Chickpea Spaghetti

My sister-in-law, Logan, made this dish for me while our husbands were off at the Hall of Men drinking beer and eating who knows what. Now it's a regular at our kitchen table, and I keep the ingredients on hand for nights like tonight, when the my original meal plan goes out the window. Why? Because it's so very easy and healthy to boot, and I was just ready to call it a day.

Ingredients:
whole wheat spaghetti
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can chickpeas
a few handfuls of fresh spinach
heavy whipping cream
parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

While your water is heating up for your spaghetti noodles, heat about a TBSP of olive oil and some butter in a large skillet. Add to this:
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or hot dogs, as Jack lovingly refers to them! Ah, the creativity of a two year old!)

When you drain the pasta, be sure to reserve a little bit of the pasta water to add moisture back into the dish (I forgot, of course!).  Since I failed to remember the "reserve the pasta water step," I grabbed the whipping cream out of the fridge, and this turned out to be a very popular choice that I will repeat.

Combine the noodles with the sautéed chickpeas, onion, and garlic. Add a couple handfuls of spinach and a little bit of reserved pasta water, or in my case, heavy whipping cream to just get a good coating on the noodles. Add grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste.

And serve.