Greetings Hive foodies. This week I got all excited. Recently a guy started growing organic kale here in Kampot, Cambodia and he brought me a big bag the other day.

Though we have Chinese kale at the markets, nothing beats the taste of real, curly leaf kale. I ate a few leaves raw when the bag arrived. That's how much I missed the flavor 😋

Another amazing found this week was the 100 percent chickpea flour pasta. It was not cheap but OMG it tastes soooo gooood. Plus, it is gluten-free.

Though we still eat gluten, we try to limit gluten-containing products to an absolute minimum. My husband has an autoimmune disease so he has to be very careful with them.

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Why Kale Has A Superfood Status

Kale is considered a superfood because it is it's jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, and several other compounds that are beneficial to overall health.

Kale has very high levels of vitamin A, C, and K. To give you an idea, a single cup of chopped kale provides more than your recommended daily allowance of these vitamins.

Furthermore, this yummy leafy green is also a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, thiamine, folate, iron, protein, fibers, and several other essential phytonutrients to prevent inflammation, cancer, premature aging, and much more.

CREAMY KALE AND MUSHROOM CHICKPEA PASTA (V, GF) 🥬🍄

Though I got my husband eating mushroom pate, mushrooms are still not his thing. It has something to do with their texture.

With him being in the capital for work for a few days, I invited a friend for dinner… luckily she loves mushrooms and kale too.

Plus, this dish is so easy and super fast to make it gave us plenty of time to catch up.

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)

Half a package of chickpea pasta (approx 125-150g), uncooked
½ cup raw cashew nuts
¾-1 cup water
½ cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
½ cup onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
4-5 cups fresh kale, chopped
3 cups of mushroom, sliced (I used a mix of king oyster mushrooms and shitake)
Himalayan pink salt and black pepper to taste
Splash of lime or lemon juice

Directions

Soak the cashew in boiling water for 30 minutes. When soaked, drain and add the nuts to a blender with ¾ cup water. Mix until you have a smooth and creamy cashew milk. Set aside.

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Over medium heat, cook bell pepper and onion with cooking oil or vegan butter until soft. This will take about 5 minutes. Stir regularly. Then add the garlic and cook for one minute more.

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Meanwhile, boil chickpea pasta in lightly salted water according to the instructions on the package. When ready drain.

Add the chopped kale to the onion-bell pepper mix and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Either transfer the mix to a bowl or use a separate pan to cook to mushrooms in olive oil or vegan butter. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the cashew milk to the pan and cook until thickened. Add a splash of lime/lemon juice, salt, add pepper to taste.