Tag: chicken breasts

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Main Dish

Cook up all the ‘gourd’ things for fall weather

Fall chicken and vegetables features all the flavors of the season with sweet butternut squash, earthy Brussels spouts and plenty of garlic, along with cheesy tortellini and paprika-seasoned chicken.
Fall chicken and vegetables features all the flavors of the season with sweet butternut squash, earthy Brussels spouts and plenty of garlic, along with cheesy tortellini and paprika-seasoned chicken.

Early to mid-October is one of the harder times of year for me to decide what to cook.

Since the Kansas weather can’t make up its mind, I’m never sure if it will be a day where I’m happy to heat up my kitchen by firing up the oven or if I’ll regret raising the temperature in our house.

Despite that, I’m never wishy-washy about all of the fall vegetables that start to hit the grocery store shelves. I could subsist almost completely on squash and sweet potatoes, and I’m always excited to get to cook with them again each year.

So, on a day this past week when I was pretty sure it was going to be an “oven day,” I grabbed some squash and Brussels spouts and hurried home to whip up my first official fall meal so I could share it with all of you.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Julia’s Album.” You can find the original post at https://juliasalbum.com/autumn-chicken-dinner-roasted-vegetables/. I added extra spices and garlic to my version.

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Fall Chicken and Vegetables

Fall chicken and vegetables features all the flavors of the season with sweet butternut squash, earthy Brussels spouts and plenty of garlic, along with cheesy tortellini and paprika-seasoned chicken.
Course Main Course
Keyword autumn recipe, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, cheese tortellini, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, fall recipe, garlic, minced garlic, paprika, thyme

Ingredients

  • 3 cups butternut squash peeled and cubed
  • 12 ounces Brussels spouts halved
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
  • 9 ounces cheese tortellini
  • 1 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into strips
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons thyme
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.
  • Add the squash and Brussels sprouts to the baking sheet, and then pour on two tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix the vegetables with a spoon or your hands until everything is evenly coated. Spread the vegetables out as evenly as possible, and bake for 30 minutes or until fork tender. (Stir them around a bit after about 20 minutes in the oven.)
  • While the vegetables are roasting, cook the tortellini according to package instructions, drain and set aside.
  • For the chicken, place the strips into a bowl and season with the paprika, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir the chicken with a spoon or your hands until the spices are evenly distributed onto all the chicken.
  • In a large skillet (go big; you’re adding the vegetables and pasta later), heat the other two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the chicken and saute for about five minutes on each side until the chicken is browned to your liking and has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside for now.
  • Add the butter to the skillet. When it’s melted, add in the garlic. Saute for about two minutes, until the garlic is lightly browned a fragrant.
  • Add the tortellini to the skillet and toss to coat it in the butter/garlic mixture.
  • Add in the chicken and any accumulated juices and the roasted vegetables and toss again to evenly distribute all of the ingredients. Add more salt and pepper, if desired, and serve hot.

This was delicious. I definitely went back in for another helping, and it made a lot of food. I will say it was not quite as good when reheated as it was the first night we had it, but the leftovers were still pretty tasty.

The flavor profile for this is quintessentially fall, which I was excited to experience.

And even if the weather keeps dipping back and forth on the temperature gauge, I’ll keep this recipe around and ready for the rest of October and November.

I’m ready for some autumn flavors, even if Mother Nature is not.

This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 19, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Creamy chicken and tortellini is ‘pasta’tively perfect for dinner this winter

Creamy chicken and tortellini is actually a pretty easy dish to make but it has lots of wow factor with an out-of-this-world sauce, perfectly cooked chicken and cheesy pasta.
Creamy chicken and tortellini is actually a pretty easy dish to make but it has lots of wow factor with an out-of-this-world sauce, perfectly cooked chicken and cheesy pasta.

I have officially reached the hibernation stage of winter.

Once I’m home from work, I am constantly clad in my fleece pants, thick socks and carrying a fuzzy blanket for our schnauzer and me to curl up under on the couch.

On top of that, I’m mostly attracted to meals that are warm and carb heavy.

This week, I finally gave into my temptation for a cheesy, high-calorie meal, and it was absolutely fabulous. It was the perfect thing to fill us up on a cold night, and it was easy, too.

This comes from an online video by Luke Brown. You can find him on reels on Facebook. I added extra seasoning to my version of his recipe below.

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Creamy Chicken and Tortellini

Creamy chicken and tortellini is actually a pretty easy dish to make but it has lots of wow factor with an out-of-this-world sauce, perfectly cooked chicken and cheesy pasta.
Course Main Course
Keyword 30-minute meal, chicken, chicken breasts, chicken broth, easy dinner, garlic, garlic powder, heavy cream, oregano, paprika, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, tortellini

Ingredients

  • 2 large chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons garlic minced
  • 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes mostly drained and chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 19 ounces frozen tortellini

Instructions

  • In a large plastic bag, combine the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss in the chicken, seal the bag, and shake until the chicken is well coated in the flour mixture.
  • Heat a large skillet with a lid over medium heat and add in the olive oil and butter. Add the chicken and saute until it is golden brown and the internal temperature of the largest piece is 165 degrees.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside for now.
  • Add the minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan and saute for about one minute. Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan a bit as you stir to get all the good bits off the bottom.
  • Add in the parmesan, red pepper flakes, oregano and thyme, and stir until the cheese is melted and everything is well combined.
  • Add in the frozen tortellini (Don’t bother stirring at this point. The frozen pasta will just make your parmesan clump back up.), and place the lid on the pan. Turn the heat down to low, and let the pasta cook for about five minutes.
  • Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce, and then add in the chicken. Give the whole dish a good stir to coat everything in the sauce, and serve immediately.

This was amazing. It was cheesy, creamy and definitely filling. It could have benefited from a big piece of garlic bread to go along with it, too.

The only problem with it was that it immediately made me want to go take a nap—I’m pretty sure it counted as carbo-loading.

As much as I wish I could eat these big heavy meals all winter, I know I’ll need to stick to healthier options most of the time. But that doesn’t mean this fantastic pasta dish won’t make another appearance at some point while I still have my cold-weather blanket in tow.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 26, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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