Pasta is a staple for easy dinner recipes when you’re short on time. With Neil being diabetic we try to limit the number of carbohydrates we have for meals, but garlic spaghetti is one of our absolute favourites!

Sometimes simple food makes the best healthy dinner recipes, and this spaghetti with garlic and oil is not only simple, but it’s quick and makes great leftovers for lunch the next day. We always use wholewheat pasta or gluten-free pasta like brown rice.

Health benefits of garlic

Garlic is a staple in many kitchens around the world and it has plenty of health benefits to go with it.

According to Netdoctor, historically garlic was prescribed as medicine – it was actually one of the most important medicinal herbs. Its most popular uses are used against the common cold and flu and help to reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Dr Andrew Weil recommends crushing garlic to release the active compound allicin (which has been found to reduce inflammation and offer antioxidant benefits). To activate the most allicin from the garlic it’s best to let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cooking.

Tomatoes give this dish a bright burst of colour and that lovely sweet taste mixes well with the salty olives. With their high vitamin content, tomatoes include vitamins C and E, some B Vitamins and Vitamin K. They also contain beta-carotene and some minerals including calcium and magnesium. The compound lycopene, which gives tomatoes their red colour had been associated with potentially reducing the risk of cardio disease.

Olives also contain many health benefits including helping to reduce chronic inflammation, and improving brain health, they’re good for the heart and may protect from cancer and osteoporosis.

And not to forget the amazing herb that is parsley! It’s rich in Vitamins A, C, and K and it offers antioxidant benefits and may improve bone health and help protect against chronic diseases.

This homemade garlic pasta dish is budget-friendly and you only need a handful of ingredients. Parsley and garlic go great together, but if you don’t have any parsley you can give it a miss.

Ingredients:

• 300g organic wholewheat spaghetti
• X6 garlic cloves (crushed)
• X15 cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
• X20 olives (cut in half)
• A handful of fresh parsley
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

How to make:

• Cook the spaghetti (as per instructions on the packet)
• Heat the olive oil in a pan
• Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute
• Add the spaghetti and mix
• Pop in the tomatoes, olives, and salt and pepper to taste then stir for a couple of minutes
• Add the lemon juice and stir
• Take off the heat, throw in the parsley

Serve and enjoy!