I’m a private chef and often come home too tired to cook. Spending my day making beautiful plates with sauces and side dishes for my clients is gratifying, but by the time I finish, I am hungry myself and I just want to put my feet up.

My chef skills pay off in the end because I know how to make a meal happen faster than a pizza can be delivered and for pennies on the dollar. This one-pot spaghetti with kale is one of those meals and one that my husband loves, too.

Timesavers Are Key

The one-pot method I employ for cooking the pasta saves time by skipping the wait to bring a big pot of water to a boil. Instead, I add only the water necessary to hydrate the spaghetti, and in the course of cooking, it will also cook the kale and carrots. A can of diced tomatoes and their juices combine with the surface starch of the pasta and some flavorful olive oil to create a sauce right in the pot at the same time.

As for the vegetable prep, I’ve washed, stripped, and chopped many, many bunches of kale over the years, and I have to say, sometimes the big bag of pre-chopped kale at the grocery store is too appealing to pass up. It works perfectly for this dish, and the cooking time is long enough to ensure that the kale is tender but still green.

While I’m at the store, I also grab a tub of pre-shredded Parmesan, too, because I am not stopping to grate cheese today.