One dish meals.

I am a firm believer in theses dishes. They contain all the ingredients of a complete meal, they are always easy to make and in so little time. In fact the time you'll need to prepare one of these meals is almost the time you'll need to make one dish, so you cut two thirds of the time you need to have the food on the table. When you prepare one of these dishes you can also reduce your dependence on meat, especially on prepared and processed foods, which we all know are very detrimental to our health.
Also in the wonderful winter wonderland where we live in the Northeastern US these days, I doubt that we can all go to the store to buy groceries, or anything else for that matter. One dish meals are something you can whip up in a second from ingredients you have in the pantry or in the freezer.
Today I have two recipes for you. I just made them last week, and they were a big hit.

CHICKEN AND PENNE TRICOLORE

I call this dish "tricolore" not because the pasta has 3 colors, as some brands do, but because the dish is made of ingredients that come in three colors. You have chicken and pasta (white), green veggies and carrots. As I always believe a recipe is not a dogma, you can always tweak it to suit your taste. This is why I can make this dish with white sauce or tomato sauce. It all depends on the flavor du jour. It proved to be a big hit with children, they probably like it because they are not confronted with many choices (which can be a kind of a daunting task for a young child), it is already cut in bite size, and somehow it resembles macaroni and cheese, but healthier.
Another tweak is that you can make it vegetarian and serve it as a side dish. I'll tell you how. You'll need for the basic recipe:

- 2 chicken breasts cut in strips less than a 1/4 of an inch thick
- 3/4 of a box of penne (preferably rigate so it can hold the sauce better)
- 8 to 10 sprigs of asparagus
- 1 green zucchini
- about 1 cup baby carrots
- 1 and 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1 cup water (you can use pasta water)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp onion and garlic frozen mixture
- 1 pinch dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste.

In a large skillet mix the chicken strips with the onion and garlic, add salt and pepper, and set aside until you prepare the vegetables. Cut off the tough end of the asparagus and cut them into pieces as big as the penne. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then cut each half in half again lengthwise, then in pieces as big as the penne. Check the baby carrots: some will be small enough to keep as is, others will need to be cut in half. You will have 2 piles of veggies all cut as the same size as the pasta. Boil the water and start cooking the pasta. As soon as it comes again to a boil, add the carrots. They usually need longer to cook. On medium high heat, start cooking the chicken strips that were marinating, stir until the meat is no longer pink. In a measuring cup, stir the flour in the skim milk until all lumps are dissolved. Add the milk mixture to the chicken and stir. Don't worry you'll have a creamy white sauce without any fat added. Trust me, the milk will thicken.Cook the chicken in the sauce for about 5 minutes to make sure that the flour is completely cooked. In the mean time, just before the pasta and carrots become al dente, add the green veggies (asparagus and zucchini). You can use a cup of the pasta water to thin out the sauce. Drain the pasta with the veggies and add to the chicken, add the oregano, and stir until all ingredients are well coated. Serve topped with grated parmigiano.

DISH 2: If you prefer to go with tomato sauce, you'll need the same ingredients, but replace the milk and flour with 1 can (15 oz) of tomato sauce. Add it to the chicken when it is no longer pink and stir. Then add the pasta and veggies as in the recipe.

DISH 3: As a side dish or vegetarian meal omit the chicken. If you chose the white sauce, heat the flour and milk mix in the skillet and cook until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper and oregano, then the cooked pasta with veggies.
If you prefer the tomato sauce, cook the onion and garlic mixture in a tsp of olive oil until translucent, add the sauce, salt and pepper and oregano. Stir then add the pasta.

CHICKEN MOROCCAN STYLE

I have a lot of Moroccan friends and I really don't dare pretend that this is a truly Moroccan recipe. It's something I thought of when we reached a time when we were completely tired of the same old food and started looking for new ways to cook the old ingredients. My mother started asking for cheese sandwiches, her way to tell me that she was bored. So I looked into my freezer and found a couple of chicken thighs and drumsticks. A brief tour of the pantry helped me come up with this recipe. Everybody liked it so much, that mom asked for leftovers the next day. (If you know my mother this is unheard of!!) So here it is:

- 3 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
- 3 skinless drumsticks
- 2 tbsp frozen onion garlic mixture (or 1 small onion+ 2 cloves garlic finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 large carrot peeled
- 1 large green bell pepper
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp curry powder (or less, depending on how hot you like it)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken stock (more if needed)
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 1/3 cup golden (white) raisins
- 1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted.
- 1 cup dry couscous

In a large skillet mix the chicken with the onion and garlic, add salt and pepper. Let stand until you prepare the vegetables. Clean the green pepper and cut it into 1 inch pieces. Cut the celery in pieces about 1/2 inch, the carrot too. Add the oil to the skillet and brown the chicken over medium high heat on all sides. Reduce the heat to medium, add the veggies and stir. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. Mix the cinnamon, the curry and the flour and add them to the skillet. Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, stir. Then add the chicken stock. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in the raisins and the chickpeas and continue cooking until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Stir in the toasted almonds. Serve over the couscous.
TIP: You can prepare the dry couscous according to the package directions. Personally I just boil the amount of water needed, then add the grains, cover and let stand, then fluff with a fork. No fat or salt added. Sometimes my husband likes to eat the leftover couscous with some granulated sugar. It's a nice desert.