One Pot Broccoli Chicken Pasta

There is a cruise ship in port today, so of course it has been raining here all day. Since before the sun came 'up'. All afternoon I have been reading statuses on Facebook of friends and family who live outside of Saint John saying it has been thundering and lightening in a way it has not in a long time. No thunder here in the city, or at least not when they were discussing it.

Because it is a miserable indoors day, and I can't do any baking due to lack of ingredients, I decided to make something a little more comforting for dinner. I was planning pasta no matter what, because I have lots of both it and sauce, so i went to the Kraft Canada website and clicked on their one pot pasta recipes. I chose this one because I had a half head of broccoli in the refrigerator that needed using up, and I figured I could easily substitute the one ingredient in it that I did not have nor like.

One Pot Broccoli Chicken Pasta

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tsp. canola oil

3 cups fusilli pasta, uncooked

1 can (10oz) chicken broth

1 soup (broth) can water

3 cups broccoli florets

3/4 cup Cheez Whiz

Cook chicken in hot oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 7 to 8 min. or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.

Stir in pasta, broth and water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 15 min., stirring occasionally. Add broccoli; simmer an additional 5 min., stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Add Cheez Whiz; stir until completely melted and mixture is well blended.

I do not like Cheez Whiz for two reasons, one is that it is 5 dollars a jar. Ouch! The other is that I have to wonder what it is exactly. I really do not think it is real cheese, and just how much processing occurs to make it 'processed' cheese spread. So that was the big change in the recipe.

Originally I had planned on stirring in the grated cheese, but at the last minute I changed my mind and just sprinkled it on top of my serving. The recipe tips stated you can throw any veggie in, so I decided to toss in some matchstick carrots I had in the refrigerator as well. Instead of a full pound of chicken breasts, i used one. That was all i had, so i chopped it small. 

So, back to the rain. Just as I threw the chicken into the pan, I heard a low rumble of thunder in the far distance...and the lights flickered. I sent a quick thought into the sky, give me twenty minutes, please!! Thankfully, the lights only flickered once more while i was cooking and not since. As I was eating, the thunder was directly overhead, or at least close by. It just rolled through, and the rain was coming down in buckets! I had to close all the windows because the wind was blowing a bit of rain in. 

After I was finished eating, I grabbed my camera and attempted to take a few pictures out my front window. My camera is not very good at taking pictures through the screen, though, so they are a bit fuzzy. I am to short to take a picture from the top glass portion. 

This one looked better sideways so i left it that way,  you can see the rain bouncing on the street. I was trying to get a picture of the river running down the curbs, since i live at the bottom of a hill.

This was an attempt at the same, but it turned out really fuzzy :-P

It is still thundering; not very loud, but each clap is actually rolling. I love thunder storms and rain storms, especially rainy nights. The sound of rain on the roof puts me to sleep. As for this recipe, I think it is one that I will make again on another stormy night, or maybe a warm night since it really did not heat up the kitchen. It was light and comforting, even without a sauce, the broth and water completely cooked into the pasta. The veggies I found were perfectly steamed. I also think this would make a great pasta salad if you were to make it and let it cool! 

So, until I can find another recipe to make with my miss match of ingredients, or until i can get groceries, have a great week everyone!!