Light Swiss Chard Pasta

These chards are mezmerizing in a sci-fi kind of way, don’t you think? We’ve been buying one bunch (at $3) almost every week, and tend to eat these toward the end of the week after we’ve eaten the more perishable vegetables first. Swiss chard is an excellent source of bone-building vitamin K and calcium, manganese, and magnesium; vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E; energy-producing B vitamins; heart-healthy potassium and dietary fiber; and energy-producing iron. It’s also a source of zinc and folate.

Our favorite way to use this vegetable is by preparing a simple pasta dish. I know some people don’t recommend eating the stems, but we like to get our money’s worth, so absolutely nothing for us is wasted. This dish is simple, healthy, and very affordable (just $5 for 4 servings!) – notice any trend with the food posts on this blog? The taste is really mild, so you can spruce it up by incorporating more spices, particularly black pepper. We always add more zing to our light dishes with raw garlic.

Light Swiss Chard Pasta

Ingredients (4 Servings):

• 1 large bunch swiss chard
• 1 package whole wheat noodles
• Olive oil
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Red pepper flakes
• Nutritional yeast (optional)
• 2 cloves raw garlic, chopped small (optional)

Method:

• Wash chard, and cut into 1 to 2  inch pieces (for us, stems included).
• In a large pot, bring water to a boil.
• Add chard to the boiling water (we do this to free up the acids) and cook uncovered for about 2 to 3 minutes, then drain the liquid from the chard.
• Rinse the pot with water, fill up with new water, bring water to boil,  cook whole wheat noodles al dente, then drain.
• Toss noodles and chard together on medium-low heat with generous amount of olive oil, black pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and nutritional yeast for about 3 minutes.
• Top with raw garlic (optional)