pantry pasta

i hadn’t planned on making dinner last night. i thought we’d grab something that was around, maybe pb&j or a salad for me, mac and cheese or a frozen pizza for our hero. but when i got home from the gym, i really felt like cooking. i’d bought a beautiful lacy savoy cabbage at the farmer’s market this weekend with no official plans to use it, so i made a quick pasta sauce from low-fat yogurt and lemon, adding some pecorino romano (which compliments the cabbage beautifully). threw in some shelled edamame for protein and voila! t liked it enough to eat approximately ¾ of the batch for dinner. seriously. in his defense, he’d just returned from a merciless racquetball match. this was easy to whip up and tasty. I’m a sucker for pasta dishes and a sucker for cabbage, so i’m really looking forward to leftovers for lunch.

Whole-Wheat Penne with Cabbage and Edamame
1 lb. bag good whole-wheat penne pasta (I use Bionaturae religiously)
½ T. unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ head savoy cabbage, cut into half again and sliced very thinly
Handful of fresh basil, sliced thinly (mint would also be delicious)
¾ cup low-fat plain yogurt
Zest and juice of one lemon
¼ cup pecorino romano cheese (plus more for serving)
1-1½ cups shelled frozen edamame or frozen green peas

Put a kettle to the boil on the stove. Spoon yogurt into a small bowl, and use a whisk to combine with lemon zest, juice, and cheese. Set aside. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. When melted, add cabbage and cover until reduced a bit in bulk (and until it becomes manageable to flip it about in the pan). Add salt and pepper to taste. When cabbage is tender, remove from heat and stir in yogurt sauce and basil. Cover. Cook pasta and edamame or peas in the boiling water according to package directions. If you use edamame, you might want to cook it first, then the pasta, as it takes a bit of time to shell the beans. If you use peas, just throw them in during the last few minutes of the pasta’s cooking time.

Drain, toss together, and serve with a sprinkling of cheese.