it's january 19 and i still seem to be in the christmas spirit. by that, i mean that i can't seem to cook in any other color scheme than red and green. it could be the cold weather and the snow. or maybe it's something to do with my generally spirited mood these days. or maybe it's just an extreme lack of food blog planning on my part. (goodness, rebecca, can you PLEASE introduce an eggplant or a carrot into a meal soon? hmm?)

however monotonously-colored this dish might seem, it was delicious and full of great, simple ingredients. as i type, i'm not sure if i am going to apply my 'healthy' label to this post, but i may change my mind. i decided to finally make a main-course dinner out of the soybean pasta that i adore so much. i used a modest amount of olive oil (which is good for you, anyway). and there's quite a bit of spinach, plenty tomatoes.
i think i might be sold on the 'healthy' label! my only advice would be to watch the cheese . . .

pasta with spinach, tomatoes, and goat cheese
adapted from food & wine, february 2008

* 6 ounces soybean pasta
* olive oil
* 1 clove garlic
* tiny pinch of crushed red pepper
* 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
* kosher salt
* freshly ground black pepper
* 4 cups fresh spinach
* 1/8 cup freshly grated manchego cheese (plus more for serving)
* 2 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

1) cook pasta according to package directions. reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water
2) in a large skillet, heat olive oil over moderately high heat. add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until garlic is soft, maybe about two minutes
3) add tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. cook until they start to release their juices, about two minutes
4) add spinach and cook until wilted, about two minutes
5) add pasta, reserved cooking water, and 1/8 cup manchego. toss over low heat until pasta is covered with sauce
6) add goat cheese and gently toss
7) serve in shallow bowls and top with a bit more shredded manchego

before delving into a recipe like this with soybean pasta, i would suggest trying it on its own first. maybe with a plain, jarred marinara sauce. something simple and not so time consuming, just in case you find that you don't enjoy the taste so much. it's very close to normal pasta ( so much more nutritious), but different enough to want to be a little cautious.
i mentioned that this was time consuming, but in the grand scheme of things, it really isn't. it's listed in the category of quick meals in the magazine, and it lives up to it. i figured i'd spend a lot of time prepping and then cooking pasta and then putting it all together in the end. it took 30 minutes, start to finish. i was impressed.
one thing i did change was the sheep's milk cheese used. the recipe calls specifically for pecorino. i used manchego. the store i went to was out of pecorino. i am not as educated with cheese as i'd like, but i figured sheep's milk was sheep's milk was sheep's milk, especially since i was only going to grate a little bit into the meal and goat cheese was going to be the real star of the show anyway.
one thing i would change in the future is very small. i'd throw in another clove of garlic. maybe a small amount of minced shallots, also. but even without those additions, this pasta was very tasty. pretty quick and pretty good for you (go soy!).

so enjoy. and have a lovely weekend!