Day 4: Spaghetti w/ Winter Greens

I offer this dish as proof of a QUICK and HEALTHY meal.  Contrary to yesterday's post, I actually can and often do prepare real food in a flash when needed.  Thursday nights we have lifegroup, so I need something quick, that will also feed my brother-in-law, Eric, who comes to watch the kids while we're gone.  The original recipe includes anchovies and capers, neither of which are very popular in this house, so I omitted them and added a teaspoon or so of Dijon mustard to the sauce to come close to the anchovy flavor.  The measurements here are not from the original recipe, either, they are the approximations I used tonight and I fed 3 adults and 1 child.

Spaghetti with Winter Greens
1/2 lb (or so) spaghetti
1 bunch escarole, roughly chopped
1-2 handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 squirts of Dijon mustard
sprinkle of red pepper flakes
juice and zest of 1 lemon
salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, nutmeg

Boil water for the pasta.  Once the water is boiling, add a bunch of salt.  (I LOVE Mario Batali's quote, "Salt it like the seawater." It really makes A TON of difference in the pasta flavor!)  Drop the spaghetti.  Once it's been cooking for about 5 minutes and has 5 minutes to go, start the sauce.  Add olive oil to a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook for about a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the greens to wilt.  Season the greens with black pepper and nutmeg and the zest of a lemon.  Right before you drain the pasta, add a ladleful of pasta water to the greens.  Drain the spaghetti and add it to the skillet.  Add the mustard and the lemon juice.  Toss until well combined.
Tonight I served it with ciabatta bread.  I drizzled the bread with extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkled one of my favorite herbs, rosemary on top.  I then stuck the bread under the broiler until golden brown.  I love serving different flavored breads, it adds a little something to the meal as a whole. :)