Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Kale

Vitamins. Minerals. Iron. Protein. Fiber. MUFAs.
As a college student, I often find it difficult to incorporate essential nutrients into my diet. It's so tempting before a night full of studying and essay writing (ew.) to grab a sandwich or (God forbid) some vegan chow mein at the Student Union. I've learned many things in school, though.
First, I won't be able to do anything if that's all eat. I simply won't be able to function for lack of vitamins, fiber, and protein.
 Second, I hate fast food.
 But...
I love how much easier it is. So, I've started cooking fast nutrient dense meals. As a vegan, I find it important to use as many super foods and nutrient dense ingredients as I can.

One of my favorites is kale.

Kale is the mother of all super foods. It is high in Vitamins A, K and C, fiber, iron, and calcium. It has been found to lower risk of bladder, breast, ovary, prostate and color cancer, and it has cholesterol reducing properties. What can't kale do? 

On top of all of this: it's absolutely delicious. 

Another one of my new obsessions?

Plum tomatoes.

I hate raw tomatoes, I'm the worst vegan on the planet. Roasted though? Super yum. 

Tomatoes are awesome for you, too!

They're chock full of essential nutrients like lycopene, which wards off certain cancers as well as heart disease, Vitamin C (we all love immunity!) and Vitamin A, which is beneficial for vision and skin!

Here, I've combined these two amazing foods to create something absolutely delish.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, once I make this again (which is definitely happening ASAP) I'll post some!

Whole Wheat Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Kale

Time: 1 Hour | Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients
2 Servings of Whole Wheat Rotini
3 Ripe Plum Tomatoes
1 Bunch of Kale
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Nutritional Yeast or Vegan Parmesan (Optional)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400F. 
2. Remove kale from stems and tear it into small pieces.
3. Boil your pasta to al dente.
4. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil and place on cookie sheet. Roast for 35-40 minutes, turning once.
5.  Pour remaining olive oil into a skillet, heat on medium until hot. Sauté garlic for 2 minutes, then add kale and sauté until soft.
6. Remove tomatoes from oven and slice. Add to the garlic and kale and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
7. Add pasta
8. Serve warm and enjoy!

Genius.

Today, as the bored people of our generation typically do, I found myself playing on the internet. With the endless cat videos and "Thanks, Obama" photos, who knows where you can end up. I ultimately found myself in a strange corner of YouTube full of daily and weekly vloggers: twenty-somethings who are paid to tape themselves being fools. A dream. I came upon the following video:

Macachos. Macaroni and cheese nachos. As any other cheese and chip loving American would be, I was sold. I immediately posted the link to my brother, Nick's, Facebook wall, telling him that as soon as he got home, we were making Macachos.
Surprisingly, Nick, a 22 year old college senior, was not quite as excited as I was. His response?  "I feel like you should make a channel similar to this". And there was my inspiration. While I'm not one to video tape my every move, why not blog about all of my foodie adventures? And you know what? I'm going to try and adapt all of my recipes to be "not-quite-so-bad-for-you". I'd like to make most of my recipes as diet-friendly as possible.  
However, I'm also on a mission to become fit. This past winter, I discovered that, although I could do dozens of squats, I cannot do a single push up. So, in addition to my cooking, I'll be keeping you up to date with workouts, events, and meal plans!
So there it is, internet, the launch of my new blog: The (eventually) Tiny Chef!