Love for Food

After a long day I was in no mood to cook. I had a terrible day at work and all I wanted was to sit down to a nice dinner. It was also a few days before pay day so my options were limited. I was debating on having a protein shake for dinner. New York has been especially hot this summer and it would be quick to make. The more I thought about it the less likely I was going to make that shake. I felt like real, hot, food. Earlier in the week while perusing the WW site I clicked on one of the recipes of the day. The recipe was a spinach feta pasta. The pasta dish did not appeal to me at all. I printed it out and put it in my recipe file only because all of the ingredients I usually have already. OK so I didn't have the feta but the local Turkish store has reaaaallly good feta that is sold by weight. Not only is the feta delish but I can buy just enough for the dish I am making (usually costing about $1.50 for a four person dish). I thought more and more about that pasta dish and decided to give it a try. It was after all a choice between that pasta and the protein shake.
This pasta dish was easy but not super easy. It took me about a half an hour to complete. I was also required to do some chopping and prep work. When I finally sat down to eat, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the pasta was very flavorful and did not taste like a WW friendly dinner. Since it was soo yummy, I had to make sure to separate the four serving before I ate. I could easily see a mine field waiting in that big pot. As usual, the pasta serving is not that large but it's doable epically if you eat some veggies on the side. I cheated a bit and added some olive oil instead of the chicken broth. I didn't have any chicken broth and thought it would be a waste to buy a can for 1/4 cup. I never tried this dish with the broth or water but I think that the oil really adds a lot. I figured 1/4 cup of oil for four servings can't be all that bad.
One of the best parts is how versatile this dish is. I made it as was directed but you can also choose to add other veggies instead of the spinach or change the cheese to whatever you have in the house. On Sunday I was over at my aunt and uncle's and he made the same pasta dish. When I arrived I saw him cooking up some onions and garlic in oil. Next chopped up tomatoes were added. The final step was to add the pasta, some parm, and some olives to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Maybe this is a classic method of pasta making. For me this was already several steps beyond my usual Ragu and a novel method.Ingredients: Serves Four8 oz uncooked penne or any other pasta1 tsp table salt, for cooking pasta
1/4 cup(s) canned olive oil
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced8 oz spinach, washed, stemmed, coarsely chopped (about 5 cups)I found that I could have used some more since it wilts down so much
1/4 tsp dried oregano1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste1 cup(s) grape tomatoes, halved6 Tbsp crumbled feta cheeseI crumbed the feta so it almost blended in with the pasta to flavor it, instead of large chunks. The salt from the feta also helped the pasta get nice and tasty without added salt.Method:

• Cook penne in boiling salted water according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid before draining pasta.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add spinach, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add cooked penne, reserved cooking liquid and tomatoes to skillet. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until tomatoes are slightly pulpy, stirring occasionally, about 2 to 3 minutes; add cheese and heat through. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.