It's a Kitchen Miracle!

I don't cook. I mean, I do, and things come out okay, but it's not my thing. And I certainly don't improvise in the kitchen! My mom can. My mom is a certified Kitchen Genius. In fact, I distinctly remember walking into the kitchen one day after school when I was in high school and asking Mom what she was making for dinner. "I don't know," was her reply. ...Are you for serious?! She was standing right there. Over the stove. With food in a pan. And she was stirring it.

I don't remember what it was exactly that she made that night, but I'm sure it was good. But anyway, I don't improvise. Creativity in the kitchen is like my kryptonite, which is odd, because generally speaking, I'm extremely creative. Be that as it may, if you ask me to come up with something for dinner, these are the things that pop into my head:

1. Spaghetti and meat balls
2. Spaghetti and meat CHUMPS (Yes, I count this as a different meal. That's how limited my kitchen creativity is!) (...It should also be noted that if "chumps" sounds weird...too bad. That's just what we always called meat sauce when we were growing up. I happen to think it sounds way more fun than "meat sauce".)
3. Tacos
4. Fajitas/Quesadillas
5. Meatloaf

Yeah...that about sums it up. I have to stop and think really hard to think of anything else. I mean, I have a few more recipes, but, sadly, that list is fairly exhaustive. It's not that I can't cook other things, I just don't know what to cook.

Which is why tonight....was a KITCHEN MIRACLE! 

A few months ago, I was visiting my family up in Dallas, and Mom made some kind of garlic-olive-oil-tomato-chicken-spaghetti thing. It. Was. In. Credible! And I remember thinking, "I need to ask Mom how to make this," before I go home. I didn't.

Fast forward to tonight. I dread the discussion I have with my husband every night. What's for dinner? No one ever knows, and Matt usually ends up whipping something up in the kitchen. He is a much more creative cook than I, and I'm so glad he seems to enjoy cooking. But tonight I knew our pantry ingredients were limited, and I wanted to surprise him with dinner when he got home. He almost always makes dinner, and I thought it'd be a nice change of pace. I decided to go out on a limb and try to re-create what my Mom had made months ago.

You may be wondering why I didn't just call and ask her for the recipe. I did. Actually, I contemplated not calling at all. I knew what the answer would be. ....And I ended up being right. But, I called and asked anyway, on the off chance that there was actually a recipe. There wasn't. It was improvised, and she didn't even really remember what I was talking about.

Be that as it may, I decided not to let this get me down. My reasons were two-fold.

1. I am not a quitter.
2. If I waited for Matt to get home and have the "dinner discussion", he was bound to poo-poo my idea. Isn't that always how it goes?! But if I just did it, he wouldn't have the choice to say no, thus ending the back and forth dialogue consisting only of the phrase, "So? Anything sound good to you?"

My efforts were not in vain. I got rave reviews from my husband and our oldest daughter. (The little one has no teeth, so she didn't get a vote.) I try not to be one to toot my own horn, but cooking is not my thing, so I am "tooting" this horn, baby...and sharing my recipe! :) So, without further ado...

Spaghetti with Chicken and Toasted Garlic Marinara Sauce

**Disclaimer:  some/all ingredient measures are estimated since I didn't really measure anything. :)

Ingredients

Marinara Sauce

3-4 Tbsp olive oil

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

red pepper flakes
2 large tomatoes (chunky cubes and then crushed)
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp basil
salt, to taste

freshly grated parmesan cheese

Chicken
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, whole
chicken

Instructions

For the marinara:

1.  Sautee the minced garlic and red pepper flakes in the olive oil until browned, about 6 minutes. 

2. Cut up your tomatoes into large chunks. Crush them (using your hands) into the pan. Don't worry if some chunks look big. As they cook down, they'll get more tender, and you can squish 'em later if you need to.

3. Add the tomato sauce, basil, and salt. Let simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or so.

4.  Grate parmesan cheese into the marinara, as desired

For the chicken:

1. Heat up the olive oil in a pan and add the whole cloves of garlic. Allow a few minutes for the garlic to infuse. Be careful not to burn the garlic. 

2. Slice your chicken into small chunks or strips. (I used some leftover chicken tenderloins that I had sitting in the fridge. ...It was probably about 4 or 5 stips. You could  use as much or as little chicken as you want. I probably would want to add more chicken in the future.)

3. Sautee the chicken in the garlic-infused olive oil until cooked through and tender. 

4. Shred chicken (this can be done with a wooden spoon, in your pan...no need to dirty more utensils) and add to the marinara sauce. 

5. Pour chicken marinara over fresh pasta, and enjoy!

I'm a much better baker than I am a cook. ...It's probably because I never tire of googling ways to prepare and eat chocolate. :) Nevertheless, my improvised chicken spaghetti was fantastic, and I'll definitely make it again!