Garlic Chicken Pasta with Grape Tomatoes

I like to be seasonal in my grocery shopping.  Especially when it comes to my fruits and veggies.  

I like to put "fruit" on my list and wait until I get there to see what looks good.  There are a few staples, however, that I buy almost every single week.

On that list, we have our all-stars.

Spinach.  I put it in smoothies, I make salads with it, and it oftentimes makes its way into my pastas.  When Jim and I started working opposite schedules I asked him what he had for lunch and busted him eating baby carrots every day for his only vegetable...for like 2 weeks straight.  I explained to him that in my book, "veggie" means "leafy green".  Now I (sort of) force him to eat spinach at almost every meal.  Not breakfast, come on, what kind of a jerk am I?  Although a spinach omelette sounds pretty good....

Bananas.  Once again, smoothies, crazy delicious cookies, breads, or just by themselves.  Cricket even likes them (weirdo).

Grape tomatoes.  The star of our show tonight.  They're so good.  Everything I love about tomatoes in tiny little bite-sized nuggets.  I mostly just eat them on salad usually, considering I eat an insane amount of salad as a rule...but why relegate them to salad when sauteing them with a little garlic and olive oil results in such a delicious little skin-slightly-wrinkled taste explosion?

So that's what I did.

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Grape Tomatoes
(about 6 servings, adapted from skinny taste)


16 oz. Smart Taste Thin Spaghetti
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 lb. chicken, cubed
2 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp parley
6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
3 tsp olive oil


Boil pasta in a pot of salted water according to box directions for al dente.  Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the starchy water.  Return pasta to the pot you boiled it in.


Season chicken with salt, pepper, 1 Tbsp basil, 1 Tbsp parsley. Heat 1 tsp olive oil at about medium-high heat. Add chicken, saute until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes.  Remove chicken from the pan.


Add remaining 2 tsp olive oil, warm over medium heat.  Add garlic to pan, sauteing for about 2 minutes until starting to brown.  Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes.  Season with a bit more salt and pepper to taste.  Once the skin of the tomatoes begins to wrinkle, remove from heat.


Add chicken, tomatoes mixture, 1 Tbsp basil and parmesan to the pot with the pasta.  Add some of the starchy water if the pasta is too dry.  Toss until coated thoroughly.