Spinach and Black Bean Pasta

This was excellent. I increased the amount of broccoli, spinach,. onion and tomatoes.... just because I like them. I also added some cumin along with the cayenne. After cooking, I thickened the sauce with a little cornstarch. This is a very fast one dish healthy meal. When I reheated leftovers, I stirred in a couple of tablespoon of fat free cream cheese.. delish.

I was very skeptical of this recipe, but I had spinach and broccoli that needed using up so I gave it a try. It was amazingly delicious! The only change I had to make was chicken broth rather than vegetable broth. I have tried this with vegetable broth, the chicken broth definitely gives it better flavor. I also would recommend using two garlic cloves. You could easily add more of the vegetables, as they cook down quite a bit, or just halve the amount of noodles used. I would definitely make this again.

I liked this alot. You feel like you are eating as healthy as you really are. I did add some chili powder, some extra cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes. Also, since the vegetable broth is already heavy in sodium, I used Mrs Dash instead of the salt. Add to make this meal more robust, I added chicken sausage. I sauteed them with the garlic and oil and let them cook along with the vegetables. It was a nice compliment to the dish. My husband really liked it, and I will be making this one again!

It's not haute cuisine, but it's easy, healthy, and tastes good. I enjoyed the little bit of heat the cayenne added, but those with small children or wimpy boyfriends might want to cut the amount a bit. Also, the recipe might make 8 servings if it is used as a side dish, but it will serve less (maybe 4 servings) if used as a main.

This was really delicious. Even my roomate, who is a meat-and-potatoes person, loved it. The flavors blended so well... I am DEFINITELY making this agian. I used frozen spinach, chicken broth, and extra garlic. I also forgot to add the tomatoes (oops!), and it was still excellent.

I did as another reviewer suggested and added oregano and chili powder and upped the cayene. I cooked 1/2 package of wheat rotini and appx 1 cup veggie broth. Great flavor. Will definitely make this again, thanks for the great recipe!

I liked this alot. You could even eat the sauce like a soup, it was that tasty even without adding the pasta.

I read all 33 reviews before making this dish and decided to make as directed first. I cooked the broth and vegetables in a large skillet and the broth cooked way down while the veggies were cooking so mine was not soupy at all. It had just enough broth to keep the pasta moist after I mixed the pasta into the dish at the end. I added enough red pepper flakes to make it mellow and not hot. I too felt it needed more seasoning beyond salt and pepper, but I didn't want to go the southwestern flavor route. I waited until the whole wheat pasta was cooked, then tried a taste test with a spoonful seasoned with basil. Next, a spoonful with oregano. I ended up adding dried basil and dried oregano to taste (a generous half-teaspoon each) and it tasted very good with the cheese sprinkled on. This is a very good week night dish. I liked it and my husband did also but commented that he would like maybe some Italian sausage on the side! I will make this again.

Everyone really liked this including my 6 yr old who had 2nd's. I made exactly as written except I used fresh broccoli florets instead of frozen chopped. I will make this again! thanks!

Turns out watery and not very flavorful.

I did this differently but it was really good. I used 1/2 lb pasta, aout 1/2 cup chicken broth, and also halved the spinach (used frozen), but I kept the entire can of black beans, used a whole head of broccoli, and used a medium can of spicy diced tomatoes in place of the fresh chopped tomato. I also added some crushed red pepper in addition to the other seasonings. We really liked this as a main dish.

I've been making this recipe for several years. It's so tasty and easy to prepare. I use slightly less broth (about 1 cup) and usually add extra garlic. I'll also use fresh broccoli instead of frozen -- this just increases the cook time slightly, but it's so worth it. We usually eat this over rice and not the pasta.

This was very good and quite flavorful. I added a little more tomato and drained the fluid a little as there seemed to be too much. Good both bit and cold!

I really liked this pasta combination. I thought it sounded different, which was what I was hunting for. It wasn't the prettiest dish. I used chicken broth and sprinkled extra cayenne on each serving along with the parmesan. Wow! A great blend of flavors!

I made this for my daughter to take back to college with her. She thought it was awesome.

This was a pretty good recipe. I had a hard time finding veggie broth and wound up with a box of veggie soup, so I simply added water to thin it out a bit. The cayenne added just enough of a kick to make this interesting, although my two year old didn't seem to like it much. I love the vegetables in this recipe and it made for a nice presentation with good flavors. Thanks for sharing!

