Braised Greens & Garlicky Pasta
Capers & garlic are a very common theme for me, when it comes to my dinners. I think that the two flavors compliment each other as well as adding a bit of briny, saltiness. I’ll saute some garlic and capers and add them to just about anything; pasta, roasted potatoes or beets, grilled zucchini just to name a few.
You can tweak this recipe to use whatever seasonal greens and other goodies you have. Currently I’m loaded up with swiss chard and kale so that’s what I’ve used. I also had a lot of shitake mushrooms & cherry tomatoes so I added them for more texture. If you want to add some tomatoes, do so after you’ve cooked the mushrooms.
I do this saute at least twice a week. It’s that good.
serves 2, but I eat this much by myself so…
Ingredients:
*2 1/2 c dry pasta
OR
3 large potatoes & 3 beets*
both of the above options go perfectly with the greens and garlic*
1 bunch greens, rinsed and roughly chopped, tough ribs removed if necessary (swiss chard, kale, spinach, escarole, etc…)
2 T expeller pressed olive oil or refined coconut oil (refined is better for cooking so you don’t get a coconut-y flavor, unrefined is better for raw desserts)
3 cloves garlic
3 T capers, rinsed
1 c chopped mushrooms; portobello, shitake and maitake all work well
1/2 c veggie stock
2 T cooking sherry or red wine vinegar
1/4 c nutritional yeast (aka – nooch)
salt & pepper to taste
*If you are going to roast potatoes and/or beets, start that ahead of time. Chop potatoes & beets into evenly sized cubes, toss with a little grapeseed or olive oil and bake them on a parchment lined baking sheet for 45-60 minutes, until beets are fork tender and potatoes are starting to brown. The larger you cube them, the longer they will take to roast.*
*Get your pasta water boiling if you’re going to toss this with pasta. You want to aim for the pasta to be almost al dente by the time your greens are just about done.*
Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
Add the oil.
Chop the garlic and add it and the capers to the pan.
Reduce heat to medium low.
Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan, stir to combine and cover.
get your pasta cooking by now! You will want it to be cooked to about 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time on the package. By adding your al dente pasta to your sauce, it will absorb all that delicious flavor instead of just the plain water.
Let the mushrooms sweat out their moisture under the cover for about 7-10 minutes. Check and see when they have reduced in size and look soft.
Remove the cover, increase the heat to medium and add the sherry or vinegar.
Let it bubble away for 30 seconds or so and then add the greens. Adding the sherry or vinegar to the hot pan will loosen all the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan and create the beginning of a nice sauce.
Add the veggie stock and the nutritional yeast, stir to combine.
Reduce heat back to low and let the greens simmer and soften.
Add your drained pasta into your sauce pan to soak up the remaining liquid.
Mix and let the sauce absorb for another minute or two and then remove from the heat and serve. You don’t want to leave the pasta in the saucepan for too long, otherwise it will turn to mush.
Add fresh chopped parsley or basil if desired.
Enjoy!
Eat More Plants. 
2 Responses to “Braised Greens & Garlicky Pasta”
Hmm I can’t decide which one looks more delicious, guess I’ll have to try both! Thanks for sharing these two beautiful dishes!
Love fresh basil!!