Colby-jack cheese sticks melt into a quick sauce that coats pasta with sweet nuttiness. This shelf has one ingredient, so we lean on pasta night staples and greens to build a full dinner from what a tired cook keeps on hand.

Serves 2. 25 minutes, 15 at the stove.

About 910 calories a serving, 49 g protein, 90 g carbohydrate, 39 g fat. From USDA figures for 100% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add 8 ounces of pasta, cooking until one minute before al dente. While it cooks, mince 3 cloves of garlic and unwrap the 8 cheese sticks.12 min
2. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the warm pot, then the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Tear the cheese sticks into 2-inch pieces and add them to the pot along with the hot pasta and 5 ounces of fresh spinach, stirring gently until the cheese melts and coats the pasta, about 1 minute. If the sauce is too thick, add reserved pasta water a splash at a time until creamy.2 min
4. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Divide between two bowls and serve at once.

Note Swap in 2 ounces of colby-jack cut from a block if you have it, and use any tender greens: chard, kale, arugula. Leftover pasta keeps three days covered in the fridge. Serve with crusty bread or a simple salad of lemon and olive oil on the side.