Saturday, July 07, 2007

Chicken, Broccoli, and Pasta with Italian Style Lemon Herb Sauce

This is a rare case where dried herbs are called for to provide the unique flavor, plus the fresh lemon juice and garlic combine to make an excellent sauce.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced or cubed
4-8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/4 cup + 2 tbs olive oil (Thanks again Steve, I used the oil you sent me)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
14 ounce bag frozen broccoli thawed and drained
Juice from one large lemon
8 Ounces Dreamfileds Rotini Pasta
Freshly grated Romano cheese

Preparation:
Put water for pasta to boil and add pasta when boiling; pasta should cook for about 9 minutes and should be added to water when broccoli is introduced below.

In a large shallow sauce pan or frying pan add 1/4 cup olive oil, garlic, oregano, and basil. Heat on medium until garlic begins to sizzle, reduce heat to low, and let cook covered for two minutes and then add the chicken, stirring well to coat with olive oil and spices.

Cover and simmer for three minutes. Stir again and add broccoli tossing to coat with olive oil mixture. Cover and simmer an additional three minutes. Add juice from lemon, stir well to coat chicken and broccoli, and cook covered an additional three minutes, stir/toss again and add black pepper and let cook covered until pasta is ready to be drained (about three minutes).

Drain pasta, return to pot and toss with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Add pasta to chicken, broccoli and sauce, toss, and let stand covered for five minutes stirring once after two and a half minutes. (This will allow the pasta to absorb some of the sauce and thicken it a bit) If sauce is still too thin after this you can return to a low heat for an additional three to five minutes, stirring every minute.

Serve topped with freshly grated Romono cheese. Serves 2 to 4 people depending on how hungry they are. Another healthy low fat dish that is delicious.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Chris,

That sounds excellent!

- David

Blandishment Blog said...

It was quite delicious!