Easy, quick, and healthy pasta dish!

Here’s a pasta dish I love to make when I’m hungry and don’t feel like going to the store. I tend to have all of these ingredients on hand from my grocery list for the week, and I just vary it up based on what I have. Tonight I did it with chicken. It’s really healthy and filling.

Here’s the recipe with notes on how I adjust it to what I have:

*FYI-I'm not giving amounts b/c you can put as much or as little of each item that you want. You really can't mess this recipe up.

Whole wheat pasta

Sometimes I use thin spaghetti, sometimes fusilli, sometimes bowties. I love the Garafalo brand from Harris Teeter (comes in spaghetti, fusilli, and bowtie form) or I’ll do the Barilla whole grain thin spaghetti.

Some type of protein -I did chicken tonight but sometimes I’ll do shrimp or chicken sausage

Cherry or grape tomatoes

Chopped onion (whatever you have – red, white, yellow)

Garlic - a few cloves

Extra virgin olive oil

A little bit of some type of liquid to deglaze the pan (either chicken or veggie stock or even better, white wine!)

Fresh baby spinach (lots!)

Red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

Lemon (optional, but definitely if you do shrimp)

Some type of fresh herb – basil, Italian parsley (also optional)

Parmesan cheese

Here’s how I do it and it’s only takes 20 minutes or less.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss tomatoes in EVOO, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Place on baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes.
3. Bring pasta water to boil. Salt water and add pasta. Cook until done.
4. Meanwhile, when the tomatoes and pasta are almost done, sauté the onion with a little bit of oil in a saute pan. Toss in the protein and cook through (remember shrimp takes only about 2 minutes).
5. Toss in red pepper flakes, maybe some lemon juice, salt, pepper…
6. Deglaze pan with some white wine or broth if you’d like
7. At the very end, toss in a bunch of fresh baby spinach and let it wilt. Then toss in the tomatoes (they will be cooked enough that they’ll break up as your stir, or break them up with a potato masher on the baking sheet beforehand and then pour in).
8. Toss in pasta, fresh herbs, and Parmesan cheese. Stir all together and enjoy! I also do a little more Parmesan cheese on top at the end after I pour it in my dish to make it pretty.

*And for those who read my entry from a few days ago, I did eat this dinner tonight with the TV off and at my kitchen table. I’m still eating faster than I should, but at least I’m paying more attention to what I’m putting in my mouth and not focused on the TV. Go me!