Friends, we still have a ton of food in the pantry and freezer that need clearing-out. Tonight, I took another crack at it with a rendition of vegetarian chik’n parmesan!
I’ve been on a pasta- and sauce-making kick of late, but tonight we used good old store-bought for each. I had a box of thin spaghetti taking up space on the dry-goods shelf, and a jar of pasta sauce left over from a recent meal of stuffed bell peppers (we made them Saturday evening for a dinner party!). Paired with two leftover Morningstar Farms chik’n patties that were hanging out in the freezer, and topped with some Daiya mozzarella shreds that I keep on hand for events just like this one, it was a perfectly complete meal that required no additional grocery shopping!
And the prep was so easy, as is desired/required on a Tuesday night in the middle of a workweek. I boiled the pasta and heated the sauce while the chik’n patties baked in the oven; I dusted each patty with some mozzarella for the last 10 minutes of their baking time. As soon as everything was ready, I drained the pasta, topped our plates with sauce and chik’n, and we were off to the races!
Speaking of races, this meal couldn’t come at a better time. I’m running a half-marathon this weekend, so I’m beginning to carb-load just a touch. Admittedly, I’m not planning on carb-loading as much as I would for a marathon or long-course triathlon, but I feel like any carb is a welcome carb before a longer-distance race! And 13.1 miles counts, for sure.
But back to the chik’n parmesan. We both love pasta, in all its forms, so it’s no wonder that LeeLee and I welcomed this dinner with open arms (and mouths!). We each went back for seconds and were thrilled that we’ve got plenty of pasta left to split for lunch tomorrow or the next day (we’ve still got burrito casserole from last night, as well!). So often I make something “beefy” to accompany our pasta; this chik’n dish was a welcome change, as far as I’m concerned! We’ll definitely go back to this well again and again.
:)