easy weeknight pasta

As I was driving home from work on Thursday evening, I was mentally going through the items in my fridge and pantry to figure out what we could eat for dinner. Normally, I outline the week's meals over the prior weekend (which I generally find necessary to ensure we eat all of the produce from 2 weekly CSA deliveries without letting any of the food spoil or go to waste). But last weekend my mother was in town (fun, but busy) and this week has been crazy with work, so I'm figuring out weeknight meals as I go.

Criteria for this particular night: 1) something fast (it was already 8pm as I was commuting the 20-some miles from work to home) and 2) something healthy. Here's what I did:

Easy Weeknight Pasta

Serves 2

6 oz. angel hair pasta

olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

leaves from 3 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped

a handful of mushrooms, sliced

about 15 kalamata olives, pits removed and sliced

1 bunch greens, roughly chopped*

1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes

balsamic vinegar

crumbled feta

*I used swiss chard, stems removed. Collard greens or spinach would also be good.

Heat a pot of water for the pasta. While water is warming, heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add oregano and mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are soft, stirring occasionally. Add olives and chopped greens. Cook, stirring occasionally, until greens start to become tender and bright green. Add tomatoes (juice and all) and 1-2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar. By this time, your pasta water should be boiling - add the pasta. Continue to cook the veggies, stirring occasionally, until pasta is done.

Drain pasta and divide between bowls. Top with veggie mixture and sprinkle with crumbled feta. 

This might be a record in our house for a speedy, healthy dinner - JR helped with the chopping, which meant that from the time I pulled the onion out of the pantry to the time we sat down with hot bowls of food was only about 15 minutes. 

Depending on your desired veggie/pasta ratio, you may end up with leftover veggies (we did). I used the remaining veggies for brunch this morning by mixing them into scrambled eggs. Yum!