Caitríona Redmond: My speedy chicken and broccoli pasta is perfect for protein-mad teens
"There is no better motivation for learning to cook than to feed yourself in a hurry."
I have entered the protein-era of food provision in my household.
Parents of teenagers may be familiar with this high demand/high-cost phase which makes you feel like your child is eating you out of house and home, and you need a loan from the Credit Union to pay for it.
The culprit became a teenager last week and recently joined the local football club. He seems to think that chicken breasts are the answer to all his protein needs and that I have the bank balance to match his demands.
I am very grateful that he is not looking for sugar-laden protein bars, although I’m sure if I bought them, they would disappear from my food cupboards in record time.
He’s also not old enough to be earning his own crust so is depending on the food I supply, rather than fuelling himself on chicken fillet rolls from the local supermarket.
I regularly get messages from parents who are struggling with this phase, due to the high expense, but also the sheer hard work it takes to try and keep up with the demand of growing kids who want to eat well.
Feeding yourself on a budget is a difficult prospect as it is.
I run an ingredients-led household. This means that there is always plenty of food in the house, providing the kids know how to cook.
It helps me keep my day-to-day spending on track and the kids on their toes. Confronted with having to cook for themselves, chicken breasts for hungry sportspeople become less important than fuelling themselves with any accessible source of protein.
Eggs, for example, can be cooked up in as little as 4 minutes on a hot frying pan or in the microwave. Thankfully eggs are far more budget friendly than chicken.
Although if you must cook chicken for your protein-mad offspring, consider a whole chicken rather than breasts, which is much cheaper on weight basis.
The elder boy has taken to making scrambled eggs a few times a week. Providing he is reminded to take care to clean up after himself (and I manage to turn a blind eye to the mess for a while) it’s a huge success story.
There are very few restaurants who could better his culinary skills when it comes to scrambling eggs and he is gradually increasing his repertoire.
I keep a plentiful supply of other plant-based proteins in the stores such as nuts, pulses, and of course hummus is a staple here.
However, I do want to reassure you that I do cook for my family and that they are extremely well fed. They are also well able to fend for themselves if they are hungry and that’s a skill, I’m very proud of cultivating.
There is no better motivation for learning to cook than to feed yourself in a hurry.
Despite my dedication to labelling my food, I slipped again recently and enjoyed some lovely, toasted carrot cake for breakfast when I had intended to toast some brown bread.
This is happening all too often, so I know I need to invest in another paint marker. A paint maker is such a handy item to have in the kitchen.
Once dry, the paint is water and rub resistant and so will stay on plastic bags, jars, and boxes in the fridge or freezer.
It just takes a little bit of washing up liquid to rub away from storage containers and they are fresh to use again.
My paint markers are in high demand and Halloween just passed is the reason for them going missing. As I mentioned, they are perfect for writing on plastic and glass.
The markers can be bought in a joyous, myriad of colours and are perfect for drawing decorations on windows.
Just like this mother’s “good scissors”, my markers are incredibly attractive to artistic leaning teenagers.
If you’re wondering which brand I recommend; I only use Posca markers and I swear by them. I’ve just ordered an extra few for the Christmas windows!
Follow the instructions step-by-step to have a meal from fridge to plate in just 20 minutes made with fresh ingredients. Servings Preparation Time Cooking Time Total Time Course Ingredients 300g chicken breast, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil Salt & Pepper 1 small head of broccoli 100g parmesan, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 300g dried pasta Method Place a frying pan on a medium heat and sear the chicken breast on all sides in a tablespoon of olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. While the chicken is searing, separate the stalk of the broccoli from the head and break the head into small florets. Trim any brown bits from the stalk and chop it roughly. Place the broccoli stalk, cheese, and chopped garlic into a food processor and blitz until you have a rough purée. Boil a kettle of water. Turn the frying pan down to medium/low and add 3-4 tablespoons of the hot pasta water to the chicken on the frying pan. Spoon in the purée from the food processor. Stir all the ingredients together on the frying pan and bring to a slow simmer. Pour the boiling kettle of water into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Stir well to stop the pasta from sticking. Add the florets to the pasta for the last 4 minutes of its cooking time. Once the pasta is cooked and strained, add the contents of the saucepan to the chicken and broccoli sauce. Stir well to combine the garlicky cheesy sauce with the pasta and broccoli florets. Serve with freshly cracked black pepper and maybe a little more parmesan.Speedy Chicken & Broccoli Pasta
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