Greek pasta with broccoli, olives, feta, and mint
I threw together this quick Greek-inspired pasta dish for dinner tonight, in order to use up some feta that needed to get eaten. Although it uses a pretty standard combination of ingredients, we liked it enough that we thought it was worth writing up what I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t measure ingredients, so everything is approximate.
- 1 small bunch of mint (about the size of a fist), leaves minced
- about 75 grams of kalamata olives, finely chopped
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- juice of 1 lemon
- splash of red wine vinegar (maybe a tablespoon?)
- 2 small red onions, sliced into rings
- a little olive oil
- salt
- 1/2 pound whole wheat linguine
- 1 bunch broccoli, stem sliced and top cut into florets
- 1/2 English cucumber, diced
- feta, maybe 4 ounces?
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While you wait, get out a very large serving dish. Chop the mint and olives, and add them to the serving dish along with the chickpeas, lemon juice, and red wine vinegar. Slice the onions. Heat the oil in a small frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook over high heat, briefly, until slightly softened and blackened in places. Add to the serving bowl. Prep the broccoli.
- When the water comes to a boil, salt the water, and add the pasta. When the pasta has only five minutes more to cook, add the broccoli to the pasta water. Chop the cucumber.
- When the pasta is done (the broccoli should be done as well), drain it, and add it to the serving bowl. Crumble in the feta, and mix well. When the pasta has cooled slightly, add the cucumber, and serve immediately.
I thoroughly enjoyed this pasta. The broccoli and mint and olives and feta and lemon were all essential. The cucumber added a nice bit of cool crunch, but not a lot of flavor. The red onions added color and flavor, but probably aren’t essential.
Rating: B
Derek: B+
The captious vegetarian 