Garlic Chicken Pasta with Veggies

Tonight was an easy dish that I had thought might work, but didn't know if would taste good. I love garlic, I love pasta, so I was thinking that I could put the two together in a combo Asian/Italian dish. Yeah, I know, I am probably not the inventor of the dish, but I figured it was worth trying.

I got home from work and spent a little time being crafty. I helped my friend make her baby's footprints into a cute heart shaped project. It was a lot of fun, but she was determined to also capture her baby's handprints. Have you ever tried to get a 1 month old baby to hold their hand open long enough for you to put ink on the hand and put the inked hand onto a piece of paper? Yeah...it doesn't work so well. Here is how that scenario worked out for us:

1.) Mom latches baby on to help relax baby.
2.) I carefully pick up the baby's hand and then placed it onto the ink pad. This then causes the baby to unlatch, and wiggle around...oh...and clench her ink covered fist.

Ok...starting over....

1.) Wipe off ink.
2.) Re-latch baby.
3.) Position baby's hand over ink pad, then carefully spread the fingers.
4.) Coat the fingers and hand quickly with the non-toxic washable ink.
5.) Grab paper.
6.) Put baby's hand down on paper....oh...crud....ok...so baby decided to make a fist just as I was getting the paper close.

We repeated this madness four or five times before I finally gave up and started dinner. At least the footprints turned out great. Dinner managed to be made without a hitch, and absolutely no leftovers. Here's the recipe:

Garlic Chicken Pasta with Veggies
Serves: 5 or 6...depending on how much you eat!

1 box (13.25 oz) of Barilla Whole Grain Rotini Pasta
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (you might want more or less depending on how 'wet' you want your final dish)
2 tsp Sesame Seeds
Salt
Lemon Pepper
Whole Garlic Cloves (we used a whole head of garlic because we love garlic, you can use less if you want)
3 or 4 large organic chicken breasts, sliced into 1" strips
Teriyaki sauce
1 cup Frozen mixed veggies

1.) In a skillet, heat a little olive oil (not the 2 Tbsp) until hot and prepare pasta according to box directions or personal preference in a separate pot and continue with remaining directions while it is cooking. 2.) Add whole garlic cloves to hot oil....be careful, it might pop! Brown the garlic and then put them in a bowl off to the side. 3.) Add cut chicken into hot oil and cook throughly. Season with salt and lemon pepper to taste. Sprinkle Teriyaki sauce over chicken, again to taste. I found that 1 1/2 tsp worked well. Add in frozen veggies and toss together until fully cooked. 4.) In a large bowl, place olive oil, sesame seeds and sprinkle (1 tsp or so) of teriyaki sauce and whisk together. Drain pasta and toss with the oil mix coating thoroughly. Add cooked chicken and veggies to pasta and mix. Sprinkle bowl with a little more sesame seeds for garnish. Serve warm.

I have to admit, I don't know if I got everything in the recipe so if there is anything missing. If it doesn't turn out right, feel free to email me. I have been working long days at work and my mind is on 10-million things right now including baby handprints...my friend is still here, so here we go...attempt number seven....

The Reviews:
Dad: "It was delicious."
Friend: "It was yummy-licious."
9 year old Girl: "Yummy Wummy Wokka Mummy."
8 year old Boy: Thumbs up and wanted seconds.
19 month old Baby: When asked if dinner was good he nodded his head. I take that as a positive.