Pasta.
Pasta is one of the most versatile and inexpensive foods out there. Dry or fresh, shaped or not, it's a great go-to food. For those that don't know, my love for fashion is equivalent for my passion for food. Pasta is like the perfect black dress. You can dress it up or just strip it down. One of my favorite ways to eat pasta is with a few cloves of garlic, freshly shaved parm reg, lemon juice and some really fabulous, sexy extra virgin olive oil (yes, sexy). Like most "foodies," I like my pasta al dente. Using little ingredients really help elevate the simplicity of such a modest food. It can be a side dish or the main star.
I was in search of a new spaghetti recipe that didn't involve a red or white sauce. When I was cruising Epicurious, I found this recipe for Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Broccoli, Chickpeas and Garlic. While reading it, my mind raced with alternative ingredients that would suite my palette. I still followed the directions, but made some minor changes along the way. I used...
- Regular pasta (if you're like me, you have boxes upon boxes of dried pasta in your pantry. Why buy when you can use what you have?).
- Red pepper flakes to infused my olive oil.
- Cannelini beans.
- Fresh broccoli - I cooked the broccoli with the pasta in the last 1.5 minutes of cooking time.
- Baby spinach (I had half a carton of it in the fridge, so I wanted to use it up)
- Sun-dried tomatoes.
- Fresh squeezed lemon juice for garnish.
I truly enjoyed this dish and my husband was pleasantly surprised. The beans and extra veggies make it a hearty dish; omnivores will not miss the meat. Many of the reviews suggested lemon juice, which gave it a nice and fresh tart flavor. I made this dish again last night, and doubled the amount of baby spinach and used cauliflower instead of broccoli. It was fantastic!
I highly encourage you to try this recipe out and to try adding your favorite veggies to it.
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