Dinner Recipe: Spicy Chicken and Butternut Squash Penne

Image via:  Epic Food Po

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Total Time: 1 hr. 48 min.
Prep Time: 8 min
Cook Time: 1hr. 40 min

Ingredients

½ lb. of Chicken Breast
Olive Oil (For Drizzling)
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Onion, diced into ½- inch pieces
1 lb. of Penne Pasta
Vegetable Oil Cooking Spray
1 (2lb.) Butternut Squash, peeled and seeded; cut into ¾ -inch cubes
1 cup of 8-ounces Goat Cheese, crumbled
1 packaged cup of chopped fresh Basil Leaves
1 cup of coarsely chopped Walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup of finely grated Parmesan
Cajun Seasoning bottle

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Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, and take one of the racks in the oven and place it in the middle slot of the rack.
2. The take the chicken breast and season it with the Cajun chicken seasoning and some salt and pepper to taste. Then spray a cooking pan with some of the cooking spray and let the chicken breast cook in it, until both sides of the chicken turn golden. Once the chicken has been cooked thoroughly then, set it aside.
3. Next for your dinner recipe, get a baking sheet and lightly spray it with the cooking spray, then lay it aside.
4. Thirdly, start mixing and arranging the butternut squash and onions together on the oiled baking sheet. After you’ve made a single layer of the squash and onions on the baking sheet, drizzle the layer down with the Olive Oil and season them with the salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place the baking sheet in your oven and let it bake for 40-45 minutes or until the vegetable get a golden look and are cooked through. Once the vegetables have met the criteria, then take them out of the oven and set them aside again for cooling.
6. While the previous mixture is cooling; get a large pot fill it with salted water and bring it to a boil over a high heat. Begin adding in the pasta and let them cook until they become tender yet still firm when bitten. Stir the pot occasionally and the pot should cook for about 8-10 min.
7. Now take the chicken and a fork and shred down the chicken; until all of the chicken has been shredded for the meal.
8. Drain the pasta from the pot but keep about 2 cups of the pasta water. In a large bowl, put the goat cheese, pasta, shredded spiced chicken and the 1 cup of the pasta water in it. Toss it around until the goat cheese has completely melted and forms a creamy sauce. Time for adding the squash and onion mixture into the mix; then you can add in the walnuts along with the basil. Toss the entire mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Top off the entire mixture with Parmesan cheese then serve.

Image via:  The Wicked Noodle

Typically, we have answers to the never ending question, “So what’s for dinner tonight?”  But there are those days when you are just caught up in life that you literally do not know what you are going to cook or eat.  Not to worry look to Stagetecture to be your comforter and Guru for your homing needs.  The recipe is simple to make and leaving your family happy and content.  So for tonight’s dinner recipe try the one above and let us know how it goes.

Stagetecture readers, what are some of your favorite pasta meals? We have some great pasta recipe suggestions to try!

Easy Dinner: Spicy Roast Chicken

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Total time:

Preparation: 15 minutes + Cook: 1 hour

Yields:

8 servings

Ingredients

3 pound whole chicken

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pinch of ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon oregano, dried

¼ teaspoon basil, dried

¼ teaspoon paprika

Pinch of cayenne pepper

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Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius or 450 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Thoroughly rinse the chicken under cold running water. Remove all fat, and pat dry using paper towels.
3. In a small baking pan, put chicken and brush with olive oil. Mix together salt, oregano, pepper, paprika, basil, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the mixture over chicken. Alternatively, you can opt to rub the spices underneath the skin. You can also increase the suggested amounts according to your taste and liking.
4. In the pre-heated oven, roast chicken for 15-20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 205 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit and continue roasting for approximately 35-40 minutes more.  Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. (Optional- After the first 20 minutes of roasting add some diced root vegetable like carrots and beets to the pan. This will ensure that your entire meal is ready with the chicken.

While this is a kind of a recipe that you can just throw together, you might want to consider marinating the bird overnight. This will help the chicken stay moist during cooking and will spread more flavor. Quick and easy recipe, Isn’t it?

Need more easy recipes on Stagetecture? Click here.

Healthy Dinner: Stuffed Peppers

Image via: Hungry Happens

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Ingredients

4 servings

Ground turkey (1 pound)

Diced and drained tomatoes (1 can of nearly 14.5 ounce)

4 green bell peppers (seeded and tops removed)

½ yellow bell pepper (chopped)

½ red bell pepper (chopped)

Fresh spinach (1 cup)

Sliced mushrooms (1 cup)

1 zucchini (chopped)

½ onion (chopped)

Tomato paste (1 tablespoon)

Olive oil (2 tablespoons)

Garlic powder

Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper

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Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Place the green bell peppers in a baking dish after wrapping them in aluminum foil. Remove the heat after baking for 15 minutes.
3. Put a frying pan over the stove and cook the turkey in medium heat. Cook until the color of meat becomes brown. Set aside.
4. Now, heat olive oil in the frying pan. Cook yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, and onion until they become tender. After that, put the turkey into the pan and then mix in tomato paste and the canned tomato.
5. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Now, stuff each green pepper with a good amount of this mixture.
6. Bake the peppers for 15 minutes and serve hot!

Tips

1. Before adding other ingredients, the spice lovers can consider seasoning the turkey with salt, pepper, paprika, basil, and oregano because ground turkey tastes plain bland to many people.
2. You can use the extra filling for any dish with rice.
3. Add up or decrease the amount of meat and vegetables as per your taste.

You cannot find such a low fat meal with so much flavor. It is a great tasting recipe with real nutritional punch. It is also a good change for those who want something different from the regular ground beef and rice stuffed peppers. Complete your healthy dinner by having carbs and cheese or pasta on the side.

Felling hungry? What’s your idea of a healthy dinner meal?

For more healthy recipes on Stagetecture, click here.