When the Cat's Away...

My husband doesn't fully appreciate my cooking skills. Not that he's ungrateful or anything like that, he just has so many food issues that he doesn't get to enjoy much of what I make. He feels badly about this and often watches us eat something with this pitiful "I wish I could have that too" look on his face. He's just too particular about textures and flavors etc. None of it makes sense so I'm not going into what he will or won't eat (for example; he loves pasta, can't live without cheese, but he won't eat macaroni and cheese, not even the good homemade stuff).

Well, his loss and more for us, right? Not usually. He IS the man of the house after all and so I try to cater to his tastes. However, he is away until Sunday night and we are free to eat whatever we want! This is a rarity so we are taking full advantage.

This is one of the recipes he will not eat but that the rest of us love. It's very simple, few ingredients, but the combination is great. Don't leave out the garlic and olive oil when sauteeing the chicken, it really DOES add a whole different and wonderful dimension to this dish.

Anne's Chicken Spaghetti

1 lb dry spaghetti
1 - 20+ oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cut into one inch dice
3 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 c finely shredded cheddar-room temperature

Cook spaghetti to desired doneness, drain, toss well with olive oil and keep warm.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil until it "shimmers".
Add minced garlic and stir quickly--please don't let the garlic burn!
Immediately add chicken and sautè until cooked through and browned.

Add sauce to the chicken and simmer until heated through.

To serve, either place all the spaghetti into a large shallow bowl and top
with sauce and cheddar, or put into individual bowls topping each with a
generous sprinkling of cheese.

I also sometimes put all the spaghetti into a large baking pan, top with the
chicken and sauce, sprinkle the cheese on it and then bake in the oven at 350° for
about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted well.

A healthy green salad and fresh, chewy bread round this out well.
This serves about 6 here, maybe 8 in a family that eats less heartily.