Pasta with Dandelion Greens and Oven-Dried Tomatoes

From Wikipedia:

Zebra is the American medical slang for arriving at an exotic medical diagnosis when a more commonplace explanation is more likely.^[1] It is shorthand for the aphorism coined in the late 1940s by Dr. Theodore Woodward, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who instructed his medical interns: “When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras”.^[2] Since horses are common in Maryland while zebras are relatively rare, logically one could confidently guess that an animal making hoofbeats is probably a horse. By 1960, the aphorism was widely known in medical circles.^[3]

Diagnosticians have noted, however, that “zebra”-type diagnoses must nonetheless be held in mind until the evidence conclusively rules them out.

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The above explains why many people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome self-identify as “zebras.” To this end, many EDS’ers collect zebra-patterned gear, including clothing and stuffed animals.

Me, I bought this pasta because it looked so pretty. It was what some people call “an impulse buy.”

I do not consider myself an impulsive person. The opposite, in fact. But look at this pasta! What reasonable amateur cook/photographer/person with a zebra diagnosis could pass this up?

Vindication was quick to arrive with news of a power soccer tournament in San Jose.

San Jose is not exactly around the corner from us. In fact, it’s a good hour’s drive in light traffic. As this tournament involved teams from all over California, it was an all-day affair.

Meanwhile, the weather turned warm.

Provisioning lunch for power soccer tournaments is something of a challenge. Food must be portable, non-perishable, and easily consumed by somebody whose strength and mobility are severely comprised. No food that drips, stains, or might otherwise escape one’s mouth.

Atop all this, John, a reasonably easygoing eater, isn’t fond of sandwiches.

He does, however, adore pasta.

Pasta doesn’t leap to mind as easy eating. What can I say? This works.

The first version of this pasta was a quick assembly job. I jotted down the ingredients, thinking I might make it again sometime. Saturday afternoon I received the following text:

This pasta rulz. 

On that note…

Oven-dried cherry tomatoes and their oil are key to success here. Should this ingredient elude you, I strongly suggest whipping up a batch (recipe below). I’ve never found commercially produced tomatoes in oil that don’t taste strongly chemical. Which will ruin the dish. If you have access to a truly delicious commercial brand of tomatoes in olive oil, go for it. But only if they’re truly good.

Lecture concluded.

Any soft, quickly wilting greens–spinach, baby arugula, young salad greens–will work here. I had dandelion greens in the house.

And of course, you need not use fancy expensive zebra farfalle. Orichette, conchiglie, your preferred gluten-free pasta–whatever you like is just fine. This is soccer-tournament pasta, not impress your stuffiest dinner-party-guests pasta. Who you likely wouldn’t serve pasta anyway, right? You’d give them salmon or…I dunno…quinoa.

With love to Manchester–