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.
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
- Bring four quarts of salted water to boil. Cook pasta for 10-12 minutes.
- While pasta is cooking, thinly slice the garlic and chili. Dice the tomatoes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
