Chicken Broccoli Pasta

I was in the grocery store this summer and overheard a troubling conversation between a mother and son. The grocery cart was overloaded with the "blue" box of macaroni and cheese. The son was telling the mother, "I'm not supposed to be eating this. I need other things for my body." Of course my imagination went wild. Does he have health problems? Has his coach expressed the beauty of performance food? Sadly, the mother left all the mac and cheese in her cart and I was unable to hear (I tried) the rest of the exchange between them.

My mind immediately thought of a great alternative to the blue box, Chicken Broccoli Pasta. The original recipe was in a swimming magazine my daughter was subscribed to. I modified it to fit my family. We love this wonderful performance meal.

Chicken Broccoli Pasta

12 ounces of whole wheat pasta

1 broccoli crown cut into florets

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 tbsp pesto (recipe in July 20th post)

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound boneless chicken breast chopped into bite sized pieces

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot with salted, boiling water, cook pasta until al dente

2. Meanwhile, saute chicken and garlic in olive oil for several minutes in a large skillet

3. Add broccoli and saute until all is cooked through.

4. Add chopped tomatoes and pesto

5. Toss cooked pasta into chicken mixture

6. Season with salt and pepper and toss with Parmesan cheese

This is great served warm or leftover cold.

Dress your salad!

I was in the grocery store the other day and took a look at the salad dressings. The ingredient lists on some of these scared me a little. There were as many as 25 ingredients; many I could not even pronounce!

Not knowing what these ingredients are frighten me:

xanthan gum

disodium inosinate

disodium guanylate

maltodextrin

mono and diglycerides

sorbic acid

phosphoric acid

calcium disodium EDTA

proplene glycol alginate

sodium benzoate

titanium dioxide

What is this stuff? I don't want to eat anything that sounds like a science experiment.

I want to share my family's favorite two dressings for salad. I promise you will be able to pronounce every ingredient and buy them at your local grocery store.

Italian Dressing:

1 cup of canola oil or olive oil (I like a mixture of both.)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp dries basil leaves

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

2 cloves of garlic, crushed ( or 1/4 tsp dried garlic)

1/4 cup of red wine vinegar ( or whatever vinegar you like)

Shake all ingredients in a tightly covered jar.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup raspberry vinegar (red wine vinegar works here in a pinch)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves

Shake all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. My family loves this dressing in a salad of fresh greens and fruit.