Pasta with Kale and Cashew Cream Sauce

If it sounds to good to be true...

...It's probably just really delicious whole food.

I threw together this whole-wheat pasta and kale with garlicky cashew cream sauce as a quick lunch this afternoon.

I set the cashews in water to soak just before my workout (which lasted 90 minutes).

When my workout was over, the cashews were ready to go and I was able to put a gourmet lunch on the table in the time it took to boil and cook a pot of pasta.  Bonus for it being a pasta dish with plenty of protein, healthy fat, and dark leafy greens!

1 pound whole-wheat pasta
2 cups whole, raw cashews, soaked in water for at least an hour
1 teaspoon of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large bunch of kale, chopped

Put on a pot of water to boil for the pasta.  Add pasta and cook.  About five minutes before the pasta is finished cooking, add the chopped kale to the water.  Drain pasta and kale together and put into a large bowl.

While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil and garlic in a skillet over medium heat.

Place the soaked cashews in a blender with enough water to make them smooth when blended.  It's best to start with a little water and add as you go so that the cashew cream does not become too watery.  After about a minute in the blender, it comes out looking like this.

Add the cashew cream to the skillet with the garlic and olive oil.  Mix and allow to warm through.

Add sauce to the drained pasta and kale and then mix well.

Serve with a light sprinkle of salt (it really does need it) and some cracked black pepper.

This made an INCREDIBLE lunch.  Restaurant quality.  I would never have known this was vegan unless you told me.

My carnivorous and highly-skeptical husband even enjoyed this.  He went back for seconds, and then asked if I could please (please, PLEASE) make all "cream" sauces from this recipe in the future, foregoing all attempts based on skim milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

Now THAT'S a stellar endorsement.

I thought cashew cream sauce would be too good to be true -- Now I know it's just too good not make again!