All You Parmesan Chicken with Bow Ties

In the last six months I have been making an effort to increase the amount of chicken and fish in my family's diet. This might seem like an easy task for most families and it would be except for one major fact, the males in my family love bacon. Not just bacon, but pretty much any type of pork. If my husband was left to feed himself 90 percent of the time he would be eating some form of red meat. This is the exact opposite of me. I grew up in Seattle and we rarely ate red meat in my house. My mother was a great cook and cooked a variety of vegetarian dishes. So much so that I was a vegetarian starting when I was 15 until I was 23. In my mid twenties I slowly added meat back into my diet, but was still mostly chicken and fish. Then in graduate school I met my husband. We were opposites in regards to food. His idea of a great lunch involved pizza or fried fish. Those were and are two of the foods that the grease literally makes me sick to my stomach. Somehow we managed to stay together and now after being married for almost 10 years I have slowly began to change his eating habits. We rarely eat out and when we do it's a treat, not a regular occurrence. Most important of all my husband has transitioned to red meat approximately once a week, which is huge progress I promise. Since chicken breasts have never been one of my husband's favorite foods, I am always looking for new recipes and I was interested when the March issue of All You magazine had a recipe for Parmesan Chicken with Bow Ties.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 10 minutes of prep and 10 minutes of cook time and makes 6 servings. All the ingredients in this recipe are basic and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. I chose to use frozen broccoli instead of fresh. The price is much cheaper and it's easier to stick frozen broccoli in the microwave than deal with cutting and prepping fresh broccoli while my two boys scream for dinner. I chose to use a full pound of pasta, instead of the 12 ounces suggested by the recipe. Finally, I bought skinless-boneless chicken breast, instead of the skin-on bone-in used in the recipe. Honestly, I made this the day after Easter when my in-laws were in town and after a long day I wanted to save as much time as possible. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

At a cost of only 91 cents per serving this recipe is very inexpensive. Plus it takes less than twenty minutes to prepare and has 38 grams of protein. My in-laws loved this recipe and asked for seconds. My kids picked out the chicken and ignored the rest of the dish. If you are looking for a flavor-punch this recipe isn't for you. However, if you are looking for a simple pasta dish that can literally be made in minutes this recipe is perfect. Kids that aren't receptive to spiciness or too many flavor combinations would eat this dish happily (or in-laws that have the same tastes). Overall, an easy pasta recipe that's full of protein and takes minutes to prepare.

For the recipe go to Parmesan Chicken with Bow Ties.