Chicken with Linguine, Leeks, and Tomatoes

Kevin made a request this week: "Please don't make any curries. I can't take it anymore."

In my defense, this family is so picky! No cheese, no red meat, no cinnamon, no nuts, no fish, blah blah blah. So, it really leaves me with a pretty narrow array of recipes and ethnic foods.

So... It took a while, but I finally found several recipes that I was excited to try. This one looked really basic, and it only used 1 pot, so I thought it would be perfect for a night when I wanted to make something quickly. This dinner tasted really delicious. It was so easy to throw together, and the flavor combination was perfect. It was slightly spicy, but had a nice sweet flavor from the leeks and peas. It called for linguine, but I made the mistake of using leftover soba noodles, which didn't work particularly well. They got a little clumpy, sticky, and overcooked. Oh well. The good news is, it was still really tasty, and the clean up was so simple. To make it even easier, you can buy the frozen leeks at Trader Joe's. I highly recommend this one.




Make this. It's great. 5 Bowls.

Chicken with Linguine, Leeks, and Tomatoes


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 1 cup pasta and vegetables)


4 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Vegetable cooking spray
2 teaspoons margarine
3 cups sliced leeks (about 3 medium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
4 ounces linguine, uncooked

Place each chicken piece between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/4-inch thickness, using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Combine 1/4 teaspoon of salt, garlic powder, and next 4 ingredients; sprinkle over both sides of chicken, and set aside.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add margarine, and place over medium-high heat until margarine melts. Add the chicken, and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet; set aside.

Add leeks and garlic to skillet; cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender. Add chicken broth and next 3 ingredients; bring to a boil. Break linguine into 2-inch pieces; add linguine and chicken to skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.

CALORIES 329 (13% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.3g,poly 1.3g); IRON 4.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 108mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.6g; SODIUM 364mg; PROTEIN 32.7g; FIBER 1.8g

Cooking Light, MARCH 1995