Another Cooking Adventure

Last night was another adventure in cooking for me. I had read this recipe on a friend’s blog months and months ago, and have been desperately wanting to try it since. Feeling that it was more of a “winter-y” recipe, I held off. Until last night! So here goes:

Low Fat Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

3 skinless boneless chicken breasts: sliced into ¼ inch strips
4 cups broccoli florets
1 large red bell pepper: sliced thin
2 cloves garlic: minced
¾ a box whole wheat penne
1 and ¼ cup fat-free half and half

¾ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the pasta and set aside.

Steam broccoli for three minutes and set aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about one minute). Turn up heat to medium high and cook chicken in batches until done (about 8-10 minutes).

Set cooked chicken aside. Add pepper to pot and cook until just tender (about 5 minutes). Add half and half; heat to boiling.

Stir in Parmesan and simmer for about five minutes. Toss in chicken and cook for one minute, then broccoli and pasta. Stir until coated, cover and cook over medium heat, covered, for about 5 minutes.

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The prep time took way longer than I thought, and being impatient, I threw too much chicken in the second batch of cooking. Always fearful of undercooking chicken, I left it in for a long time and thought it might be overcooked. But nope! Done just right.
 

All-in-all, this recipe took me about an hour, which was a bit more than I expected, but it was totally worth it. I LOVE LOVE alfredo sauce, but can’t really eat it anymore, as it’s way too fattening. This satisfies the craving! It tasted totally restaurant-quality but the sauce was VERY light (almost non-existent), so it’s healthy!

 
This was also my first foray into steaming broccoli (I always sauté with garlic & oil), but as I now have a steamer, I gave it a shot and it was great.

 
Josh told me it was restaurant quality, which made me feel great, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. And the best part: there is now enough for 4 more meals in our freezer. This makes a BOATLOAD. Great for families or those, like me, who like to cook and have leftovers for another time.

The pictures are courtesy of the friend who gave me the recipe, as I was too lazy to look for my camera, and too “disheveled” to attempt pictures along the way!