What's 4 Dinner? spaghetti with broccoli and lemon

So, for some strange reason I LOVE to read recipes (and menus too), but rarely do I ever set aside the time to try my hand at actually making any of the mouth-watering things I read about.  Well, I am on a mission to change that.  Since Mig is a full-fledged toddler/pre-schooler, I really have to make a conscious effort at monitoring what he eats.  We are lucky that he is a pretty adventurous eater (he loves pizza (what kid doesn't?), Japanese food and of course Filipino food too), and he even enjoys his veggies.  

However in our household, healthy eating isn't always the case because the Filipino foods we usually tend to make are heavy on the red meat and white rice side and sometimes little to no vegetables.  Plus I should mention, our home is a multi-generational one, with my parents (dad) doing most of the cooking.  Needless to say, my old-school pop hasn't been quite so sold on the likes of 'turkey ground meat', 'salads', 'brown rice', etc.  Even more the reason for me to start getting into our kitchen and start cooking.  

So in no way shape or form do I proclaim to be a good cook OR have I created any of these meals I share from my own culinary mind.  MrD would be the first to testify to that!  Pretty much everything I try to cook or bake is from one of my favorite magazines or countless cookbooks that I just usually would read  at my leisure.  Now, I will attempt to go where I rarely have gone before with my past-time...to the kitchen!     

Tonight our dinner was spagetti with broccoli and lemon.  (Easy I know, but hey, I had to start somewhere!) I am a fan of sauce-less pastas (or just olive oil and garlic) so when I read this one in Real Simple Magazine I knew it was for me.  The result?  Pretty good!  The red pepper flakes gave it a little kick that Mig probably could've done without.  But he was a trooper and just chased it down with some milk.  

I threw in the chicken breasts just so we'd have some form of meat.  My dad was already snooping around the pots and pans wondering where I hid the white rice!  Overall, I would make this one again -- it's especially yummy for a quick summer dish when you don't feel like cooking up a storm.

the ingredients (minus the parmesan cheese I had to run to the market for)

voila! our healthy summer pasta dinner

(wine just there for show!)

these are the breaded chicken breasts (i did not make myself - had help from Purdue, thank you very much!)

here's the recipe in case you're interested:

Cook pasta reserving 1 cup of the water.  Drain pasta and return to pot.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tbs oil in a skillet.  Add the 4 cloves (thinly sliced) garlic and cook until golden.  Add 1 pkg. frozen broccoli (thawed), 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 tsp salt.  Cook until heated through about 1 to 2 min.

Add the broccoli mixture, 1 lemon (zest finely grated and juice squeezed), 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and the resrved pasta water to the pasta.  Cook over medium heat about 2 to 3 min.  Sprinkle with the lemon zest and serve.