More Vegetables

One of my New Year's resolutions, which is a bit odd given the fact that I'm primarily a vegetarian (excepting seafood), is to eat more vegetables and fruits. It seems nonsensical, but I want to incorporate a wider variety of fruits and vegetables into the day. This looks something like: breakfast of hearty oatmeal including slivered almonds, dried coconut, dates, flax meal, and wheat bran. Lunch: some kind of main + piece of fruit. Snack: nuts + fruit or vegetable. Dinner: main + veggie.

I like the creative challenge of incorporating vegetables into older recipes like the tortilla casserole or focusing on new recipes that already feature a wide array of herbaceous plants. In this recipe, which was originally for a basil-pea pasta, I replaced the basil with chard and added in walnuts for protein, leaving out the ricotta for frugality. The lemon zest and lemon juice are the perfect complement to the chard and walnuts! Points for being a fast and easy weeknight dinner. Note, leftovers are less desirable as both the pasta and peas tend to dry out with reheating. 

Lemony Chard Spaghetti  (serves 4)
300 - 400 g spaghetti (depends on your preferred pasta: veggie ratio, I would lean towards 300)
1 c. frozen peas (if you use 400 g spaghetti, increase to 1.5 c.)
2-4 c. chopped chard leaves (could use spinach)
1/3- 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 lemon, zest of entire lemon, plus 1/4 - 1/3 c. juice
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp thyme
2-4 Tbs olive oil
ricotta* optional

1. Bring salted pot of water to boil. Add pasta.
2. Saute the garlic in 2 Tbs olive oil until golden (on med-heat) in a separate pan.
3. Add in chard, red pepper flakes, thyme, lemon zest, and lemon juice and saute until chard is tender. Remove from heat and stir in walnuts.
4. When the pasta is almost done, add the frozen peas in. Drain everything when cooked. Stir the chard mixture through the pasta and peas. Top with ricotta if desired! Add salt and pepper to taste.