Summer Orecchiette with Chard & Fennel

HomeClinics & ProgramsELLICSR KitchenSummer Orecchiette with Chard & Fennel

Skill Level	Easy

Preparation Time	10 minutes	Total Time	30 minutes
Servings	4	Cost Per Serving	$1.60

250g (about 2 cups)	Orecchiette Pasta
3 cups	Rainbow Chard (or any leafy greens), roughly chopped
1 cup	Fennel, thinly sliced
1 tbsp	Summer Savory
1	Small Onion
2 cloves	Garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1/2 tsp	Chili Flakes (optional)
1 tsbp	Lemon Juice
2 tsbp	Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil
3 tbsp	Parmesan or Pecorino Cheese, grated
To taste	Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add your oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add your onions and cook for about 3 minutes. Add your garlic, chili flakes (optional), summer savory, and fennel. Stir gently, turn the heat down to medium low and leave to sauté for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure the mixture does not burn.
Once your water is boiling, add a pinch of salt and drop your pasta in. Cook for 2 minutes less than the directions on the package call for.
When your pasta is ready, carefully remove it from the boiling water using a slotted spoon and place directly into the sauté pan. Add a little bit of the pasta water to the pan. Add your chard to the saute pan and cook, stirring gently, for about 1 minute.
Remove from heat and season with salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and some grated cheese.

PDF link to nutrition facts table for Summer orecchiette with chard and fennel

One cup of rainbow chard contains 7 times as much K and twice as much vitamin A as you need in a day. Both of these vitamins are fat-soluble, which means that whatever your body does not use immediately will be stored up for when it is needed.
Vitamin K helps the blood clot, which is important for wound healing. If you are on blood thinning medication, be sure to keep the amount of leafy greens in your diet stable from day to day.
Vitamin A functions as an antioxidant, keeping your immune system strong and helping to maintain healthy eyes.
Eating green leafy vegetables each day is associated with a lower risk of ovarian, lung and stomach cancers. In a study that followed almost 30,000 women over 10 years, the women who ate the most leafy greens were 56% less likely to develop ovarian cancer than the women who rarely ate leafy greens.