The other night was a oh-no-it’s-already-6:15-and-I-have-no-plans-for-dinner kind of night. No meat thawed, no cohesive group of ingredients. But then I thought of a post I just recently saw on ArborParents, an email group for parents of children and babies in and around Ann Arbor. Someone had put the call out for a really spectacular vegan dish. What we ate tonight was an Arborparent’s answer to that request (thanks, Valerie). I had everything on hand, and it was quick and easy to make. A super bonus: it was really delicious. My 3-year-old daughter kept saying, “This is great, Mom!” and “Ooooh! Yummy spinach!” (what did I tell you about my kids and greens? It’s a little strange, actually) and my 1-year-old son who hasn’t been eating anything right now ate some of it (a ringing endorsement, I think). The ginger really brings it all together. I am a big fan of ginger anything. We made it distinctly *not* vegan by adding freshly grated cheese on top of it. I may have used more than three cups of spinach; I put in all of the spinach from my CSA share from the last two weeks – it was about three good sized bunches. The more spinach, the better, I always say. 
- 1 pound pasta (I used rigatoni)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2-inch piece of ginger, chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon crumbled dried sage
- 1 1/8 cups red lentils
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups chard or spinach, firmly packed; washed, stems removed, and cut into bite-sized bits (I used spinach)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1) Cook the pasta, and drain it.
2) Meanwhile, in a large pot, put the oil, ginger, and garlic. Cook
for one minute, then add the sage, lentils and water. Bring to a
boil, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low.
3) Let the lentils simmer until they are soft (15-20 minutes). Stir
the chard or spinach and salt into the lentils, turn up the heat, and
cook, stirring often, until the greens are wilted. Then stir in the
cooked pasta and pepper to taste and heat through.
4) Grate Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the pasta. Serve with a nice green salad.
