Chicken Scampi

Finally, friends - Easter has come, and has now gone. I made it through the temptation of pizza (ok, twice I caved, both were weekends and I claim that I had "no other choice"... which is for the most part accurate) and completely stayed away from pasta! You guys - this the best I have done since I was 5 years old and gave up sucking my thumb!!! I would like to take a moment and reflect on this personal feat... done. Moving on, we had a delicious Easter lunch with the family. Dad's side of the family came over and we spent a great afternoon together. As mom prepared the house and table settings, I prepared the food. I'll be honest, cooking for 13 almost made me dislike cooking in general - that's a lie, but it did try my patience this time around.  Sunday was a lot of different foods to make, a lot of prep, a lot of chopping, a lot of "move please," a lot of "I said MOVE," a lot of "ok, I promise, only 5 minutes left," a lot of "ughhh I need a drink"  :-)

Due to the need to get all of the food served in a timely manner, I just didn't bother to stop and take my pictures. At the end of it all, I didn't even think to get a finished product picture of the spread, my brain was shot. Everything turned out really well, so that was the test run, stay tuned for some great sides coming in the future including a "healthy" creamed corn, honey-glazed carrots, and an Au-gratin potato recipe that worked for me this time.

Tonight, I decided to have some pasta in honor of my successful Lenten season. I came across a post from one of the blogs I follow, Muncher Cruncher and adapted her recipe. This Chicken Scampi paired with simple greens was a healthy, tasty and easy Monday night meal.

Grocery List:

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic (I thought I had fresh garlic and I didn't so I just used a tsp. of garlic powder)
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• Juice from one lemon
• 2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite size bits (I simply bought two prepared chicken breasts from Whole Foods pre-made food section and just cut them up)
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• Whole wheat penne pasta
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by boiling your pasta in water until soft - about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt your butter then add the olive oil, garlic and green onion. Cook for about 10 minutes and add the tomatoes, chicken, parsley, then season with salt and pepper.

 

Once sauce is done, pour pasta in a bowl, then top with sauce. Toss with pasta and serve!

  

Served with mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, feta and light red wine vinaigrette.