Wednesday, April 25, 2012

A Little of This and A Little of That

Making dinner is always a challenge if I haven't planned out a menu for the week.  For the past number of years I have tried to plan menus for the week - this way when ANYONE asks "what's for dinner?" there is no ambiguity about it.  My kids used to just go to the fridge and read the menu.  It started getting to be problem when their friends would come to the house and check the menu to see if they wanted to eat over!! But that's a story for another day.

Today is about unplanned meals.  I didn't plan a menu this week which makes each day interesting when I'm asked the famous (and sometimes) most important question of the day.

So this is what I had to work with:  a few pieces of chicken tenders, some bacon (everything is good with bacon in it), 1/2 an onion, some grape tomatoes, Marsala wine, some Parmesan cheese and a package of pesto sauce.  Sounds like a pasta dish.

The ingredients!
So how do I make this come together.  I started out by chopping up the bacon and cooking it in my pan.  Once the bacon was brown and crisp I removed it from the pan to drain.  I then tossed the chicken tenders with some of the pesto sauce mix (dry).  I then put the chicken in the pan with the bacon drippings and browned it on both sides.



I removed the chicken from the pan and added about a tablespoon of butter - and some finely chopped red onion and some granulated garlic.  I sauteed that for less than a minute and then added a good dose of Marsala wine.

The smell is wonderful!!
As it was reducing I added a couple ladles of pasta water (yummy flavor).  When it was reduced by half I added a small handful of feta cheese (this was a waste - didn't need the feta).  I then added about a teaspoon of tomato paste (leftover in the fridge).  Once the paste was incorporated into the sauce I threw in the rest of the dry mix from the pesto sauce and a few grape tomatoes which I halved.  At this point I wish I had some spinach or fresh basil but I was making due with what I had!!

Moving on!  I then put the chicken back in the pan as well as the chopped cooked bacon.  Next I threw in the pasta and tossed it till the pasta was completely covered with the sauce.  I then threw in some leftover Parmesan cheese and tossed.


All in all it tasted pretty darn good.  So look in your fridge tonight.  Find a little of this and a little of that and see what you can come up with.  The one thing that frustrates the hubby is that he can never get the same meal twice!! I never write things down and it's always just whatever you have hanging around in the cabinets or fridge.  Happy cooking!!

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