When I was pregnant with my oldest kiddo, 6 years ago, I came upon this recipe in my doctor’s office. I found it in some pregnancy magazine, committed it to memory and have been making it since. Over the years we’ve added things, like pine nuts and bacon (and I think I’m going to throw in goat cheese next time).

This makes for a ridiculously fast, healthy, and yummy dinner complete with leftovers for the next day. You can add veggies in, or meat – its delicious with grilled chicken. So a very flexible recipe, indeed.

As always, we’d love to hear how you alter it for your family! Be sure to leave us a comment and let us know!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound 100% whole wheat spaghetti or linguine noodles
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 bag of washed baby spinach or 1 bunch of spinach leaves
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (can add more after everything has been tossed with the noodles, if needed)
• Few shakes of red pepper flakes (to your liking)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• Freshly shredded mozzarella to toss in at the end, optional 

METHOD:

1. Cook your pasta according to package directions. With only one minute left of cooking time, add the spinach to the boiling water. Strain noodles and spinach.
2. While you wait for the water to boil – in a large bowl, add your olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, some salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
3. Add the tomatoes, cooked bacon and pine nuts to the bowl and make sure they get coated with the olive oil mixture.
4. Pour the strained noodles and spinach into the large bowl and toss everything together. If your noodles are too dry add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil until it’s just right. Add salt (probably about 1/2 teaspoon) and pepper and top with mozzarella. Enjoy!

*Use organic ingredients whenever possible