Help me cook?
5Ok. So I need some suggestions. I bought bowtie pasta, some chicken cutlets, Alfredo sauce, and zucchini. My intention was to somehow cook the chicken and add it to the pasta, with the zucchini on the side.
I’m feeling uninspired. How should I season my chicken? Should I add the zucchini to the pasta? I have chopped spinach in my freezer. I also have some frozen asparagus and fresh carrots.
I used the supercook website that lets you put in your ingredients to see what recipes you can make. I feel like 80% of the recipes tell me to make Mac and cheese since I have cheddar as an available ingredient. The other options are Asian inspired dishes with soy sauce.
Suggestions please. I need to cook the chicken today before it goes bad.
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Well you probably don’t want my suggestion since I cook only because the alternative is to starve… and creative and cooking should not be used in the same sentence when I cook. And I gave my grandmother’s cookbook to my niece who loves to cook and is sentimental so I don’t even have a cookbook anymore (but I do remember it said to pick the foreign objects out of any vegetables or beans you get from the garden before you wash or cook them which sounds like a good idea). And my goal is dinner in 20 min or less, preferably less…
But cook the noodles, add a can of cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom soup - the kind you have to add water to but don’t add enough water to actually make it soup - leave it thicker) add the chicken cut up (in fact cut it up before you cook it). Serve the zucchini on the side. Maybe a bit of melted cheese on top if you are determined to use the cheese too?
If my daughter had input you’s also add at least a couple of tablespoons of cayenne powder (this kid can drink jalapeno juice by the glass full given a choice - I am reasonably certain she has no taste buds) and then some black pepper… I, on the other hand, as a super taster prefer minimal spices.
Leave cheddar out of what you are searching for and maybe they will give you something better.
@Kidsandliz
/giphy Approved!
@f00l OMG there is NO WAY. NOOO WAAAAYYYYYY I could do that. Even a couple of grains of black pepper is too hot. Many years ago when I was working for DoDDs in Germany at an outdoor center one teen talked another teen (dared and we tried to talk her out of it) into drinking a bit from a can of jalapenos. The poor kid was in agony. The one who talked her into it said, “It can be that bad” and drank some herself and then there were two of them suffering. I had to convince them to eat bread and not drink water to try to cut down on the “heat”. I must admit though we were laughing so hard our stomaches hurt - bad bad bad staff that we were.
@Kidsandliz
you fix it by consuming dairy.
Milk, butter, & cheese will kill the pain.
That’s one reason by chili-con-queso. And why many places serve hot tortillas you can butter.
@Kidsandliz
Btw I have been know to drink Tabasco straight from the bottle every few years.
Not something I regret doing at all.
Fun. And tasty.
@f00l You should then have adopted my kid and not me. She would have liked your meals more LOL
@f00l I didn’t know that at the time. All we had access to was stuff not kept in the cooler anyway so that wouldn’t have helped. Either way I was glad it was not me - although there is no way I would have taken that dare. I know better
I’m not the greatest cook, but I really think you should not let that chicken go bad!
There are lots of recipes you could use. Maybe Bowtie Chicken Alfredo ?
I have no idea what to do with the zucchini because I never know what to do with zucchini other than using them to scare the cat.
Well IMO those ingreds you have there will make a delicious meal. I’m not sure if the zucchini would be best on the side or mixed in with the pasta. My personal pref would be on the side, I love just zuch sliced up and sautéed in some butter, so yummy. And fit the chicken just season it with some S&P or Johnny’s seasoning salt or the like. Your plan of what to do with it all makes sense to me and sounds really good. I think however you put it all together will be great, RD. But keep us posted!
What moonhat said, pretty much. Here’s how I’d do it: Season the chicken (salt, pepper, garlic powder, whatever you’ve got) and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour, it will kind of soak up some of the seasoning. Brown it in a pan with maybe a little olive oil or butter or whatever you have. If you like the crispy bits, cut the chicken up first (even before seasoning), you will get more surface area to brown and it will cook faster too. Watch the chicken, the worst thing for it would be to overcook it and dry it out.
Slice up the zucchini and saute it up in the same pan you used from the chicken.
Cook the pasta, warm the sauce, toss them together and top with the chicken. The zucchini would be good mixed up in it or served on the side.
I want to serve humans.
@Barneybot on a dish?
When I complete the takeover of Earth, purple will be the first to go.
@Barneybot Stuffed with zucchini, or is that on the side?
When I complete the takeover of Earth, purple will be the first to go.
@RiotDemon @rockblossom I love humans.
@Barneybot Truly one of the greatest episodes ever.
Purple is the worst color.
You didn’t mention what cooking method you prefer for the chicken. I like to cook it on the grill, but oven broiler works well also. I often use the cheaters method for seasoning chicken: slather it up with Italian dressing and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two before grilling or broiling.
The zucchini can go the same route, though I’d opt for the asparagus, sautéed in butter or olive oil, salt and garlic.
Once the chicken is cooked I would probably serve over the pasta/alfredo sauce with the zucchini or asparagus on the side. Or both if you’re hangry.
Pro tip: If you’re using alfredo sauce from a jar, add chopped green onions or chive, plus minced garlic if you have any. This gives the alfredo a bit more life and avoids the “paste in a jar” thing many mass produced sauces suffer.
The only suggestion I have for the zucchini is either zucchini bread or chocolate zucchini cake. Those are the only ways I like zucchini.
@msklzannie I have a recipe for zucchini chocolate chip cookies. I’ve never tried it.
Just finished eating. It was delicious.
Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces. Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Stuck the frozen spinach in water to thaw. Waited a bit.
Got the water boiling for the pasta. Cut up the zucchini and heated up the skillet. Pasta goes in. Cooked the zucchini in some Olive oil and seasonings. Finished it off with butter. Emptied the zucchini onto my plate and added the chicken to the pan. Cooked it for a few minutes, added the spinach. Added the Alfredo sauce. I use the Buitoni brand, it’s sold by the fresh pasta and is almost as good as homemade. Added in some garlic chives from my garden and then added the pasta to the skillet when everything was warmed through and pasta was finished.
I have enough pasta left for lunch tomorrow and maybe a couple of more meals.
When I was cooking I really wished I had some fresh tomatoes and artichokes because then it would of tasted almost like this pasta that I get at Applebee’s.
Either way, it was delicious. I’m trying to get back into cooking more often.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement.
I’m not great at beautiful plating, but whatever, it was still yummy.
@RiotDemon Oh, it looks gooooood!
@ruouttaurmind thanks!
@RiotDemon It looks way the heck better than anything I would have put together. You want to look good - just compare yourself to me. No problem. You will never be last.
@RiotDemon looks great. Good job!!
Coarsely skin the zucchini. Cut the zucchini lengthwise in half and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Chop up the zucchini and cook it in a pan with oil for awhile, then add the chicken. Before the chicken is cooked, add the Alfredo sauce and zucchini seeds and pulp and cook until the chicken is cooked. Boil the pasta in water with some salt for about 7 minutes. Strain and don’t rinse the pasta. Serve it like spaghetti with meatballs.
@eonfifty thanks for the input, but I already ate! See above.
Curious though, why seed the zucchini and add them later?
@RiotDemon
To keep excess water out of the oil until the zucchini has had some time to get brown-ish. Adding it later is just for flavor.
@eonfifty gotcha. Never heard of that.
@RiotDemon
That’s how I would do it
@eonfifty I have one more zucchini in the fridge. I’ll try it next time!
@RiotDemon
Awesome!
VAN GOGH! MANGO! TANGO! AWESOME!