By Mid-May. Twenty-two weeks pregnant. The baby has started visibly moving when I sit still. Dustin felt the first kicks Wednesday night with his hand on my belly. He cried for thirty seconds without saying anything. The kicks are not yet predictable but are coming several times a day now.
Sunday I made chicken and peas with pasta because the meal-prep efficiency mattered — the factory schedule is still the four-thirty AM rotation, my body is now twenty-two weeks pregnant, and I need dinners that reheat well, scale for the week, and are mild on the late-second-trimester stomach. The dish: boneless chicken in a quick cream sauce with frozen peas, fresh dill, lemon, tossed with bow-tie pasta. The cream is the small Saturday-cheat-day kind of cream — Dustin and I have agreed his cheat-day extends to include dinners I cook for him, since the cooking is mine.
The procedure: cube two boneless chicken breasts. Saute in butter with garlic for five minutes. Add a half-cup of heavy cream, a cup of chicken broth, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper. Simmer five minutes. Add two cups of cooked bow-tie pasta and a cup of frozen peas. Toss for two minutes. Finish with fresh dill, lemon zest, and grated parmesan. Dustin had three plates. I had two. The leftovers went into single-serving containers for my factory-lunch box.
Mama’s Wednesday call was the small mid-week anchor. She talked through the cafe’s small breakfast-and-lunch numbers, the small Cody-news, the small Aunt-Linda update. The cafe is in its small steady-state rhythm. Cody is at the small operational-lead for the lunch-and-dinner rotation. Mama is on the small breakfast-and-brunch shifts. The small Sapulpa-cafe-life continues the way it has been continuing for years.
The technique-detail I always lean on: the rest at room temperature for at least twenty minutes before the small final cooking step. The rest gives the small protein-or-dough time to relax into its small final-form. Skip the rest and the texture goes wrong. Honor the rest and the texture honors you back.
Chicken and Peas with Pasta
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne or rotini pasta
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining, then drain and set aside.
- Season the chicken. Toss chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and onion powder until evenly coated.
- Cook the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook 5–6 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate.
- Build the sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic to the same skillet and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in chicken broth and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add peas and pasta. Stir in frozen peas and cooked pasta. Return chicken to the skillet and toss everything together. Add a splash of reserved pasta water if the mixture looks dry.
- Finish with Parmesan. Remove from heat. Sprinkle Parmesan over the top and toss to combine. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 410 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 390mg