Brussels Crowns, Bacon, Yellow Beets, and Penne

A quick pasta dish that makes great leftovers for school lunch if you are also packing daily food for kiddos!

• 1 bag brussels crowns, chopped into fine ribbons

• 1 small onion, cut into thin strips

• 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1-2 small to medium beets (I use yellow for this recipe, but any beet type will be great)

• 8-12 strips of bacon

• parmesan cheese, grated

• 1 pound penne pasta

Spread bacon strips on a baking sheet with edges. Bake at 350 until crispy. Pour bacon grease from the baking sheet into a large saute pan. Add brussels crowns, onions, and garlic to the bacon grease and saute. Meanwhile, peel and grate the beets. Add the beets to the saute pan, and keep cooking everything until the onions have cooked well. Cook the penne al dente. Drain and reserve about 1/3 cup of the pasta water. (Though you probably won’t even use that much.) Add the penne to the sauted veggies with a splash of the resreved pasta water, while let everything simmer a bit over low heat. Add more pasta water if you want more oisture in the dish. Remove from heat, crumble the bacon and grate parmesan cheese over the dish, and mix well. Serve warm, and enjoy!