30-Minute Meals: Skillet Chicken Pasta with Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

This is the second in my series reviewing 30-minute meals from Mel's Kitchen Cafe (previously: coconut shrimp curry). This time I tried skillet chicken pasta with broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes.

It's one of those recipes where you add dry pasta to a sauce, and (in theory) the pasta absorbs just the right amount of liquid to cook and leave a nice sauce. In this case, you saute some chicken (remove it from the pan), saute aromatics, add liquids and pasta, and cook. Add the veggies towards the end so they don't overcook, and finish with cream, Parmesan, and the chicken.

I was a bit skeptical, thinking it might be bland or watery. It was great, though.

Very flavorful, and super easy. The husband and kids all loved it. I think you could bulk up the veggies a bit if you wanted to - maybe add some peas and artichoke hearts? It's really good as-is, though.

Verdict: Success! Quick, easy, and yum.

30-Minute Meals: Coconut Shrimp Curry

Mel's Kitchen Cafe has a big list of 30-minute meals (39 of them, in fact). This is the first in a series testing them.

The image I see pinned all the time is this one:

I made the Coconut Shrimp Curry, pictured here from Mel's.

The recipe is really simple. Just saute aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger, etc.), add canned tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. Add coconut milk and some shrimp you've marinated. Cook till the shrimp are done, add some cilantro, serve over rice.

I followed the recipe pretty much as written, though I added some red bell pepper and broccoli. It looked like this:

I served it over brown rice.

It was fantastic. Good enough for company, and extremely easy. It's going to be a weeknight go-to, for sure. I did use full-fat coconut milk, so I'm sure that part of the appeal was the delicious fat content. But I think it would still be pretty darned good with the reduced fat coconut milk.

It's also a nice kid-friendly curry - not too spicy (you can vary that, obviously), but very flavorful.

Verdict: Mel's is 1 for 1 with me!

Update: I tried this with light coconut milk, and it wasn't NEARLY as good. Use the full fat stuff.