Why another cooking blog?

I decided to create this blog as a way for family and friends to see what I'm cooking and to share interesting food related tidbits I come across.
I'm frequently asked for recipes so I thought this would be a good place to start collecting the old, new, and funky recipes that I have.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Cheesy Chicken Pasta
From EatingWell: November/December 2008

6 servings (1 1/3C) | Active time 35 min | Total time 35 min

Ingredients
8 oz whole-wheat penne
2 C 1/2 in cauliflower florets
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/2 C dry white wine
3 C low-fat milk
3 T flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t fresh ground pepper
1 C shredded gruyere or swiss cheese
3 C shredded cooked chicken (12 oz)
1 t dijon mustard
2 T chopped fresh chives or scallions

Preparation
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook for 5 minutes.  Add cauliflower florets and cook until the pasta and florets are tender, about 4 minutes more.  Drain, rinse, and return to the pot.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring, until tender, 2-3 minutes.  Add wine and cook until reduced slightly, about 1 min. Whisk milk, flour, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl and add to the pan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.  Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and stir in cheese until smooth.  Stir chicken and mustard into the cheese sauce; cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Stir the sauce into the drained pasta and cauliflower.  Served sprinkled with chives or scallions.

Nutrition
433 calories, 13 g fat; 5 g sat; 5 g mono; 75 mg cholesterol; 42 g carbs; 34 g protein; 5 g fiber, 491 mg sodium, 483 potassium.

Tips & Notes
To poach chicken breasts, place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a medium skillet or saucepan.  Add lightly salted water to cover and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until chicken is cooked through and no longer pick in the middle, 10-12 minutes.

Notes from me!
Jeff thought this needed more seasoning. I thought it was pretty tasty, I'm thinking maybe he wanted more salt. I would not dump all the cheese in the sauce at once, slowly stir in small amounts. I also did 1/2 C gruyere and 1/2 C swiss. On a side note this dish was not appetizing to look at. See:
Yum?
So I will have to do something to make this more appealing to the eye. Maybe corn, bell pepper, carrots, spinach, mushrooms? We will have to see.

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