Pasta with Goat Cheese and Spinach

This is a great variation on pasta salad. The cool, creamy goat cheese goes with with the bite from red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and red onion. The original recipe calls for arugula, but we don't care for it so I used spinach instead. This is a great way to get some nutrient rich spinach into your meal!

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Spinach
Adapted from Everyday Food, June 2009

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 pound gemelli or other short pasta
• 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (3 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 bunch spinach, rinsed well and torn
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta and rinse under cold water. In a large bowl, toss pasta with beans and goat cheese.
2. Make dressing: In a bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, and mustard and season with salt and pepper. (To store, refrigerate pasta mixture and dressing separately, up to 1 day.) To serve, toss pasta mixture with dressing, spinach, and onion.