Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pasta with Beans and Greens


It's been awhile since I posted a recipe so I thought I'd share one today since I made this last night and actually remembered to take some pictures. This is a wonderfully easy, nutritious, and super fast recipe that we like to make all year long, but particularly when beautiful bright green spinach is starting to show up in the local farmer’s market.

My trusty assistant doing a superb cleaning job on the leaves.
Aren't they a gorgeous green?
The leaves, not the hands of my assistant.....


Pasta with Beans and Greens

1 can of organic navy beans, drained
Olive oil (about a tablespoon)
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1 med onion chopped
White wine about ¼ cup
2 bunches of spinach (This really cooks down fast, see before and after below.)
Cooked Pasta (I usually use 8 oz for 3 people but you can stretch this and add more to feed a larger group)
salt to taste


Bring your pasta water to a boil while you sauté the onion in some olive oil until it's wilted and golden. Then add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the beans and the wine. Start your pasta. Then add the spinach (slice these into manageable pieces). Once all the leaves are wilted, give the sauce a couple more minutes to cook but not too long, you want the leaves to still be green. Add the pasta and a little of the pasta water. Eat! Yum!
The whole process takes about 20 minutes tops.

We like to serve this with a bit of grated Parmesan and some hot chili oil on top…
Before

After



You can substitute chard, a little fresh basil or oregano, and some fresh chopped tomatoes in the summer; kale, thyme, and peppers in the fall. The meat lovers can throw in some Italian sausage, use different cooked beans, and you can even sub cooked diced potatoes for pasta! There are tons of variations so use whatever is in season and available for a super yummy dinner in no time.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A Forest Fairy

I have been seriously remiss in blog posting...no excuse really except I didn't have much to say. The events of the world have been pretty depressing lately and I've been indulging in a lot of time reading and enjoying the lovely weather to help lift my spirits. I've also been working on some art dolls...hooray! I've got two still in the works but one is finished so I can share her with you today.

My forest fairy! Do you recognize the fabric in her top? I posted about making it way back here. So it's only taken me a year to get her made? Sheesh!


The funny thing about this doll is that my vision of her was completely different from the final result. She's one of those dolls with a definite mind of her own. I saw her with a long, flowing gown and long, wavy, loose hair...as you can see she had her own ideas. I find that it's usually best to go with what a doll wants, they're awfully good at the silent treatment you know. So we ended up with pants and braids, which of course are much more practical for jaunts through a forest, so you see she did know best.


Do you ever have bossy dolls or am I just completely crazy?