Quick Olive & Kale Pasta

This recipe follows the general principles of my Vegan LowFODMAP Meal Maker guide, which you can download here. This means it covers the main bases for balanced nutrition while eating plant-based.

1. PROTEIN: Green lentils

2. STARG/GRAIN: Gluten free pasta

3. SEED OR NUT: Pumpkin seeds

4. GREENS: Kale

5. MORE VEG: Tomatoes & tomato purée

FLAVOUR: Olives, balsamic vinegar, garlic oil

[1 min prep, 12 mins cooking. Total = 13 mins]

Serves One

INGREDIENTS

70g gluten free pasta (Monash only gives the cooked weight of 145g, so this is an estimation)

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

46g green lentils, canned and thoroughly rinsed

Kale - as much as you want

2-3 tomatoes, sliced

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 tbsp black olives, pitted and sliced

1 sun-dried tomato, finely chopped

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp garlic infused olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the pasta on to boil according to packaging, with a pinch of salt and a little oil to stop it sticking.

2. In a frying pan dry toast the pumpkin seeds until they are all popping and smelling nutty.

3. Add the lentils to the seeds, stir for a minute, before adding the kale and tomatoes

4. Add small splashes of hot water to help the kale cook down.

5. Stir in the tomato purée, black olives, sun-dried tomato and balsamic vinegar.

6. Keep stirring until it's smushed together, adding more water if needed.

7. It should all be ready by the time the pasta is done. At this point, drain the pasta (doesn't matter if there is a bit of water left) and tip it into the "sauce". Stir together and tip out on to a serving dish.

8. Season to taste and enjoy.

This recipe featured in my What I Eat In A Day video below, where I also talk about nutrition on a wholefood plant-based diet.