Mediterranean Pasta with Greens

If you are looking for a fresh and delicious pasta dish, this is definitely worth a try. The Mediterranean Pasta dish has been a favorite of ours from our very first try. This recipe comes from the cook book Clean Food by Terry Walters.

Ingrediants:
1 pound Penne or Fusilli
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1 small Onion, chopped
1 tablespoon dried Basil
2 teaspoons dried Oregano
1 1/2 cups canned Chickpeas
2 cups canned diced Tomatoes with their liquid
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
1/4 cup Mirin (sweet cooking sake)
1 small bunch Kale, chopped into bite-size pieces
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper (We like to use everyday seasoning from Trader Joes)
Chopped fresh Parsley for garnish

Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions on package. Rinse, drain, and return to the pot. Drizzle with one tablespoon olive oil and set aside.
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, saute garlic and onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft (about 3 min). Add basil, oregano, chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato paste, and mirin. Saute for 5 minutes longer. Add the kale, then cover and cook for 3 minutes or until soft. Uncover and stir to combine all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper and toss with the pasta. Cook to heat through, then garnish with parsley.

The dish is so fresh tasting, flavorful, and still light. It is a great alternative to your everyday pasta with red sauce and it provides greater health benefits as well!

Whole-Wheat Pasta Dish & Brussel Sprouts

Tonight for dinner we tried a recipe we saw on the food network, prepared by Giada de Laurentiis. It is a light pasta dish made more substantial from the whole wheat pasta.

Whole-Wheat Linguine with Green Beans, Ricotta, and Lemon:
This is her recipe, also with our alterations:
1 pound whole-wheat linguine (we used whole-wheat spaghetti)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound French green beans, trimmed and halved lengthwise (we used baby broccoli instead)
1 clove garlic, chopped (we used 3)
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 lemon, zested (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Toss to combine.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans (or broccoli), garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta with ricotta to the pan with the green beans (broccoli) and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and gently toss. Transfer to a serving plate and top with lemon zest (optional). 

For more vegetables we also baked some Brussel sprouts. This vegetable has a wonderful flavor, but is often prepared bland, so people don't typically cook or eat them very often. But give them a try! They are so easy to prepare and can taste very good!


You will need:
Brussel Sprouts (any amount you would like)
Olive Oil
Garlic
Pepper (Trader Joes sells a great Everyday seasoning pepper with much more flavor)
Rosemary (optional) 


Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the ends off the brussel sprouts, peel off the outer leaves, and cut them into halves or quarters (depending on their size). Place them in a baking dish so that all of the pieces touch the bottom of the dish. Next drizzle some olive oil on them, add some pepper and combine. Then you can add either chopped or smashed garlic along with the rosemary if you would like.
Bake for about 15 min. then stir them (they may be ready or may need more time). If the thinner leaves are turning brown you should take them out. 

Here is the Pasta Dish along with the Brussel sprouts: 
The pasta was good, but not extremely impressive. We definitely recommend giving Brussel sprouts a chance!