Gluten Free Superfood Pasta Recipe
What are superfoods? Basically they are nutrient-dense foods that are considered to be especially good for your health and well-being. They are foods that pack a lot of bang for the buck as it were. This Gluten Free Superfood Pasta Recipe is as super as it can get.
According to current research, people who eat lots of superfoods are generally healthier, are at lower risk of getting chronic diseases, and (get this!) tend to be thinner than those who don’t.
It always amazes me how much what we eat (or don’t eat) can affect our health. How cool is it to know that you can increase your chances of a healthier (and possibly prolonged) life by eating delicious food?
This pasta recipe is packed with superfoods. First there is quinoa, thanks to the pasta itself. Quinoa is loaded with fiber, has more gluten free protein than any other grain and also has a bunch of iron and potassium. Among other things, it helps aid digestion and fights signs of aging. Ancient Harvest produces a whole line of quinoa pastas – for this recipe I chose their Garden Pagodas as the tight spirals really hold on to the superfood pesto but you can use any shape you like.
The pesto in this recipe is also packed with superfoods, including kale. While still being studied, it looks as if kale produces phytonutrients that trigger the liver to produce enzymes that neutralize potentially cancer-causing substances. It is filled with antioxidants, a truckload of vitamins and minerals, and may actually prevent premature aging of the skin.
Other superfoods in this recipe include garlic, pistachios, pomegranate seeds, and flax oil.
And yes, it is important for what you eat to be good for your body but how it tastes is also important. Let me tell you – this superfood pasta dish is super delicious! Even people who swear they don’t like kale love it! Oh, and this pesto is dairy free thanks to the use of nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan.
So serve up some superfood pasta and have yourself a super day!
Click here to see my cooking demonstration of this recipe on Daytime TV!
Gluten Free Superfood Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- Kosher or fine sea salt
- 8 ounces Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta – any shape you like
- 1/3 cup pistachios shelled
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 3 cups fresh kale leaves heaping
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup flax seed oil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve about 2 cups of the starchy cooking water and drain the pasta. Return to the hot pot.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the pesto. Place the pistachios and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until the pistachios are finely chopped. Add the lemon zest and juice, kale, and nutritional yeast. Process until everything is finely chopped. Add the flax seed and olive oils and pepper and pulse a few times to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Taste and add salt if desired.
- Add the pesto to the pasta with enough of the starchy cooking water to coat the pasta (add the water a little at a time until desired consistency is achieved).
- Serve the pasta topped with pomegranate seeds.
Nutrition
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