I really wanted to like this--it's simple, easy and vegetarian, but unfortunately it came out watery and bland. It's a good thing I was tasting as I was cooking, because had I put this out as written, I think it would have barely been touched. I kept adding things--chili powder, paprika, oregano, cream cheese, and eventually a splash of red wine vinegar but it took a LOT of extra work to make this one edible. Our family is very into savory foods, but this just didn't do it for us. Sorry!

I love this! Sometimes I add in some sauteed slices of sausage.

Very bland! I didn't enjoy this recipe because I felt like I had to add a cup of salt for season. My meat eating roommate did not enjoy it either and I could not disagree this time.

Nothing drool-worthy, but good. I added 1 tsp of oregano and 1 and 1/3 tsp of chili powder, and increased the cayenne to 1 tsp. A little less veggie broth might be in order (1 cup instead perhaps). I used garden rotini instead of wheat. The noodles do soak up some of the extra broth by the next day, so the spices are diluted a bit, but it no longer has the extra liquid. It's still good the next day, and this is a very nutricious meal.

This was pretty good, and very healthy-tasting. We tend to prefer saucy pasta, and there isn't much of a sauce to this. The flavors didn't seem to blend well, though it wasn't unpleasant, and it was a very quick meal.

I really liked this even though I made a couple of modifications as stated by others. I used frozen spinach (all I had on hand). I added cumin and found I did not have tomatoes, so I made it without. I used brown rice instead of pasta and it turned out great!

I was sceptical but it turned out OK. Had some black beans and broccoli I wanted to use and since I don't eat spinach I would have substituted it with bok choy if I had any. Forewent vegetable for chicken stock and cayenne for chilli pepper.

This was tasty; I will make this again. Next time, I will saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil; also, a bit too much liquid - I added a small amount of Miso to thicken.

This recipe was very good. So simple to make and pretty quick. I decreased the amount of pasta to 12oz because that is the size of box that I had, and I thought that was more than enough pasta. The veggies in this dish tasted great and gave it a lot of color. Not real flavorful, but it made for a nice, light, and healthy dinner. Thanks for sharing the recipe; I will definitely make this again!

It was good, a very healthy recipe. But kind of boring. I probably wouldn't make it again, but it's a perfectly good recipe.

skipped the broccoli-added a full package of arugula (5 oz)and more garlic plus tomatoes seasoned with green chiles; but cut down on cayenne to balance sauteed onion, garlic, arugula; very goodand fast

This recipe was great but I did make a few changes. I sauteed the spinach, onion, and garlic (3 cloves instead of 1) in olive oil instead of boiling in veggie broth. I also added a can of diced tomatoes (liquid included), and spiced it up with cumin and italian seasoning. I topped with 2% mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan. Delicous and my husband loved it too! Will make again :)

Healthy, too much pasta and very bland. Whatever happened to seasonings?

This was pretty good for a hurry-up, vegetarian meal, but I think it could have used a bit more flavoring. I had no stock on hand so I used a can of tomatoes in puree, extra garlic and oregano. It was very soupy, so I also added a tbsp. of tomato paste. Next time I think I'd add some cumin and chili powder and top with some cheddar cheese instead of the parmesan. I felt this dish was trying to decide whether to go Italian or Mexican/Southwest, and either way it would need a little more seasonings. But it was still good and filling.

hated it, to much going on and not enough flavor

Fast, easy, healthy, and tasty! It is pretty watery, though, and really not that special. I added some spices to it to make it more interesting and will probably make even more changes if I make it again.

Delicious. My family added parm or feta cheese.

Sorry, to me this recipe was just ok nothing special. Served with whole wheat penne.

very good, healty and flavorful!

I added some Herbs from Provence and Turmeric. The family loved it!

I really liked this recipe. The only thing I did different was using a can of rotel, instead of the tomatoes. The recipe makes alot, so be ready for left overs!

I read through all the reviews before making it.. Someone said to add Oregano and Basil seasoning, along with red pepper flakes, a can of diced tomatoes, and I also added a pkg of italian sausages after i baked them in the oven.. I cut them into 1 inch bite size portions and added it.. Of course this took all the healthy out of it.. but this was really good! We had plenty left over after my family of 4 ate.. This will be dinner again tonight.

