Brand A

In celebration of the Yes We Candidate’s swearing in today, I made an arugula focused dinner: whole wheat pasta with sausage and wilted arugula.

Simple, hearty, relatively inexpensive, and pretty lo-cal, which is becoming more relevant as 20 degree weather induces visions of Caribbean vacations and attendant bikinis. Despite all of the bold, basic flavors and textures in this dish, the wilted arugula and the time that you let it sit adds a layer of depth that makes it worth eating.

For 4-5 servings:

- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 2 tbs oil
- 1 bag of whole wheat egg noodles, very al dente
- 1 tube of Gimme Lean! sausage
- 1 box of arugula
- 1 jar of Newman’s Own marinara
generous salt and pepper

Satuee the garlic, then brown the sausage (or snausage, which my girlfriend calls it to distinguish from the real stuff) until it’s a deep golden brown and is very firm. Season with salt. If you don’t cook it thoroughly enough, it wont’ make you sick but your leftovers will have the taste and texture of Play Doh.

Dump the sauce into the pan and turn the heat up a little until it’s bubbling. Keep the cover on it so it doesn’t explode all over your kitchen. Salt and pepper again. When it’s good and hot, also dump in your undercooked noodles. They’ll soften more in the sauce, so you don’t want to pre-cook them too much. Stir, turn the heat to low, then add in the arugula, and stir again. Put the cover on the pan and let it all hang out for about 8 minutes, with another stir or two to make sure it’s even.

Spoon the pasta into a big ol’ bowl and enjoy.