Polka dotted pasta with ribbons of zucchini and chard

Tonight is pasta night. The trick was to look for something fresh for a vegetable, and today the chard and zucchini looked lovely. Cutting the zucchini and chard into long ribbons makes it easy to fork them up together with the pasta. Even Joe, who doesn’t much care for either of these vegetables, got some mixed in with the noodles and thought that they added a lot of flavor.

I decided on teeny-tiny meatballs, little polka dots to dot the dish, dredged in fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese. It took some patience, but I was determined to keep them very small, and it only took 15 minutes to make the little marble-sized balls. I used ground turkey, mixed with some garlic, bread crumbs and Italian seasoning. Baking them on some of that non-stick foil (I really like that product), made them really low fat. Just use your favorite marinara sauce to keep things simple.

I thought of this dinner last night while I was going to sleep. I love the contrast in shapes, the variety of color, the nutritional value of the dark green vegetables, and the whimsical name. Every one was happy to give it a try.

Make marble-sized meatballs. Turn on the radio, be patient, and this should only take you 15 minutes. It's well worth the effort. Roll the little balls around in a bowl of finely chopped fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese. They only take about 10 minutes to bake in a 375 degree oven.

Cut the zucchini and chard into skinny ribbons. Saute in olive oil with some fresh garlic, salt and pepper. Do this while the meatballs are in the oven.