TWO QUICK, EASY MEALS IN ONE

Here is another quick easy meal, great for 1 or 2, that is fast and simple.  The next two days for me are busy!  So, in thinking ahead....what could we eat that was quick, tasty, and serve as two meals?  Chicken Pesto Pasta.  You don't even need a recipe for this one! (just make extra for the next days meal - 1 pkg spirals will feed 2 easily for 2 days)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 pkg. Tinkyada Spiral Noodles - any pasta shape would work
1 pkg. chicken tenders, or a chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
10 Tblsp. Pesto - homemade or store bought
Parmesan Cheese
While the pasta is cooking, heat up a pan medium high heat with olive oil.  Saute the chicken tenders with salt and pepper - you could even sweat out onion and garlic to this as well - or not.  Once cooked with some nice carmelization - set aside.
Pour Pesto into a large bowl.  When pasta is cooked, drain and pour into the pesto to combine, add in the chicken, and some Parmesan cheese - combine - meal number 1 is done. This took 15-20 minutes - as long as it took to cook the pasta, so probably less!
Refrigerate the leftovers, then the next day, add: (whatever your garden and fridge has at the moment)
1/4 cup finely diced green onion
2 finely diced celery stalks
1 finely chopped tomato - or a handful of diced sun dried tomatoes
I used a handful of fresh chopped baby Swiss chard from the garden or a handful of finely chopped fresh spinach
Fresh minced parsley
I also threw in a big handful of fresh peas - frozen would work well too
Your favorite salad dressing or in my case I used a simple Lemon Garlic Dressing - juice of 1 lemon, 1 minced garlic clove, salt and pepper, enough olive oil for a 3 to 1 ratio.
A sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Toss all of the ingredients into the Chicken Pesto - meal number 2 done!  When you are in a hurry, or have had busy days, you can still eat healthy, on relatively short time in the kitchen.

Ina Gawne
author
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2 comments on “TWO QUICK, EASY MEALS IN ONE”

  1. Mmm this looks delicious! Have you ever thought about putting chickpeas in this recipe? I make a similar pasta to this one, except with chickpeas, and it always ends up being a hit. I love putting these seasoned chickpeas from Tasty Bite in it - I love the flavor and texture with the pasta. I definitely recommend trying this, as well as the rest of their products - their ready-made meals have saved me so much time, energy, and money. Bon appetit!

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