Pasta with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

I don't know why, but for the last two Sundays I have been utterly incapable of sleeping in. It's like my body realizes that this is my one chance each week to catch up on sleep, and it likes to make me irritated by making it the one morning I have no trouble waking up at 6. This morning I managed to get my taxes filed before 9, then completed a 10K, and was at the mall by 11 in order to be done before the rest of the world showed up (I was reminded this morning yet again how much I hate malls). In fact, I felt so productive, that now I'm contemplating watching TV for the remainder of the afternoon and procrastinating on homework. Except that I won't... because I am trying not to do that, even though I never remember any of the reading I do on Sundays by the time the following Saturday rolls around.

Before moving on to this week's recipe, I do have to make one comment on the weather in Denver this weekend: bizarre. Yesterday, I think it reached almost 80 degrees. Sitting in a hot, stuffy classroom all day was absolute torture. This morning on my run, I literally felt the weather change from sunny and 60, to windy with clouds rolling in. Currently, it is snowing and in the mid 30s. Of course. What else would it be doing on April 3rd in Colorado?

Okay, on to the recipe: I officially have a new favorite spice, and it goes by the name of Smoked Paprika. It adds such an amazing flavor! I would go into more detail, but my descriptive capabilities have always been on the more lacking side in my writing. Suffice it to say, it really made this recipe work in my educated cooking opinion.

This recipe is higher in Weight Watchers points values than the others I have posted, but I was looking for a change, and found it worth it. For some reason I have been craving wheat products recently. Not sure if that has to do with getting over the flu or what. The original recipe is taken from the February, 2011 Bon Appetit Magazine and I found it, as usual, on epicurious.com. I eliminated the oil and sortof doubled the recipe. In eliminating the oil, it mean that I couldn't cook the tomatoes the way that the recipe called for. I thought what I did came out fine, though. I also used bow-tie pasta instead of penne. I don't like penne for some reason, and I found out last night while grocery shopping that apparently neither does Mom. It's funny how tastes can be passed down in generations without the parties involved ever actually talking about it... Those were my main changes.

This recipe makes 7 servings and each serving is 10 WW PointsPlus. The whole thing took me about 20 minutes including prep.

Ingredients:
1 package bowtie pasta (about 14.5 oz - I LOVED the Barilla Plus pasta. Not nearly as difficult to force down as whole wheat pasta.)
2 lbs tomatoes, cut into pieces (original recipe called for using cherry tomatoes. I used tomatoes that were vine ripened, and about 1.5 - 2 inches each, cut into sixths. I also ate some of them before they made it into the recipe... I was hungry.)
1 6-oz container of plain hummus (It sounded weird to me, but it's very good.)
3 garlic cloves, pressed (got lazy after cutting all the cilantro... used garlic powder instead)
1 cup black olives, lightly chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (I would have used more, but it took too long and I got bored. And I don't think I really like cilantro very much after trying it today. It's fine, but not great.)
2 teaspoons smoked paprika


Instructions:
1. Cook pasta in boiling water for about 10 minutes. While it's cooking, prepare the tomatoes, olives and cilantro
2. Drain the water from the pasta, and in a separate, large pan, add all the rest of the ingredients accept the cilantro and hummus. Cook together for 5-7 minutes on medium-low until warmed through.
3. Add the pasta, cilantro, and mix in the hummus. Let it all cook together for another 3-5 mins.

I found this very filling and good. As I said earlier, the paprika made this dish what it turned out to be in my opinion. I also really liked the effect of the hummus as a sauce. It was all very good. I may try a flavored hummus if I make this again.