Quick and Simple Suppers #2

Here is another Quick and Simple Supper. I'll also teach you how to perfectly dice a tomato! :)

I don't really have a name for this dish... maybe pasta stir fry? or pasta sautee? Oh well.. here's how it goes.

I'm totally out of fresh produce except for a few tomatoes, two onions and a small amount of broccoli. I had defrosted chicken in the fridge and I knew I wanted pasta for dinner. The rest was history! FYI - this makes two servings.

Ingrediants needed:

• EVOO
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chicken breast
• Italian Seasoning
• Black pepper
  
• Broccoli
• WW pasta
• Parmesan cheese
• Tomatoes
  

1. Start with a pan of olive oil over medium heat. You want to start your pasta water at this point and cook your pasta while you're doing the rest of this. Cook the pasta until it's slightly less than al dente (depending on how much of a bite you want the pasta to have). You're going to add it to this pan of oil and ingrediants and it'll cook a little more.

2. While this is heating, chop half an onion (for two servings of pasta) and garlic. FYI - I grate my garlic with a hand grater. I hate mincing garlic because my fingers smell awful for days (unless I have a lemon on hand but I didn't. Lemon cancels the smell of garlic). Once the oil is heated, add your garlic and onion and let it "sweat" out for a while!

3. While onions/garlic are sweating - chop chicken and broccoli (on separate boards please!). I used two chicken breasts (again for two servings) and seasoned with a little black pepper and italian seasoning.

4. After the garlic and onions have sweated out, you want to add the chicken to cook first. You could cook both at the same time, but if you read my last Quick and Simple Supper blog - you know that my chicken didn't brown when I cooked the chicken and veggies together, so tonight I did it a little differently.

 

Let chicken mostly cook. Once it's white on the outside and has some color, add the broccoli.

Now keep cooking until broccoli is slightly soft. Again, depending on how much bite you want your veggies to have.. cook the dish until it's almost there.

5. Drain pasta when it's done and add to the pan. You're going to let this cook just a little longer so all the flavors can blend into the pasta and the pasta gets some of the oil on it.

 

6. Once the broccoli is cooked to the your desire, you're ready to plate! Top with a little parmesan cheese and chopped tomatoes and you're done!

 

I put a little more italian seasoning on top of the pasta because I love it :)

Now how to perfectly dice a tomato

Many of you may be like me - you love tomatoes but you hate all that goo inside the tomato. You know the gooey part with the seeds? Ugh it ruins tomatoes for me. So now anytime I add diced tomatoes to something, I cut the tomato like this!

1. Wash your tomato

2. Cut the top off the tomato

3. Now take your knife and cut around in the inside of the tomato

4. Take a spoon and stand over your trash can or garbage disposal and scoop out all the seeds and goo. You'll have to dig out the stuff on the sides until it looks like the picture below.

 

5. Now I usually cut the tomato in half. Then cut that half in half. Then half in half again and thinly slice.

See half in half, in half again, sliced. All there for your eyes!

Happy eating!!!!! - LLB