Summer Basil & Chicken Pasta

A raid-the-fridge weeknight dinner

The herb:

I’m on a basil kick. Last week it was vegan pesto taste testing, and Monday night it was tomato and basil pizza – just some standard marina, thickly layered sliced tomatoes, and a generous sprinkling of fresh basil. Quick, delicious, and oh-so-summery.

Last night, with a bundle of basil leftover in the fridge, Basil Challenge III was upon me. Admittedly, my Summer Basil & Chik’n Pasta was born of a solemn swear to myself that I’d figure out a way to use the basil without making a special trip to the grocery store. If you cook as a vegan, I’m sure you’ve been there, too: the 7^th consecutive day of swinging by the store for that one fresh ingredient that you cannot (will not! ought not!) do without.

Enough already! Basil Challenge III: raid the fridge and make it happen.

The innovation:

Employing the go-to formula for a simple, satisfying vegan dish, I reached for a grain, a protein and a veggie. Here’s what I had on hand and how I used it:

• 2 cups pasta, cooked
• 1 package chik’n, thinly sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced into large chunks
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 TBSP EVOO
• 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
• 2-3 cups baby spinach
• 7-10 large basil leaves, chiffonade(d??)*
• Sea salt & pepper to taste

Heat the EVOO on medium low and add your onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add the chick’n strips. Increase heat to medium and stir frequently until chik’n begins to brown, 5-7 minutes. Next, incorporate your tomatoes and a generous sprinkling of sea salt. Keep the chick’n and tomato mixture moving, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.

The spinach and artichoke take only
a few minutes to cook. This meal
comes together quickly!

Once your tomatoes are softened and juicy, add the baby spinach and artichokes, cooking for an additional 3-4 minutes. Finally, toss in 75% of your beautiful basil ribbons, saving the rest for garnish. Combine, add salt & pepper to taste, and you’re good to go.

The alterations:

Now, I know I said I wasn’t going to go to the grocery store for this particular dish, but that doesn’t preclude me from thinking about what I’d do differently if I had!

Firstly, I’d use whole wheat pasta. The tri-colored shells were fun, but I think a nutty whole grain flavor would have really rounded out this dish. Additionally, I’d probably opt for a more flavorful chik’n than the Trader Joe’s Chickenless Strips I had on hand. Lightlife Smart Strips are among my favorite.

But as always, this dish is highly adaptable: don’t have artichokes? No prob, forget about them. Want more Vitamin A & C? Double your baby spinach. No fresh tomatoes on hand? Hell, grab a can.

Whatever it takes to save yourself that 8^th consecutive trip to the store, amiright?

*I’ll cook dinner for whomever can explain to me how to conjugate chiffonade. Promise!

Review: Sauces n' Love Vegan Pesto

Pesto Pasta Party, Vegan Style

Sauces n' Love Pesto, available at Boston-area Whole Foods Markets, $7

The craving:

For us vegans, years can pass between our opportunities to indulge in an authentic pesto-drenched pasta dish. Years, that is, of sorrow and privation. Cheese-free pesto is hardly a staple at most grocers, and for some (unjust, insane) reason, this summer staple seems relegated to second class status at many veggie-centric eateries.

Recipe options abound with Sauces n' Love
versatile vegan pesto.

With traditional pesto recipes calling for Parmesan or Romano cheese, we’re often left standing over our food processors, basil bush in hand. And while there’s nothing better than a homemade batch of pulverized basil, pine nuts, garlic and EVOO, sometimes you just don’t have it in you. On a lazy Sunday night, pesto making just isn't in the cards.

Enter Sauces n’ Love vegan pesto, 4.5 jarred ounces of garden-fresh flavor.

The solution:

Versatility is part of pesto’s many appeals. Toss it over capellini, fettuccine, fusilli – whatever you have on hand – and raid the fridge for forgotten produce. My asparagus and cherry tomatoes were a few days shy of giving up on life, so before I cracked open my inaugural jar of Sauces n’ Love pesto, I set a handful of asparagus spears into salted, boiling water. As the asparagus cooked, I pan-fried some Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips. Quick, healthy and novice-proof. Anyone with two pots and a frying pan can cook this meal.

Before tossing it all together, I mixed a heaping spoonful of pesto with 3 tablespoons water and a small slice of softened Earth Balance. This concoction covered about three large servings of fettuccine, which is a huge plus for those of us who live and die by leftovers. To top it off, I incorporated the chicken and asparagus, saving the halved cherry tomatoes (or quartered, go crazy) to complete each individual serving.

This simple fettuccine dish is highly adaptable. Dig into your
produce bin - it's hard to go wrong!

Damn, that was easy.

The verdict:

The verdict, the verdict…not necessarily the place to say “it depends.” But here’s the deal: if you want your meal infused with unobtrusive basil-y notes, Sauces n’ Love pesto is your jam. Fresh and aromatic, this product yields a delightful bowlful of quintessentially summer flavor.

And yet.

If you’re looking for a more extreme pesto experience – a mouthful so commanding you couldn't care less about the itty-bitty basil flecks bespeckling your smile – Sauces n’ Love may fall short. Deferential where it ought to be aggressive, this is a pesto built for those falling center-right on the flavor-seeker continuum. If this isn't you, here’s what to do: simply mix a supplementary scoop (or two…) into your dish.