Chicken Pesto Pasta

The family party was last Sunday, and it was a hit.  I ended up doing lime jello jigglers, a huge green salad, broccoli pasta salad, rolls dyed green, and chicken kabobs with onions and green pepper.  To go with the salad and chicken, I made homemade pesto sauce and homemade Cafe Rio salad dressing, which were both yummy.  I had a little bit of chicken, broccoli, and pesto leftover, so I made this for dinner Monday night:

1 chicken breast, diced and seasoned with McCormick's Rotisserie Chicken seasoning
1 shallot, diced
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil or butter
1 cup broccoli, cut into florets
1/3 to 1/2 box of penne pasta (I like whole wheat or Barilla Plus)
2 Tbs. flour
1/2-2/3 cup skim milk
3 heaping Tbs. prepared pesto sauce
4 sundried tomatoes, chopped
parmesan cheese, for garnish.

In a large pot, boil water for pasta.  Cook pasta according to package directions, adding in broccoli for last 2 minutes of cooking.  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, melt butter or heat olive oil.  Saute shallot until it begins to soften, then add chicken, seasoning with salt and pepper.  When chicken is browned and nearly cooked through, sprinkle with flour and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.  Whisk in milk and bring mixture to a bubble.  Add in pesto, sundried tomatoes, and cooked pasta and broccoli, until heated through and thoroughly combined.

This made a big, hearty meal for just the two of us, but it can easily be doubled for larger families.

Even Easier Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Last night was not my best, culinarily speaking.  I was experimenting with new recipes, and I planned on making mini-dishes of 2 different kinds of enchiladas--white sauce and red sauce, and a jello.  I had the jello ready to go in the fridge, went to slide it in...and the whole stupid thing tipped over and splashed everywhere!  Let me tell you, cleaning reddish orange goo off of carpet, wood floor, the fridge, the walls, the cabinets, etc. was not fun.  I had to take apart all the drawers in my fridge and freezer, pull the fridge out, steam clean the carpet, etc.  Not my best moment for sure.

So my plans for 2 gourmet types of enchiladas went right out the window.  I had about 20 minutes before my hungry husband would walk through the door, and not many ready-to-serve ingredients aside from a leftover rotisserie chicken breast, so I threw together these instead (based on my original recipe for Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas):

1 chicken breast from a Costco rotisserie chicken, skin removed and diced
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed (save the other half for nachos or something)
1/4 cup diced onions
diced green pepper
1 tsp. olive oil
1 can red enchilada sauce (I like Rosarita brand)
4-6 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 450.  In a non-stick skillet over medium high heat, heat oil  Season onion and pepper with salt and pepper, then saute until tender.  Add chicken, black beans, and a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce until heated through and mixture is cohesive but not too wet.  On the bottom of  an 8 by 8 pan, spread a couple of spoonfuls of enchilada sauce.  Roll chicken/black bean mixture in flour tortillas with about a tablespoon of cheese (makes anywhere from 4-6, depending on how full you fill them).  Place seam side down in prepared pan.  Top with remaining enchilada sauce, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake at 450 for 3-5 minutes until browned and bubbly.  Then congratulate yourself for throwing together a decent meal in no time at all!