Meatless Monday in more ways than one.....

Today is Meatless Monday.  Our pigs thought so too.  Today was the day they were scheduled to go to slaughter.  They had other ideas.  It was just me, Frank and Frank's brother, Dan, trying to corral these pigs and convince them they wanted to go into the trailer and go on a field trip.  They did not believe us.  I wish there would have been a 4th person just to man a camera so that all of you could have a good belly laugh at our expense.  It was a sad, sad affair.  I was knocked onto my butt 4 times. I rode on the back of a pig twice and once I thought for sure the poor, scared thing was going to bite me.  Moral of the story:  No pigs going to market on this Monday that they obviously think should be meatless!  We have a whole crew coming tomorrow afternoon to try to help us get them into the trailer.  Wish us luck!!

The good news is that all of that fighting with pigs counted as active minutes on my fitbit and then I had yoga tonight as well.

While I was yogaing (I think that's a word, or at least it should be) Frank prepared our Meatless Monday dinner.  Tonight's dinner comes from Gourmet Meals in Minutes from the Culinary Institute of America.

This is one of those cookbooks that, each time you open it, you see something you missed before. This week I was looking specifically for a Meatless Monday meal so I was seeing recipes that I had overlooked in the past.  The recipe I finally decided on was Orechiette with Cannellini Beans and Spinach.  Except I had no Orechiette so I substituted Shells and we halved the recipe because it was for 8 servings and there were only 3 of us having dinner.  Frank said, other than that, he made the recipe as written except that he did not feel that there was enough broth when he halved it so he added another 1/2 cup to make it 1 cup total broth for half the recipe.

It was so nice to come upstairs from Yoga and find this lovely bowl of Pasta ready.

It was delicious with a touch of a bite from the crushed red pepper.

I think when I make this again I will double not only the broth as Frank did but the spinach as well.

But, then, we are spinach lovers in this house so there can never be too much.

Pasta with Cannellini Beans and Spinach

adapted from Gourmet Meals in Minutes

1/2 T. olive oil

1/2 of a large sweet onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (15 oz) can organic cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 c. vegetable broth

1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes

salt to taste

1/2 lb. pasta shells or orechiette

1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over med high heat.  Add the onion and saute until golden brown, 10-12 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook a couple of minutes more. Add the beans, broth, red pepper and salt.  Simmer over medium heat until sauce slightly thickens, 10-15 minutes.

Cook the pasta per package directions. Drain pasta and add to skillet along with the baby spinach. Toss together and pour into large pasta bowl. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.  Print Recipe