We had a quiet weekend at home, helping Lola get used to weekend life at our place. She's still not sure she loves her crate, so we are trying to let her get used to it for short amounts of time. We didn't hit any new restaurants this weekend, but last night we tried a new recipe. I loved the idea of this One Pot Chicken Pasta. I like any meal that is light on dishes and it was really healthy, so we decided to give it a try. After our evening walk, I had my sous chef get started chopping an onion, red pepper, and zucchini. Meanwhile, I gathered all the ingredients and got started on the chicken. I put a little bit of olive oil in my large French oven pot and heated it up. Next, I added in some minced garlic and my cut up chicken (uncooked). I cooked it about 4-5 minutes. It wasn't fully cooked, but I knew it would continue to cook in the pot, so I wasn't worried. I added in my chopped vegetables, 2 large cans of diced, undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, 3 cups of water, and a box of rotini. I allowed that to come to a boil, which took a bit of time because I had a very large, full pot. Once it began to boil, I turned down the heat and let it simmer for about 12 minutes. I checked to make sure the pasta was tender and that most of the liquid had cooked down. I removed it from the heat and let it set about 5 minutes for the sauce to thicken a bit. We added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and we were ready to eat. It was fabulous! We loved the flavor and the fact that it was so healthy. It also made plenty of leftovers, so I know what I'll be having for lunch this week! This was a very basic recipe, so we thought about some variations we might try, such as sausage instead of chicken and maybe more vegetables. The possibilities are endless and the results are sure to be delicious!

The New Austonian