I absolutely love to cook, I really do, but there are some nights that I just don't want to get into a big project. But I don't want to be stuffing my face with unhealthy stuff either (this is way easier said than done... cheese and bread, oof). I was in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago and I was perusing the aisles (does anyone else, LOVE grocery shopping), when I came upon a glorious thing: whole wheat, quinoa pasta?! YES. It is only made of whole wheat flour and quinoa flour. AND, it's delicious.
The dish I made was discussed in detail the night before with a friend of mine. We agreed that olive oil should be the "sauce." So this is what I did: I poured a bunch of olive oil in a saute pan and I sliced four cloves of garlic and I let the garlic infuse with the oil on low heat for a couple of minutes while I was cooking the pasta. Then I washed some of the infinite amounts of chard I'd been getting in my farm share and I cut some green tomatoes (nice and tart!). When the pasta was drained, I put the chard in the pan and the pasta on top of the chard, and tossed it together. Here's my thing about chard and all leafy things: gooey is gross. I just can't wrap my head around that gooey, leafy texture. So I opted for the "don't cook and see what happens" method. It worked really well. The heat of the pasta gave the chard a bit of a cook but it still maintained a lovely crunch. I also kept the green tomatoes raw. I like doing this because it feels fresh when you're eating! The finishing touches to this creation were a squeeze of lemon and a little parmesan cheese because let's be honest, life is always a little bit better with cheese. You could also do this with kale or spinach, or roast some butternut squash. The possibilities are endless and delicious. I will obviously be perusing the aisles of my grocery store more frequently. Genius!
Pasta
1 box whole wheat quinoa pasta
3/4 cup olive oil
4-6 garlic cloves, sliced
a large handful of greens (chard, kale, spinach)
2 medium green tomatoes
1/2 lemon
parmesan cheese
I am certainly going to try this soon! I love meat free recipes! =)
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