An easy weeknight dinner. Actually, I could have skipped the chicken tonight. No one was starving and we would have done just as well by having just pasta and vegetables. However, now that I’ve got some leftover teriyaki chicken, I think fried rice is on the menu one night soon.
I had bought a tray pack of chicken thighs last time I was at Costco. I mixed up the teriyaki marinade from The Warehouse Gourmet, skinned the chicken thighs and divided them between three freezer bags, then split the marinade between them. You could easily grill them, of course, and the flavor would be superior I think. But being lazy tonight, I just threw the defrosted thighs, sauce and all, into a baking dish and baked at 400 for 45 minutes to an hour. They were quite good! The other teriyaki recipe I like has pineapple juice in it and I missed that, but this was good. And I don’t always remember to buy the little cans of pineapple juice when I want teriyaki something.
The vegetables were easy. I sliced up a head of broccoli, a carrot, a red pepper, and a few cloves of garlic. Heated up some olive oil and sauteed the broccoli and carrot a few minutes, added a bit of water, covered the pan and simmer until tender, about 8 minutes. Then I added the red pepper and garlic and simmered till the pepper was softened. We have leftovers so I think they’ll find their way into some soup later this week.
The pasta was plain, kids’ request. Well, plain to them means no red sauce. It does mean I heated up some olive oil with some chopped garlic and poured that over the cooked spaghetti. Olio e alio from my Italian ex-MIL, although I leave out the anchovy paste she favored. Serve it with some freshly grated Parmesan of course, which is also good sprinkled on the vegetables.
Sauteed Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets and thick stems sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
- 1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbs olive oil
Instructions
- Heated up the olive oil and saute the broccoli and carrot a few minutes.
- Add a bit of water, maybe 1/2 cup, cover the pan and simmer until tender, about 8 minutes.
- Add the red pepper and garlic and simmer till the pepper is soft.
Well, pretty nice dish. As an Italian resident (I’m Brazilian), however, I’d strictly avoid Parmesan cheese with “aglio e olio”… Tell you what: when using garlic Italians tend to use grated Pecorino cheese (Roman or Sardinian one). Much better. Try it, sometimes.
Gianni