I’ve been tired of the same old, same old for lunch lately. I’ve gotten stuck in a rut having the same thing over and over. The kids don’t seem to mind, but I do! Also, I’m really looking for GOOD food and I’m just stora eating lunch to get me through til dinner, but not really enjoying it.

Also since we are homeschooling I don’t have a lot of time to get lunch on the table and by the time I start you’d think the kids were going to die of starvation and that I hadn’t fed them a morstle for the last 30 days! I also REALLY dislike making lunch as I just want to eat and get kids to rest time so that I can have some rest time as well.

All that adds up to quick lunches that don’t hold a lot of excitement for me! Also, the kids love corn elbow mac, but since we aren’t doing dairy there aren’t very many options to put on top. We had been doing a lot of pesto all summer while the basil was proliferating, but that is now used and done for the season.

I did my usual internet searching to get some ideas. I used this recipe from Produce on Parade. I was really suprised at how good it was and it really made the sauce creamy. It wasn’t too strong of a flavor, but it was enough to add flavor to the pasta. The kids liked it which is always fantastic too!

Of course as per my usual as well, I used the recipe as a guide, but did my own thing. The recipe posted below has a lot in common with the one on Produce on Parade, but I also added some of what I wanted as well.

I highly recommend it and hope you give it a try!

Mac n’ Green Ginger Coconut Sauce
Ingredients:

• 16 oz. corn macaroni or gluten free mac of choice
• 1/2 Tbsp. lard or coconut oil
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 bunch of fresh Swiss chard, de-stemmed
• 1 15 oz. can full fat coconut milk
• ½ cup steamed cauliflower
• Splash of maple syrup
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• Sriracha (optional)
• Non-dairy cheese (optional)

Instructions:

1. Boil water to cook the pasta
2. Cook until al dente
3. Saute the garlic and ginger until soft
4. Add water and Swiss chard
5. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes until chard is wilted and softened.
6. While pasta and chard are cooking add the rest of the ingredients: the coconut milk through the fresh basil to a high powered blender (AKA [amazon_link id=”B008H4SLV6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]VitaMix[/amazon_link])
7. When chard, garlic and ginger is finished cooking add to blender and puree until smooth
8. Pour desired amount of sauce over the pasta and top with non-dairy cheese and sriracha if desired.

We liked our smothered in sauce!

This recipe actually made double what we needed for a 16 oz bag of pasta. So we will have more for lunch later this week, or I may add some grilled chicken to the pasta and serve for dinner.

I did originally make this for a lunch and it only took 30 minutes from walking into the kitchen to food on the table! Super quick and simple and delicious!

Let me know what you think once you give it a try!