A Simple Spring Pasta

As many of you may or may not know, I am counting down the days until I get married. Counting down with joy or terror? Verdict is still out. I have found myself concerned over the strangest things...things that have never crossed my mind in the past. Let's just take the invitations for example, here I was trying to decide on a FONT and PAPER. I've never EVER looked at a letter or invitations to something and been like "Oh, what lovely font they chose to use" or "This cardstock is just beautiful." I actually don't even know what cardstock is!!!

Anyways, there's been a lot of strange drama, BUT, one excellent aspect of getting married (you know, besides committing to Matt...) is that I had a bridal shower! This bridal shower was lots of fun with lots of food and I walked away with a TON of great kitchen (and other) stuff.

One great thing about being good friends with a relatively accomplished food blogger is that she shows up, helps host an AWESOME bachelorette party, and gives AWESOME bridal shower gifts. My good friend Maris of the ever so classy In Good Taste blog gave me a hand mixer (which is SO awesome) and a cookbook that I had never heard of. This cookbook, called "Clean Food" by Terry Walters, although not on my registry, was pretty exciting to me. I immediately loved the book without even opening it (which just goes to show how much I trust Maris' opinion on cookbooks), but when I got home (and recovered) from the weekend and read the introduction, I realized that I loved what this book stood for. Sure this book is basically vegan, but Terry Walters never comes out and CLAIMS vegan because that's not the point. The titles and terms we categorize ourselves in can turn others off. Instead, Terry has created an awesome book that encourages seasonal and local produce.

LOVE!

So, I took a stab at one of the more simple recipes in the "Spring" section. This was a recipe for Mediterranean Pasta with Greens.

The only thing I really messed up was that I didn't use mirin (once again, used sherry), and I used canned chickpeas (the cooked ones I had in the frigde had gone bad). Oh, and I also didn't use any parsley. I find that herb to be useless...I'm sorry.

This was SUCH a simple yet pleasant dish. With TONS of leftovers. I feel like Matt and I tend towards the really LOUD flavors and this dish reminded us that sometimes, the more subtle flavors can be just as satisfying.

That's not to say that Matt didn't add hot sauce.

We're trying...

Here's the recipe for Mediterranean Pasta with Greens from "Clean Food."

Ingredients:

1 pound penne or fusilli
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 TBSP dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 1/2 C. cooked chickpeas
2 C. canned diced tomatoes with their liquid
2 TBSP tomato paste
1/4 C. mirin
1 small bunch kale, chopped into bite-size pieces
salt and pepper
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions, rinse, drain, and return to pot. Drizzle with 1 TBSP olive oil and set aside.

In large pot over medium heat, saute garlic and onion in 2 TBSP olive oil until soft. Add basil, oregano, chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato paste and mirin. Saute 5 minutes laonger. Add kale, then cover and cook 3 minutes or until soft. Uncover and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, toss the pasta in, heat through and serve.