Ingredients:
16 oz fettuccini
About 8 cups loosely packed greens (I used half baby spinach and half leaves from amaranth and lamb’s quarters.)
5 medium onions (about 2" diameter), chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup butter
4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Put the water on to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, put oil and butter in a large pan on medium-high to melt. Add the chopped onion and saute until it starts to become translucent. Add the garlic and simmer a couple minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper. Top with the greens, rinsed and still moist, and put the lid on to let them steam for about 3 minutes. Remove the lid, and using two knives, chop everything a bit (perhaps this could be done ahead, but I forgot to chop the greens, and chopping it with the onions made everything a nice size for easy folding into the pasta.) Cook several minutes longer, as the pasta is cooking. When the greens are done and the pasta is almost done, add the chopped tomatoes.
This recipe can be tricky to toss well with long pasta like spaghetti, but tosses easily with something small like rotini. Also, the original recipe did not call for tomatoes, but I added them, since they were over-ripening on my counter. Then I realized what a wise choice that was! While the greens I used are high in iron, the body cannot absorb plant iron well on its own. It needs vitamin C to aid in the absorption process. So greens and tomatoes are a very healthy combination! And this is a healthy and tasty meal for your family.