Mandatory Meatless Monday

We finally did it!!  Meatless Monday!!! We all went meatless this past Monday and we did not miss it at all and we did not go hungry.  I got creative at dinner time and came up with a new pasta dish which can be served warm with crusty bread or cold as a side dish.

Rainbow Penne

12oz whole wheat cooked penne
6oz baby spinach
2tbl Olive oil
1tsp minced garlic
1 C. cherry tomato's sliced in half
1 C. sliced black olives

Dressing

1/2 C white balsamic dressing
1/2 C olive oil
1/3 C Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp oregano
Dash of Salt and pepper

1. Cook penne according to package directions set aside.
2. Saute spinach in the olive oil over medium high heat for about 3 minutes until wilted, add garlic and saute for 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
3. Slice tomato's and drain & rinse black olives.
4. Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
5. Add the spinach, tomato and olives to the pasta blend well.  Pour the dressing over the pasta and vegi mixture.  Serve warm with crusty bread or chill for 2 hrs and serve as a pasta salad side.

kid tested - this dish gets a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10, my 6 year old loved it but seemed to eat around the spinach go figure the good stuff!