Summer Salad- Kale Pesto Pasta

 I wanted to bring an easy to serve and eat side dish to our beach picnic. We were meeting 10 other people to watch Casablanca on the Long Beach Sand for a big screen viewing. Jill made lobster rolls and I offered a pasta side dish. I brought Kale Pesto Pasta Salad, served in plastic cups with a fork and napkin. (not overly environmentally friendly, but very neat and easy clean up)
Kale is a power-food, easy to grow, and inexpensive to buy. I had heard of Kale pesto and had to try my own recipe. I began my searching at the Long Beach Farmers Market for heirloom cherry tomatoes, basil from my own garden and began my recipe.

Recipe
1/2 bag of frozen kale (defrosted for 2 minutes in microwave) I used frozen cause it's easier, but you can use fresh by removing stems and coarsely chopping before, flash boiling and then chilling in an ice-bath.
1 or 2- large clove(s) of garlic
1-cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup lemon juice
1- cup of extra virgin olive oil
1- cup of basil 
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
1-pint of heirloom tomatoes halved
1-lb of imported Italian rigatoni, or any large style macaroni


In a food processor pulse garlic, basil.. then add sunflower seeds and pulse. Add kale, lemon juice, salt, pepper then pour slowly the extra virgin olive and pulse until smooth .