Kale & Chickpeas with Creamy Cashew Sauce

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This is another one of our favorite meals, the cashew sauce is super decadent and you won’t believe it’s actually non-dairy. Who knew raw cashews could be turned into something so delicious! My toddler and hubby love this dish and ask for it often… my daughter says “cweme sauce peas Mommy” (for those of you who understand 2-year old lingo!). This makes fantastic leftovers as well, great for those nights when you are too tired to cook! The red and green colors are so festive, this would be an excellent holiday dish!
Cashew Sauce… YUMMY!!

The original recipe is from one of my favorite food blogs Fat Free Vegan Kitchen – I don’t think I’ve ever made anything off her site we didn’t like.

I usually triple the cashew cream sauce and double the rest of the recipe so I have extra sauce in the end. This goes well with quinoa and it’s so easy to make!

I buy my quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) at Costco – they have a 4 pound bag of organic quinoa for about $8, best price I’ve seen! We eat a ton of it, it’s really good for you! Quinoa has about 22 grams of protein per 1 cup serving!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup RAW cashews – make sure you buy raw cashews, you can find them in the bulk section at Sprouts
  • 1/2 cup hot water
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 clove garlic – I use about 2-3 cloves (I like extra!)
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon or broth powder
  • 1 large onion
  • 1/2 red bell pepper – I’ve left this out and it’s good without it too, if you don’t like red pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (or one 15-ounce can, rinsed and drained)
  • 1 bunch kale, central stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Hot sauce, to taste – YOU MUST USE SRIRACHA!!! IT’S THE BEST!!!
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh basil, minced

Ready to cook!

Instructions

  1. Soak the cashews for an hour in hot water or overnight in room-temperature water. Drain. Place them in a blender and add 3/4 cup water, 1 clove garlic, and 1 teaspoon of broth powder (or 1 bouillon cube). Blend at highest speed until completely smooth. Set aside until needed. (I use my Vita Mix blender for this)
  1. In a large non-stick skillet, cook the onion until it begins to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and garlic, and cook for another minute. Add the chickpeas, kale, and two tablespoons water. Cover immediately and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until kale is tender, about 5 minutes.
  1. Add the reserved cashew sauce, oregano, and salt, black pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens. If sauce becomes too thick, add a little water to thin. Add the fresh basil just before serving over quinoa.

Preparation time: 1 hour(s) | Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Oh and DON’T FORGET THE SRIRACHA!!!

18 thoughts on “Kale & Chickpeas with Creamy Cashew Sauce”

  1. Pingback: Thai “Chik-n” Broccoli Orange Pizza with Goaty Cheeze | Kid Tested Firefighter Approved

  2. Another winner! Thanks so much for taking the best recipes and putting them all in one place for me. I’m using your blog as my own recipe collection!

    Reply

  3. Pingback: Real-Deal Nacho Cheeze | Kid Tested Firefighter Approved

      • yes, I did use soaked cahews. But, I did not blend in a VitaMix! I have this cheap little food processor that I used. Do you think that was the “problem”? I was also missing the hot sauce!! 😦 Okay, I will get ready for you to come over and cook! Bring those cute children of yours too!!

      • How long did you soak the cashews? That might have been the issue, not powerful enough? Oh you’ve gotta use the Sriracha! Lol! Okay, you watch the kids and I’ll make you whatever you wish!! It’s a deal!!! 😉

  7. I can’t see that this is different at all from Fat Free Vegan’s recipe. It looks like the same recipe word-for-word. If yours is healthier, please point out the difference. I’d hate to miss an important step.

    Reply

    • You’re correct, this version is the same exact one. Oops! I write for another blog and featured this recipe with a few changes for that one. I added greens, removed the salt and removed the broth powder from the other site’s version because most of their readers are on no-salt diets. Thanks for noticing!!! 🙂

      Reply

  9. Omg…thanks for the great recipes! We have made this twice this week…the second time we substituted mushrooms for the pepper…holy cow…sooooo yummy!

    Reply

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