Healthy Lunch Challenge 3

Week 3 – whole grain pasta with spinach and tomato sauce:
Prep Time: 20 mins
Taste: 9/10

This was a phenomenal recipe. I made a couple servings worth and ate it both hot and cold, and it tasted great both ways. It’s light enough that it doesn’t make you feel gross, but it’s enough to keep you full throughout the school day.

     1. Boil whole grain pasta (the stuff from a box). I used about a third of a box, which is about 6 (?) oz. The water can be salted, but there’s really no need. If you look on the side of the box, it will tell you how long to cook the pasta for it to be al dente (listen to the box!! Otherwise, the pasta will get soggy after a day or two when sitting in the sauce).

     2. As the pasta is cooking, dice two to three tomatoes (depending on how much you like) and mince garlic.

     3. Combine garlic, tomatoes, and white canned cannellini beans in a saucepan. Keep cooking until the tomatoes are kind of soggy. Then add in spinach leaves, and keep stirring until they’ve wilted. This part is so easy, you can really just wing it in terms of time and amount of ingredients, and there’s a 99% chance it’ll still end up amazing. Give it another minute, and you’ve got your sauce!

     4. Drain pasta and combine with sauce. You can top it with shredded cheese if you want (do it!!!!!) – I used Gruyere

*Ed. Note – also good with swiss chard or kale in addition to/instead of spinach