Very satisfying and healthy but I had to tweak it a bit. I still may tweak it the next time I make it as I feel it needs some extra seasonings. First of all, I followed another readers advice and sauteed the onion, garlic and spinach first. I used 3 cloves but I think it could use more. Spinach really cooks down so if you like spinach, use a lot of it. I used 3/4 lb and it shrunk to almost nothing. I used fresh brocolli crowns (3 bunches) and some roma tomatoes from my garden. My husband and I devoured this dish, it does make a lot and I just had leftovers for lunch! He thought maybe next time I should use chicken broth instead of the vegetable broth and to add some italian seasonings as it was a bit bland. But overall, an excellent recipe and extremely filling!

This recipe is very good. I too added more vegetables than what was called for, used homemade chicken stock instead of the vegetable broth, and I used both grated Parmesan cheese and a mix of shredded 5 cheese package. Will make again. The dish cooked up quick, so this will be a very nice recipe to make on a weekday. Next time, I'm going to add a 6 oz can of salmon. I think that would be a nice addition.

I have used this recipe a few times. It's very good and healthful (minus the parmesan). I would recomend this to anyone. Oh, and it's high in fiber. What more could you ask for?

Hey, what a lovely recipe! Great way of getting my veggie-hating brother to eat his greens! However: Just one problem with the recipe..WAY TOO SPICY! I advise to use 1/4tsp of the cayenne pepper, as it is a very strong spice. Oh and i made this dish with two adaptions, i used a tin of black eyed peas instead of black beans, and i use penne instead of rotini pasta. But yeah, if you added less cayenne, i would say this is a 5 star recipe!

This was okay, but nothing special. Quick, simple, healthy. Nothing special.

I'm trying to cook more vegetarian dishes for both health and environmental concerns. It is difficult to find good ones and this was surprisingly very tasty!

Just okay. Turned out tastier than I thought it would be when cooking it but nothing spectacular. Very healthy though. Thanks Christine

I didn't have all the ingredients, so I changed a lot. I sauteed one diced yellow onion and one diced jalepeno before adding 1 1/2 cups Arborrio rice. Didn't have broth, so used 3 cups of water, slowly added. Had a can of black beans, and thought a can of corn would go well too. No fresh tomatoes, so a can of diced Italian stewed tomatoes and 3 cups of chopped fresh steamed broccoli went in. Added a teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder (as no garlic), and salted to taste. Didn't have Parmesan, so topped it with feta. Pretty close, or not, but very very good. I'll be eating it for days though...made too much.

Excellent. I used regular onions, sliced, that I sautéed in olive oil with the garlic before adding the broth (I used chicken broth). I added a few julienned carrots, and an entire head of fresh broccoli. I didn’t add the spinach until the very end, so that it was just wilted, and stayed bright green. I also added additional seasonings, such as a generous sprinkle of cumin, a little chili powder, and some oregano, plus black pepper. I mixed it all with bow-tie pasta. My 8 year old has never eaten this much at dinner in her whole life!! A hit, to say the least.

To be such an easy, fast vegetarian pasta meal with bean protein and this kind of flavor - this will be a standard meal for my family! I made it without cayenne pepper or additional salt. I also used about 1.5 times the diced tomatoes, and they were canned. Next time I will drain them (but it didn't affect the flavor). I'll definitely try it with brown rice!!

Not much flavor, but healthy.

We only had 8 oz of pasta, but that was enough. My husband spiced his up a bit & he really liked it, whereas I thought it was a bit bland (would recommend some additional spices). Very filling though!

I gave this four stars; but, that is only based on changes to the recipe and its really more like 3 1/2 stars. It's still missing something. I used 2 chopped tomatoes and 2 cups fresh broccoli. I sautéed the onion and garlic in 1tbs of olive oil. I added 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. I reduced the cayane to 1/4 tsp. The end result was, the sauce was flavorful, but missing something. It was also a bit too watery. Next time I will follow other reviewers tips and thicken with some corn starch. I might try adding some lime juice, chili powder and roasted red peppers. Maybe some lime zest? This recipe is almost a great one with the revisions, so I will definitely make it again and tweak it.

Good quick meal

I made it to the recipe and next time I will add more veggies (or less pasta). Very yummy though.