Sunday night we were wiped. The weekend had been a crazy one, to say the least. Dropping my sister off early Saturday morning, rushing around to two different grocery stores to buy supplies for Easter dinner, cooking for said dinner, attending said dinner, complete with a busy day all day Sunday… the last thing either of us wanted to do was think about dinner.
On top of all that, being Easter Sunday, nothing was open. So I had to make do with what we had on hand- and make do we did! I threw together this simple, humble dish- just some canned organic white beans mixed with a garlicky kale pesto and sweet roasted tomatoes, that satisfied and more. I know both of us were sad when this was gone, as it was in minutes! The bonus was we had leftover pesto that we’ve been busy throughout the week. So if you do make this, either double the recipe so you have more (you’ll want it) or prepare to put that pesto to good use! It’s amazing- and addictive- luckily it’s packed with nutrition from all the kale and raw garlic. And if you’re not a fan of raw garlic (we are!) roast a couple cloves along with the tomatoes and use them to make the sauce instead.
Easy White bean salad with kale pesto and roasted tomatoes
1 can of organic white beans, rinsed and drained
Kale pesto, to taste (recipe below)
1/2 container grape or cherry tomatoes
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roast tomatoes for 10-15 minutes until shrunken and browned slightly, but not burned- a little charred is okay. Let cool for a few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the kale pesto. Toss the white beans with amount of pesto desired (we used a few heaping tablespoons) and roasted tomatoes.
Kale Pesto
This is really more of a method than a recipe. I kind of threw everything in the food processor to taste, and it was done and delicious in no time!
1/3 cup almonds, soaked for 1-2 hours
2 cloves garlic (fresh or roasted- see above)
1/2 large bunch kale, washed and de-stemmed, roughly chopped
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
~1/4 cup olive oil, more as needed
salt and pepper to taste
1. Drain almonds and place them in food processor with garlic cloves. Process for about 30 seconds until almonds are chopped and garlic is evenly distributed.
2. Add kale, lemon juice and olive oil, process until mostly smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 2 as a main, 3-4 as a side.
We both loved how fresh and bright this was and how quickly it came together. I can definitely see this becoming a simple weeknight staple!
Do you have any go-to simple weeknight recipes to share?
Fun Discussion Topic: Did you watch the Royal Wedding this morning? I thought Kate Middleton’s dress was beautiful- she looked so elegant! The whole event was beautiful, really. Though it made me very, very thankful we only had 33 people at our wedding and not thousands! I have to thank my friends at Red Prince Apples for our Royal Wedding Watcher pack- we had a talking alarm clock to wake us up and I had a juicy Red Prince apple to snack on- my husband enjoyed the scones 
xo
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This looks like one of those dishes I would eat thirds of!! Mmmm…
We were SO sad there were only two servings! Doubling it next time.
You woke up to watch it?? You better not be a sleepy head tonight
We have chocolate to consume and grounding to learn about!
That salad looks amazing – I love white beans and pesto.
I promise I won’t be sleepy! And the cacao will wake me up, anyway
I’m just getting caught up on my google reader and I saw this…amazing! White beans are my favourite in the bean family, especially with pesto! This looks incredible!
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