Lemon Chicken Asparagus Spaghetti

Lemon Chicken Asparagus Spaghetti

Happy National Spaghetti Day! Here's something different, easy to make and absolutely delicious to celebrate!

In a time when family dinners are relegated to weekends for many busy folks, if then, our family still makes a sit down family dinner a priority at the end of every day. This does not happen by accident. Flexibility and planning are the keys to making it happen.

We are fortunate enough to live fairly close to both our workplaces but with a busy family life that includes after work dance or music lessons among a myriad of other activities for the kids we don't necessarily have a set dinner time. This is where planning and flexibility meet. We always plan for the next days activities and if dinner has to be an hour or so later than normal, so be it. Quick and easy workday meals are key and whenever one evenings cooking can spill over into the next, that's a bonus too.

This recipe is a good example of planning and pre-coooking part of tomorrow's meal today. We had used grilled chicken in the previous nights meal and fully cooked double the amount of chicken needed that night to include in this spaghetti dish the following evening. This dish could then easily be put together in little more time than it takes to bring the water to a boil and cook the pasta. We simply sliced the already cooked chicken breasts and warmed them quickly in the saute pan with the rest of the ingredients before tossing together with the cooked spaghetti and serving.

I always say that if you are deciding what's for dinner at 5 o'clock, you are almost guaranteed to be eating out of a bucket. While a take-out pizza is not an unknown commodity at our house, it is a bit of a rarity and pre-packaged, processed meals are non-existent as we have always try and make it a priority to eat good, real food together as a family. Many readers have shared with me that they are not happy with the way their own families eat but with recipes like this one and many more that you will find on this site plus a little planning, moving away from too many fast food and processed meals may be easier than you think.

Serves 4

• 4 grilled chicken breasts, fully cooked
• 1/2 pound dry spaghetti

Slice the chicken breasts against the grain and get the spaghetti boiling in lightly salted water.

In a large saute pan, lightly saute

• 3 cloves garlic in
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Add

• 1/4 cup butter
• juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine (or chicken stock)
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Simmer slowly for a minute or two and then add

• 2 cups chopped fresh asparagus
• 1 small red pepper diced

Cook for only about 4 to 5 minutes until the asparagus is cooked but still has a little crispness. Add the sliced chicken in the last minute, just to warm it through. Pour the contents of the saute pan over the cooked spaghetti and toss well before serving.

Lemon Chicken Asparagus Spaghetti