Spaghetti and Greens

I was really hungry last night and I wanted to use up a bunch of green vegetables that were sitting in my fridge, and things in my pantry.

This is what I had:

Spaghetti and Greens:

1/2 packet of Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Spaghetti from Trader Joe's
1 head of broccoli, sliced up into florets and the stems trimmed
1 bunch of beet greens (the leaves on top of the beets... I had these left over from the roasted beet salad on saturday), ripped up into big chunks
1/2 bunch of green chard, the stems sliced thinly and the leaves ripped apart.
5 basil leaves, julienned
Small handful of italian parsley, julienned
2 cloves garlic, chopped largely
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

- Heat large pan over medium heat. Add oil after the pan is hot, and let it heat up. Once the oil starts smoking, quickly add the chopped garlic, chard stems, and broccoli.
- Stir the mixture for 3 minutes to prevent the garlic from burning, and then add the chard leaves and beet greens. Cook this mixture for another 5-8 minutes, until the broccoli does not have the bitter flavor anymore (they should still be crunchy when eating).
- After boiling the pasta to al dente, add it to the greens with a couple spoons of the pasta water over medium heat. Cook for a couple more minutes, and then add the basil and parsley and stir again.
- If you feel like there isn't enough "sauce" coating the pasta, you can add a couple more spoons of olive oil after turning off the heat.
- Just stir it up, and you're ready to serve it.

For me, the pasta was accompanied with some toast and olive tapenade, and a nice goat cheese, argula, and spinach salad with a balsamic dressing.

It was quick and satisfying.