Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

I did something the other day that I rarely do: I followed a recipe exactly. This is a difficult thing for me to do, not because I believe I am some amazing chef who understands flavors and textures and the science of cooking, but because I have anxiety and sometimes when something seems wrong, I get worried, and make my own choices. In this Bon Appetit recipe, I got nervous a few times (You want me to boil the pasta in kale water? And now you want me to dump this kale water into a pan? What is even happening?), but stuck it out and honestly, made one of the best dishes I've made in awhile. The below recipe makes enough for 3-4 large servings.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
Two (2) cups of fresh kale, stripped from the stems and washed
1/4 cup of olive oil
Eight (8) ounces of spaghetti
Three (3) cloves of garlic, minced - I guess I didn't follow the recipe that exactly, because I used pre-minced garlic
Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and ground pepper for serving

Directions
Salt a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
Toss in the kale and let boil for about two minutes, or until bright green and slightly soft (I actually put a timer on it, because I didn't want it to get too soft).

Once kale is done, remove it from the boiling water (but leave that water boiling - you're going to use it for the pasta). Place the kale in a colander, and rinse with cool water.
Begin to cook the spaghetti noodles for about 8 minutes (they should be al dente).
In a large saute pan, heat most of the 1/4 cup of oil with the minced garlic, until fragrant.
Add kale to the pan, and saute for about 8 minutes, until dark in color and tender.
Add a ton of black pepper to the kale (this should be to your taste).
Once the pasta is done (the pasta and kale should be done right around the same time), remove the pasta from the pot (don't drain the liquid yet!), and place into the saute pan.

Slowly add one cup of the pasta/kale liquid into the pan and toss the pasta and kale with it. This will create a light sauce. Cook for about two minutes.
You can add more liquid to create more sauce at this point, if you'd like.
Once the pasta consistency is to your liking, remove from the heat.

Plate the kale and pasta, top with parmesan, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and the remaining olive oil.
Enjoy!