Healthy Greens pasta (with a kick!)

A while ago I featured cookin' greens, the frozen bag of chopped greens in my holiday appetizer post and today I'm sharing a quick healthy pasta ideas!

I love delicious dishes that come together using leftovers.  Here I threw together a dish that used my favourite pizza sauce which has been laying around in the fridge (watch out, it's spicy because it's got GINGER in it! Dry and tons of fresh grated ginger root)    My ginger sauce is also the base of the dipping sauce I used for my mini lamb meatballs with the moroccan twist last week as an appetizer/light meal as well.

Now that I had this spicey tomato sauce on hand I knew it would stand up perfect to all those greens with character.

I used rotini in three colours, but honestly I think what would have been perfect is if I had some spelt or kamut pasta in the pantry, I just love sinking my teeth into the healthy and hearty pasta!  Need to get some (you'll find it in your organic section at the local supermarket)

I boiled the pasta, set aside.

I steamed the greens adding a bit of chicken stock, use veggie if you want to go vegetarian since this dish has no meat in it.

Once the greens are steamed, stir in the tomato sauce and toss with pasta.  Add some chili flakes if you like it spicy!

Perfect for a rainy winter day!

I steamed a bit and threw it in with the sauce.  It was totally delicious!

Kale Chips

Here's a healthy snacking recipe!

Kale chips, they've been all over the internet lately and I was shocked to see people carrying little bags of the stuff at my local farmers market the last time I was there.

When I found the vendor selling them, boy were they expensive!

So here's my attempt at making them.

Ingredients:

A bunch of kale.

To clean: run the knife down the stem to remove the leaves and discard the stems (or use them if that's what you do - I haven't a clue)

Cut them in evenly sized pieces (bite size sort of - remember they do shrink so keep them a little larger)

- Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Now that's your basic recipe above. Now go crazy and season the way you like.

I went with:

- Hungarian Smoked Paprika

-A squeeze of lemon juice

- Garlic

- Finely grated dry aged cheese (in my case master's choice beemster - which is a dutch cheese)

Use Parmigiano-Reggiano, an old aged cheddar or any strong dry cheese so it gives a punch of flavour without liquid or gooeyness which will only weigh the chips down (we're not making nachos here!)

Ok so get a pan and line it with parchment (I know I didn't do this in my instructional photos and that's because I forgot the parchment paper on my last shopping trip)

You want a big pan and to spread the kale pieces out.

At this point heat your oven to 375 F.

Drizzle olive oil on your kale, just a light drizzle. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and whatever spices you like. Grate the garlic and toss with your hands to coat everything.

Spread it in an even layer.

Now squeeze the lemon over and sprinkle the cheese (do not toss after this!)

Bake for 12 mins (set your timer!) and then give it a check and finish another 3 minutes if needed. You can flip them or move them around the pan. If the tiny pieces are done then remove them and allow the larger pieces to finish baking until crisp and dry. (they should still be greenish and not brown or burnt)

So the whole pan shrunk down into that one dessert plate. I started out with about 1/3 of a bunch of kale.


I think next time I'll do spices and lemon alone for a fresh version and cheese and garlic for a "comfort food" version.

Enjoy!