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.

"Great-Grandma's" Pasta Sauce

Apparently, spaghetti sauce is controversial. TableForTwo posted a recipe for Great Grandma's Pasta Sauce, which earned her lots of pins and lots of cranky comments about what is and isn't authentic.

Here's the image that's all over Pinterest:

Dried oregano, garlic powder... Mario Batali it ain't. But I thought it might taste OK, so I gave it a try. It's a pretty basic recipe - saute meat and garlic, add tomato stuff, simmer forever.

I followed it pretty closely, except that I threw in some mushrooms and chopped bell pepper to up the veggie content a bit.

It came out looking pretty good.

The taste, though, was just OK. It was quite sweet, and had a bit of a canned tomato flavor to it. I think I'll stick to my standby Cook's Illustrated recipe for a tomato-based pasta sauce.

Verdict: Not terrible, but there are better recipes out there.

Double Recipe Test: Creamy Avocado Pasta, and Honey Mustard Greek Yogurt Dressing

I was slightly skeptical of this recipe for creamy avocado pasta from the health and lifestyle site Greatist. It just seemed a little TOO easy, and the picture wasn't totally appetizing. But avocados are a favorite around here, so I gave it a try.

It didn't seem like a full dinner on its own, so I added a substantial salad with this honey mustard Greek yogurt dressing/sauce from The Hungry Runner blog. I pinned this image:

The pasta recipe is incredibly easy. Just toss some avocado, basil, lemon, garlic, olive oil, and salt in the blender or food processor. Process till smooth, and toss with cooked pasta.

I followed the recipe as written, and used Barilla Plus multi-grain pasta. This is how the sauce looked.

The dressing is also a snap. Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, Greek yogurt and honey.

Dinner came together in about 15-20 minutes!

It was delicious, too. The pasta is AMAZING. This is definitely my new go-to. Creamy, lemony, and fantastic. My husband actually couldn't even identify the avocado flavor. It tastes like a rich pesto. Love it.

The dressing was pretty good too, though it definitely had that Greek yogurt taste. I might try regular plain yogurt next time, or half and half regular yogurt and mayo. It was still better than bottled dressings, and a nice change from standard vinaigrette french dressing.

Altogether, this was a great success - popular with even the littlest eaters.

Verdict: A perfect healthy, quick weeknight dinner.

Ziti with Mushrooms, Onions, and Goat Cheese

This vegetarian pasta recipe is from the venerable Food and Wine. Of course it looks beautiful when you have all the resources of a high-end lifestyle magazine:

The basic idea is to caramelize (sort of) onions, then add sliced portobellos. Stir in some goat cheese and chopped parsley, and there you have it.

The home cook's version isn't quite so lovely:

I only had penne on hand, so I went with those instead of ziti. The appearance was not incredibly appetizing, but the taste was delicious. Very yummy indeed. The mushrooms are meaty enough that it's a pretty satisfying meal.

Verdict: A keeper!