Sometimes I sit down to dinner and I think, Please just eat this and don't throw it at me...
and other times, I put the plates down in front of them and I think, "They are going to go crazy for this... look! it's gorgeous and it tastes fantastic. I really hit this one out of the park" (pats self on back)
I felt that way about this dinner, Sadly, only my husband and my oldest felt the same way - everyone else took a bit, complained and opted for cold cereal. Boo!! to them!
It was still a fantastic dish - I ate it for lunch for days, because there was so much leftover - and I was actually sad when it was gone. I'll for sure be making it again - just probably on a night when the kids aren't home.
Essentially this was just pan cooked chicken breast, boiled noodles and a sauce that I made from the pan that I tossed over the noodles and drizzled over the chicken.
It was really a quick dinner (less than 30 minutes) and it tasted like something you would get in a restaurant.
Start with your Create a Skillet meal instructions.
I started with defrosted chicken breast and sprinkled them liberally with an Asian seasoning that I had. But you can make your own with the dried spices that you have - Garlic, Onion Powder, Ginger, Sesame Seeds, Salt and Pepper.
Then I put the pasta on to boil. I used thick egg noodles hoping to go for a Lo Mein type feel. You can use spaghetti or macaroni or whatever you have in the pantry.
I put the chicken into a hot pan with a drizzle of oil and let is cook on one side until it was browned and had a nice crust on one side. This way you get all that delicious flavor seared in, it doesn't "stick" to the pan, so you can use less oil and you spend less time standing at the stove flipping your meat over and over again.
Decide on your veggies - I used broccoli, but you could use a bag of frozen mixed veggies, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, green onions.
Once the chicken was cooked through I removed it from the pan - I covered it with foil to make sure it didn't dry out.
Then I added 2 cups of chicken stock, mixed with 2 TB of soy sauce and a TB of Hoisin sauce to the pan I cooked the chicken in. I let it come up to temperature.
Then I thickened it with corn starch.
2 tablespoons cornstarch OR 4 tablespoons flour & ¼ cup COLD water
Mix cornstarch or flour into cold water with fork. Make sure you have no lumps. Slowly add mixture to boiling stock, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and continue to cook and stir with whisk until thickened.
After the pasta finished cooking and I had drained it, I put the frozen broccoli and that pasta right back into the pan. I didn't want the broccoli too cooked - but if you want it more "done" you can microwave it before you add it.
I then tossed the pasta in the pan sauce that I made. - Use as much as you want to get your pasta to your desired "covered-ness"
Use the rest of the pan sauce to put over your chicken and ta-DA! The best dinner ever!
Seriously, despite what my younger kids thought, this was really really good.
