cooked just right 🙂
I just love visiting your blog! Your recipes are oh so healthy & yummy! Keep it up, Biren!
Yum, this is my kind of dish, looks so fresh and healthy! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Victor, thanks for visiting! I hope you will visit again soon. 🙂
Hey Biren! Its jessica! So glad to have seen your comment on another blog today so I could come see what you have been up to. This dish looks amazing and I love that you used kale in it. I would have thought spinach but the kale brings a great texture and wonderful flavorful! Must try this soon! hope your doing well!
jessica
Hi Jessica! 🙂 Kale is my new favorite. I love the color, flavor, and texture. Will try to use it more int he days ahead.
This is a perfect one pot meal. I love when you added in the chickpea. It’s an excellent idea. I think the school canteen should make something similar to this as well. Something really healthy. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your day.
Cheers, Kristy
You are so right…school canteens should serve healthier food to growing children. Some are pretty good but most are still lagging. Hopefully with greater awareness, they’ll catch up. Have a great weekend!
I’ve yet to try kale. Growing up eating Asian food most of my life, kale was never a choice at our dinner table. I’d love to try it some day. This is a beautiful pasta dish, Biren. The colours go so well together here. Love any type of vegetarian dish. This looks delicious.
I love kale. You are so right. It’s packed with nutrients and I think it works better in many dishes because it keeps is texture better than spinach does. My daughter will love this dish. She’s learning to cook and loves garbanzo beans.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Hi Biren – I made this yesterday. I added a few ingredients for my meat loving husband and son, and my daughter loved the meat free version. Nice dish! We loved it.
We just made this and loved it!! We only added 1/4 t. red pepper flakes because we did not want it too hot and topped it with fresh grated parmesan. It was just right for us and still flavorful. Next time we would add twice the number of tomatoes.
Glad you enjoyed the dish and thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Oh I have been following you and have tried some of your recipes, which have been yummy by the way, so thanks! The only thing missing for me is the nutritional facts. Is there anyway that you could also include these too? Thank you and once again thank you for sharing such fabulous recipes! Cindy
Thanks for the compliments, Cindy! As for the nutritional facts, I will have to do a little research first. Hopefully, there is an easy way to add that information.