This recipe was passed on to me by my dear friend M, she found it on Chatelaine, made it and sent it on to me saying it’s delicious and to try it.
The recipe started out as orecchiette pasta with swiss chard, and ended up being different yet still delicious…

I threw almost everything I had into this pasta, just because I was out of the a few of the ingredients the recipe called for, and I needed to clear my fridge.
I added two kinds of beans; chickpeas and cranberry beans leftover over the weekend.
There’s also frozen corn, bell peppers and sundried tomatoes, which I always have around.
And I used kale in place of swiss chard… an easy switch.
I love these kinds of pasta… it’s tasty, nutritious, inexpensive, perfect weeknight pasta.
I made it a few days before Easter in New York and had it for dinner over a few nights.

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Pasta with Kale, Raisins & Beans

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ½ cup radiatore pasta (or rotini or fusilli or your favourite type of pasta)
• 1/3 cups raisins
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• ¼ cup sundried tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chili flakes
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or your favourite kind of beans)
• ½ cup sweet yellow corn (thawed if frozen)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 5 cups of packed sliced Kale (about 5 leaves)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional, or your favourite kind of shredded cheese)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

1. To start, bring a large pot of water to boil
2. Season with salt, add pasta and cook per instructions on the package, until al dente
3. Drain immediately and set aside, and reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid
4. Combine raisins and water in a microwave-safe bowl
5. Microwave on high until plump, about 30 seconds
6. Heat olive oil in a medium non-stick saucepan over medium low
7. Add garlic, onions and bell pepper, cook, stirring often for about 4 minutes
8. Add sundried tomatoes, chili flakes, chickpeas and corn; cook for about a minute or so until corn is warm
9. Add lemon zest, kale, raisins and salt, stir well to mix and cook until kale starts to wilt
10. Stir in pasta and nutritional yeast or cheese (if using), mix and add just enough cooking liquid to moisten
11. Serve, garnished with parsley and freshly ground black pepper

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