Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad with Kale and Artichokes

Get ready for your next summer BBQ or dinner party with this Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad with Kale and Artichokes. Balance your carbs with veggies without sacrificing on flavor for a filling and wholesome meal the whole family will love.

For some reason pasta gets a bad rap (or rep? Urban dictionary failed me…). Especially in the healthy living world, pasta and any kind of carb-based meal tends to be viewed as evil. Unless of course you’re carb-loading for a marathon.

I really don’t get it though. Our bodies need carbs and you certainly won’t derail your health goals by eating a bowl full of pasta. Stuffing it full of kale doesn’t hurt either.

Pasta is another one of the foods that I eat all the time but never find myself posting on the blog. If I’m being honest, I was kind of scared of how you’d react. In the spiralized-veggie, give me ALL THE SALADS obsessed blog world (dear spiralizer- don’t take that personally, I still love you), I expect most of you aren’t looking for pasta dishes.

Well I hope this post changes your mind.

When C and I were living in NYC we started a tradition of “pasta Sundays”. The name is pretty straight-forward – every Sunday we’d throw together whatever we had into a big pasta dish. It was fun to play around in the kitchen and see what crazy concoctions we could come up with. Whatever veggies or leftovers we had in the fridge got dumped into a big old pasta dish. Serve it warm, serve it cold you cannot go wrong with a pasta salad!

This sun-dried tomato pesto pasta salad is no exception. It’s pretty much what all of our leftover sun-dried tomatoes get thrown into. It is the bane of my existence to open a can or jar of something that I don’t finish the ends up just siting in the fridge and never getting used. Thankfully that’s what Sundays are for! And that my friends is how sundried tomatoes became pesto and pesto became pasta salad. Perfect for Sunday…or any day of the week!

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad with Kale and Artichokes

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• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

Ingredients

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For the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto:

• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (stored in OLIVE oil)
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1/4 cup reserved olive oil from Sun-dried tomato jar (or any olive oil)
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 1/4 cup parmesan (or nutritional yeast if vegan)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup of water

For the Pasta Salad:

• 1 box of pasta (approx 4 cups)
• 3 cups artichoke hearts (stored in water), chopped
• 1/2 head of kale, stemmed and chopped into small pieces
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

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Instructions

1. Add stemmed and chopped kale to a colander and place in the sink.
2. Cook pasta according to instructions.
3. When finished, pour pasta and water over kale to wilt kale.
4. Add kale and pasta back to pot and top with artichoke hearts.
5. Place all pesto ingredients into a blender or food processor and process until well combined.
6. Add pesto to pot and stir so pasta, artichoke hearts and kale are coated.
7. Top with salt and pepper.
8. Store in refrigerator to cool and allow flavours to meld for at least 1 hour.
9. Serve warm or cold.

Like this recipe? Here are a few others you might enjoy:

• Kimchi Fried Rice
• 20-Minute Veggie Pad Thai
• Vegan Mac & Cheese
• Zucchini and Ricotta Pizza