Grilled chicken and pasta.
This is a quick, healthy and a tasty meal and has very little cooking time. While i give you the list of ingredients and talk you through the process, I will also tell you about few variations you can do with this dish. It can be easily converted into a vegetarian dish.
Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 big portions
- Pasta – 1cups (you can use any kind of pasts, even a whole wheat pasta tastes good. Pasta can be easily replaced with brown rice, white rice, sticky rice, couscous, millet or even cauliflower rice)
- Olive oil for cooking (If you don’t like olive oil then use butter or any vegetable oil. But try using Olive oil as its healthy.)
- Mixed herb – 3 tsps (Fresh or bottled is your choice. I am lazy by nature so i use bottled ones. I use the ones from ‘KEYA’ brand, but please use which ever brand you prefer.)
- Sweet lime juice – 1/2 cup (fresh or canned, either is good, but i prefer freshly squeezed)
- Lemon Rind -1/2 tsp (Grate the skin of the lemon. Don’t use too much as flavour gets enhanced after cooking)
- Garlic chopped – 2tbsps
- Chicken Breasts boneless – 1/2 Kg (replace it with cottage cheese/fish/fondant potatoes/sweet potato etc)
- Baby tomatoes -10 pieces.
- Apple Cider vinegar – 1 tsp
- Fresh beans – 1 cup, cut the ends.
- Carrots – 1 cup, cut into strips
- Mushrooms – 2 cups, chopped
- garlic granules -1 1/2 tsp
- Freshly crushed Black pepper -1 tsp (Add lesser if you don’t eat but add a little at least. Also you can use coloured pepper)
- Chilli flakes- (this has to be according to how much chilli you eat. There is going to be black pepper too so if you don’t eat spicy food at all, skip the chilli. If you do, please add according to what your taste buds can tolerate)
- 2 tbsp of Parmesan grated cheese
- 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- Rock salt – to taste
- salt to taste
- A heavy bottom pan for chicken
- 2 normal pans for vegetables and pasta
Process:
- Clean the chicken, Cut them into serve size pieces, poke them a little with fork, pat them dry with clean cloth or towel and put them aside.
- For the marination mix, take the apple cider, 1 tbsp garlic, 2 tsp herbs, 1 tbsp olive oil, lemon rind, pepper, chillis and salt to taste. (again, use pepper and chilli according to what you like). Mix them well and put the chicken pieces in this. Coat it well with this marinade, cover and put in the fridge.
- Put the pasta to boil in salty water. Add the pasta only when the water begins to boil, then lower the heat. Leave it on flame for 5 mins or till the pasta is cooked. Keep half cup of pasta water and drain the rest. keep the boiled pasta in a vessel and put it aside.
- Time to take the chicken out.
- Take a heavy bottom pan, turn on the heat and when the pan is hot, add oil and then the chicken. Arrange it evenly so the heat is distributed well. Wait till the bottom is a little brown and then turn the pieces. Add the baby tomatoes in the pan.
- After another minute, lower the heat, add the sweet lime juice, cover the pan and let the chicken simmer.
- Put the Pan for the vegetables. When the pan is hot, lower the flame, add the oil, then add mushrooms and a little bit of herbs. Stir them for 2 minutes, bring them to one side of the pan and add beens and carrots. they need to be separate from each other. Sprinkle some herbs on beens and carrots and rock salt on the vegetables, add 4 to 5 tbsp of water and cover it. (Don’t sprinkle more than 2 pinches of rock salt. You will be adding vinegar later and if the salt is less, you can add more. But you can never take away extra salt.) Let it cook for about 5 minutes on low heat. By the time it’s done, the vegetables should be soft but still crunchy. You don’t want soggy vegetables.
- Till the vegetables are cooking, quickly put the pan for the pasta. add oil, herbs, garlic and boiled pasta with 2 to 3 spoons of pasta water, stir is all well and let it cook on low heat for a minute or two till all flavours are combined well together.
- The vegetable and the pasta will be done almost at the same time.
- Turn the heat off. Add some garlic granules to the vegetables and season with balsamic vinegar.
- Keep checking the chicken. It should not burn or dry out. This is what it should look like once done – Picture below..
Time to plate
Put the pasta on one side. Sprinkle the cheese. Put beens and carrots and then the mushrooms and then add the chicken pieces. Try not to mix them. Maybe sprinkle the plate with some fresh herbs if you have it available.
You have your appetising and colourful plate ready!
Do share pictures. I’ll love to see them.
P.S. All the food pictures are taken by me at home, of food cooked by me at home.