The latest and greatest: Thai Chicken Pasta

(Post preface:  While I did have some food classes in college, the majority of what I studied was: "What's in the human body?  How does it work?  How do nutrients, vitamins, and minerals affect body processes?"  I am not a chef.  However, I am a very willing cook.  This means a few things:  1.  I don't usually create my own recipes.  2.  I spend a lot of time looking up other people's recipes.  3.  It might not always taste the best, but I can tell you 10 solid health reasons why we should eat it anyway.)

From Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com):

Chicken & Pasta in Peanut Sauce

Find the full recipe here.

My dad comes over for dinner often, and he loves Thai food.  When I found this recipe online, I knew it would be a great one to have for those days when work runs late and I don't have much time to spend on supper.

Start to Finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 8  oz.  thin spaghetti
• 1  bunch  broccolini, cut in 2-inch lengths (I used broccoli because I can't buy broccolini locally)
• 1  medium  red sweet pepper, cut in bite-size strips
• 1  lb.  skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1  Tbsp.  olive oil
• 1/2  cup  bottled peanut sauce
• Crushed red pepper (optional)

Directions: 
1.   In Dutch oven cook pasta according to package directions, adding broccolini and sweet pepper during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain. Return to Dutch oven and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, halve chicken breasts horizontally. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In extra large skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes each side, or until no longer pink (170 degrees F). Transfer to cutting board. Slice chicken; add to pasta and vegetables. Heat through. Add peanut sauce. Pass crushed red pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrient Analysis:  Calories 467,  Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 2g, Monounsaturated Fat 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 66 mg, Sodium 634 mg, Carbohydrate 55g, Fiber 5g, Protein 37 g

Thoughts:

• I added carrots along with the broccoli and sweet pepper.
• I would add the veggies earlier - like 5-7 minutes before cooking time is over. When you add the veggies, it stops the water boiling for a little bit.  The time it takes for the water to reach boiling again means that the pasta had to cook for that much longer and can lead to mushy pasta (not that this happened to me...).
• Peanut sauce is spicy!  If you don't want to use bottled sauce, I know there are lots of recipes out there for peanut sauce.  Making your own sauce could reduce the sodium content of this dish and allow you to adjust the spiciness.
• To save even more time, chop your veggies the night before.

 Hubby's reaction:  Although not a big fan of Asian dishes, he ate it with no complaints.  Dad loved it!

Veggie Burritos

Last week while I was in Louisville, I ate at this great Mexican restaurant and ordered their veggie burrito.  It was delicious!  I came home and tried to find a similar recipe online with no luck.  I decided to try to make it myself.  It turned out pretty good so I thought I would share the recipe:

Total Time:  30-45 minutes

Servings:  3-4

Ingredients:

2 T Olive oil

2 broccoli crowns, chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

8 oz. mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

Oregano

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

1 can refried beans

Whole wheat tortillas

1.  Heat olive oil on medium-high heat.  Add veggies.  Sprinkle with oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Cook veggies to your preferred level of tenderness.  2.  While veggies are cooking, heat refried beans in a saucepan over low.  3.  Once the vegetables are done, heat tortillas in the microwave for 5 seconds.  On each tortilla, add refried beans and cooked veggies.  Like this:

After-thoughts:  I also served rice and guacamole to complete the meal.  I really liked the cauliflower in this recipe.  I do not like raw cauliflower and have always heard that they have the best flavor when sauteed which I found to be true here.  For an alternate way of cooking the veggies, I would suggest roasting them.  Sorry that I don't have exact measurements for the seasonings.  I really don't think this could be messed up though!

Health Benefits:  I didn't analyze the nutrition facts for this recipe.  I suppose I could if you really wanted me to.  With veggies, olive oil, whole wheat tortillas, and beans, there's really nothing to feel bad about here.  Trust me.

Hubby's reaction:  And I quote, "Do we have any taco sauce?"  Once that need was remedied, he ate two burritos.  I definitely took advantage of the fact that he commented before supper that he needed something healthy in him since he had eaten poorly all weekend (Love this man!  Just the fact that he would think that thought melts my heart).  So when I broke the news that we would be eating veggie burritos for dinner, I quickly followed it up with, "remember how you said you needed to eat something healthy???"  Best news is that he ate these leftovers the next day. 

The latest and greatest...

(Post preface:  While I did have some food classes in college, the majority of what I studied was: "What's in the human body?  How does it work?  How do nutrients, vitamins, and minerals affect body processes?"  I am not a chef.  However, I am a very willing cook.  This means a few things:  1.  I don't usually create my own recipes.  2.  I spend a lot of time looking up other people's recipes.  3.  It might not always taste the best, but I can tell you 10 solid health reasons why we should eat it anyway.)

As I plan my menu each week, I usually peruse my favorite cooking sites or the latest Taste of Home magazine to find new recipes to try.  Each week, I'm going to try to recommend to you at least one recipe that I've found and prepared.  So without further ado...

Healthified Chicken and Broccoli-Parmesan Pasta





Find the full recipe here at Eat Better America.

Prep time:  10 minutes
Start to finish:  30 minutes
Makes: 6 servings

 

Ingredients:
8 oz. dried whole wheat pasta (2 1/2 cups) - I used penne
3 cups fresh broccoli florets (you could definitely use frozen though)

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp adobo seasoning (homemade)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/8 tsp black pepper
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions: 
1.  In a Dutch oven cook pasta according to package direcctions, adding broccoli for the last 5 minutes.  Drain well.  Return to hot Dutch oven.
2.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine chicken pieces and adobo seasoning; toss to coat. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds.  Add chicken; cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.
3.  Add chicken to drained pasta and broccoli.  Stir in mayonnaise and pepper.  Cook over low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.
4.  To serve, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Analysis:  Calories 320, Total Fat 10 g (Saturated Fat 1.5 g), Sodium 380 mg, Total carb 33 g (Fiber 3 g), Protein 24 g.

In an effort to save money and to prevent an unnecessary intake of preservatives, I have been trying to make my own seasonings when possible.  I had never heard of used adobo seasoning, a Latin spice blend, until I tried it in this recipe.  I found a recipe for the seasoning here.  It was great!  It definitely gave it an unexpected flavor that prevented this from being another boring pasta recipe.  This is not considered a low-sodium dish, but with most of the sodium coming from the seasoning, it would be easy to decrease the amount of salt you use in the adobo seasoning.

This was a very quick dish to make.  I appreciated that the chicken was prepared with the meal and did not need to be pre-cooked.  I liked this recipe so much that I have made it two weeks in a row!

Health Bonus: 
Fiber from the pasta and broccoli
Calcium from the broccoli and cheese
Lean protein from the chicken

Heart-healthy fats from the olive oil and mayonnaise

Word of warning:The recipe calls for adding the broccoli to the pasta for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.  This is a very long time and results in broccoli that falls apart.  I actually liked that the broccoli fell apart because it made for a more cohesive dish and gave it a nice green color.  But if you want to keep the broccoli fully intact, I would recommend adding it only 2-3 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Hubby's reaction:  Although he was leary at first and didn't really like that the broccoli was added to the pasta when it was cooked, he ate all of it and really liked the seasoning too.

Let me know if you make it and/or how you would change it!