Colorado’s Premier Restaurateur Shares One of His Favorite Healthy(ish!) Recipes

Denver is a city for the health conscious—we’re consistently rated among the fittest cities in the nation.

We all want to be healthy. I start every morning with a brisk swim and a breakfast of fresh juiced carrots. When I’m out, though, and the music is serenading us to a city skyline, the beer is super cold and the steak is smoking up a mean and fragrant steam—I want. I hunger.

Even in a city beautiful and fit as Denver, what people really crave when they sit down to eat is something… delicious.

I have healthy options for you at every restaurant. I think about your health, about my health, and about how I can best feed you. Mostly, though, I think about flavor, and mood, and happiness. Sometimes those paths converge.

Related: 6 Healthy Home-Cooked Meals You Should Try

Pasta with Bitter Greens

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 qts water
• 2 lb bucatini or thick spaghetti
• 0.5 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Calabrian chili
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp pepper
• 6 oz butter
• 1.5 lbs bitter greens
• 0.5 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Bring four quarts of salted water to boil. Cook pasta for 10-12 minutes.
2. While pasta is cooking, thinly slice the garlic and chili. Dice the tomatoes.
3. Heat the olive oil until it is just sizzling. Toss in the garlic and tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Turn heat to low.
4. Add the cooked pasta and butter to the pan. Fold in greens; cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and toss with the parmesan.
5. Divide among bowls and finish with a final dusting of parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

—Frank Bonanno, owner of Bonanno Concepts

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2018 issue of SUCCESS magazine.