Pasta & White Beans with Chunky Cheezy Vegetable Sauce

I wandered into the kitchen last night with only the vaguest plan for dinner. In knew I had white beans already cooked and that was about it. I put a pot of water up to boil and took out my container of Instant Cheez-It dry sauce mix from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. A plan was developing!

I mixed a double batch of the Instant Cheez-It sauce (1 cup of mix to 2 cups of water) and added a dash of olive oil to it. I put this over medium low heat, whisking every few minutes while I began chopping some very iffy looking tomatoes. I then chopped some roasted red peppers and a fairly huge amount of kale, saving the stems for another time. Once the Instant Cheez-It sauce began to thicken I tossed in the tomatoes, peppers and kale.

By this time the water had boiled and the pasta was already cooking. Just before the pasta was completely cooked I added the already cooked beans to the boiling water to heat them. Once the pasta was tender, I drained the bean/pasta mixture.

By then the cheez sauce was thick enough and the kale was wilted, so I mixed it into the pasta/bean mixture. The result was unbelievably good. No complaints about taking leftovers for lunch today!